Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Proposed solutions are often so big and general that we feel helpless. What can one person do about the Kyoto protocol? Permaculture brings a unique emphasis on what can be done by individuals and small groups, fostering a sense of empowerment. This article describes how a classic permaculture technique — zone and sector analysis — can be adapted to deal with peak oil and climate change.
Two big-state governors have hit the headlines last week with grand plans for the future. In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a massive infrastructure construction program, while in New York, George Pataki has called for a renewable energy program. Both plans were developed by comparatively moderate Republican governors with an eye to the challenges of tomorrow. Unfortunately for the residents of these states, both wind up missing the larger point.
Professor Richard Harris talks to Trevor Shaw about the logic of suburbia and the future of sprawl.
Long article in urban planning journal that takes depletion seriously and suggests new priorities for the sector.
Neither the mega-cities nor the survivalist’s bunker will be viable in a post-oil future. The places with the best chance of surviving an oil peak will be cities of less than a million people, ranging down to well-placed smaller cities and towns.
How do we create a worthwhile future without a way of visioning it? Rob Hopkins compares environmental disaster movies to some permaculture teaching techniques, and suggests we may need a new superhero to lead us into a post-oil-peak world.
Perhaps the world’s first local action plan intentionally designing a way down the oil peak is now available online. It should provide great inspiration for other local Peak Oil initiatives. [updated]
Urban permaculture /
Dorm room showcases eco-friendly living /
Basel and the 2000 Watt Society /
Electric cars get another jolt of interest /
Gas prices push some to torch their SUVs /
Julian Darley and The Relocalization Movement
San Francisco’s clean-tech report card /
Cool idea helps save energy, environment /
When cleaner air Is a biblical obligation /
Sweating the big stuff at Grist Magazine /
Bill McKibben: Curitiba as a global model for development /
To save endangered butterfly, become a butterfly /
Interview: Sir Jonathon Porritt – a carbon-constrained world
Second of a series on emergency preparedness in the Willits area.
The most effective responses to our energy predicament will be place-based and community-supported. This wide-ranging report surveys the communities and political leaders preparing for a post-petroleum world.
Of all the earth-building methods, cob building embodies a mystery in its sensuous curvy walls. How does it work? How does it get built? …cob building is [best] understood as pottery or sculpture.
