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Category Archives: Environment
Defending degrowth at ecomodernism’s home
Defending degrowth at ecomodernism’s home In June, I was invited to speak at the eight annual Breakthrough Dialogue, an annual invite-only conference where accomplished thinkers debate how to achieve prosperity for humans and nature. The Breakthrough Institute, anecomodernist think-tank, welcomed my presence as a provocateur. I was to participate in a panel called “Decoupling vs. Degrowth”. My […]
Drilling ANWR: One of Our Last Links to the Wild World is in Danger
Drilling ANWR: One of Our Last Links to the Wild World is in Danger I can still remember the first time I saw tracks left behind by seismic testing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It was the mid-1990s and I had been guiding a group of people on a float trip across the coastal […]
Hothouse Earth
Hothouse Earth An interesting new study: “Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene,” Will Steffen, Johan Rockström et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Aug. 6, 2018 lays out the pathway for Earth entering a Hothouse Climate State. “Our planet is still in danger of becoming a ‘Hothouse’ Earth despite our […]
Is Capitalism Killing Us?
Is Capitalism Killing Us? Ecological economists, such as Herman E. Daly, stress that as the external costs of pollution and resource exhaustion are not included in Gross Domestic Product, we do not know whether an increase in GDP is a gain or a loss. External costs are huge and growing larger. Historically, manufacturing and industrial […]
How US Sugar Subsidies Bring a Red Tide of Algae to Florida’s Shores
How US Sugar Subsidies Bring a Red Tide of Algae to Florida’s Shores ABC News reports that “Toxic red tide blooms are creeping up Florida’s west coast, killing marine life and irritating humans.” The red (or maroonish) tide is truly a nasty problem that I have experienced first-hand in the form of a ruined vacation. […]
Russia Offers 2.5 Million Acres Of Farmland To China, Amid Worsening Trade War
Russia Offers 2.5 Million Acres Of Farmland To China, Amid Worsening Trade War China and Russia recently announced a new age of diplomacy between the two countries, at a time when President Trump is targeting both with precision-guided economic warfare. China finds itself reeling under trade disputes with the US, as the next round of […]
Leaking Las Vegas: West’s Biggest Reservoir Nears Critical Threshold
Leaking Las Vegas: West’s Biggest Reservoir Nears Critical Threshold Lake Mead – the West’s largest reservoir – is running dry again and is on track to fall below a critical threshold in 2020, according to a new forecast by the Bureau of Reclamation. In 2016, Lake Mead water levels drop to new record lows (since […]
“This Is A Very Dangerous Outbreak” WHO Chief ‘Worried’ Over Ebola In DRC
“This Is A Very Dangerous Outbreak” WHO Chief ‘Worried’ Over Ebola In DRC The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging a ceasefire between armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as raging conflicts in the region have hampered efforts to stop a new Ebola outbreak which is transmitting freely, reports the Daily […]
Weed-Killing Carcinogen Glyphosate Found In Children’s Foods
Weed-Killing Carcinogen Glyphosate Found In Children’s Foods The known carcinogen and infamous weed killing chemical glyphosate has just been found in breakfast foods marketed for children. A new study has discovered trace amounts of the most widely used herbicide in the country in oats, granolas, and snack bars. Concern over glyphosate has continued to grow in the […]
Climate change in the Anthropocene: An unstoppable drive to Hothouse Earth?
Climate change in the Anthropocene: An unstoppable drive to Hothouse Earth? Can the global climate be stabilized before runaway change creates conditions that are too hot for human civilization and deadly for most species? Leading Earth System scientists warn: “The Earth System may be approaching a planetary threshold that could lock in a continuing rapid […]
Community Development and the Commons
Community Development and the Commons The commons offers a framework and a process for effectively and equitably stewarding the resources communities need to live in dignity. Last August, 200 people from across Oakland, California came together to envision and design a development plan for a small parcel of public land. For months leading up to […]
A Last Ditch Strategy to Fight for Human Survival
A Last Ditch Strategy to Fight for Human Survival There is almost unanimous agreement among climate scientists and organizations – that is, 97% of over 10,000 climate scientists and the various scientific organizations engaged in climate science research – that human beings have caused a dramatic increase in the amount of carbon dioxide, methane and […]
MIT Computer Model Predicts Dramatic Drop In Quality Of Life Around 2020 And The “End Of Civilization” Around 2040
MIT Computer Model Predicts Dramatic Drop In Quality Of Life Around 2020 And The “End Of Civilization” Around 2040 Is humanity approaching a major turning point? A computer model that was originally developed in 1973 by a group of scientists at MIT is warning that things are about to dramatically change. If the computer predictions […]
Water Harvesting Earthworkds “Design to Reality”. Part 1.
WATER HARVESTING EARTHWORKS “DESIGN TO REALITY”. PART 1 So, you have been contacted by a client and you’ve discussed the client’s brief. You’ve started to look at the contour map, aerial images, whatever data you can find on the site. And with the client brief in mind, always remembering WATER IS LIFE, you set to […]
