Energy Bulletin -

A brief ecological manifesto

bart — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:21:58 -0700

For a European website I attempted to write a concise, blunt assessment of our ecological predicament in hopes that perhaps at least one person of influence might read and understand what I believe we face: "We are in overshoot. Failure to recognize this fact and act on it will ultimately condemn humans worldwide to nature's cure for this condition: collapse."

Pediatrician sees three-year-old on cell phone

bart — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:37:36 -0700

The long-term consequences of young children already taking their gaze away from living people and constantly-changing nature to look down into and be captured by static machines concerns me. Who benefits and what is lost? What is appropriate technology use? What induces obsessive/compulsive/addictive behavior?

The peak oil debate

Simone — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:00:39 -0700

The debate about when the world will reach peak oil production is not a new one. But recently, as the price of crude oil has been unusually volatile, the issue of peak production has received heightened attention in the media, and the tone has changed in the discussions among oil industry and energy watchdogs about the future of global oil supply.

California gridlock - a harbinger?

bart — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:56:58 -0700

California in 'fiscal emergency'
California's IOU to the world
Californians are sinking themselves

Housewifely virtues: handwork

bart — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:55:09 -0700

Handwork is not and should not be a gendered province - all of us have time when we must sit and listen, or time when we want to converse. As times get more stressful, we may find that we have more of this time, not less - for all that we have more work to do when we must make do with less money and energy, we also often have more of this time. That is, unemployment, a more seasonal life, less television, fewer nights out and fewer long car trips may mean more reasons to sit, and be quiet together. If the power does go out, or get too expensive, handwork makes the evening hours productive, artistic, graceful - and the movement of fingers enables conversation.

Responding to Sharon Astyk on permaculture and Transition

bart — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:46:34 -0700

Sharon concludes: "All that matters is that the work gets done, as well as possible, that the floods are as small as we can make them, and that the suffering is as little as possible. That’s honestly all I care about." Indeed. That is the task to which we all dedicate ourselves, whatever we choose to call this work.

ODAC Newsletter - July 3

Simone — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:09:18 -0700

A weekly review from a UK perspective - "The first round in the great Iraqi oil sale was an interesting affair if not a very conclusive one. In the live TV auction which took place on Tuesday, only one deal was reached as international oil companies refused to meet the terms demanded...

Solutions & sustainability & community - July 3

kristinsponsler — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:12:37 -0700

Economy takes its toll on Amish
Greening a mountain community: Estes Park, Colorado
Why Are Chickens Leading the Sharing Revolution?

Housing & urban design - July 3

kristinsponsler — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:02:06 -0700

Urban retrofits
Organic Farms as Subdivision Amenities
The Farmer and the Lawn

BLM Opens Doors for SW Solar Grand Plan

cseverance — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:23:55 -0700

Just a year and a half after a breakthrough Solar Grand Plan study was published in the January 2008 Scientific American, the U.S. government has begun plans to implement major elements of such a Plan.