Human ecology & behaviour

-Scientists Reveals Secrets Of Drought Resistance
-Speaker says water limitations not recognized
-A Drought-Stricken Land Offers Help With Water
-A Victory for the 'Water Underground'
-EROWI - energy return of water invested

At the Denver ASPO conference, I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Albert Bartlett. Afterward, Dr. Bartlett e-mailed me some material he had written over the years. The "Laws of Sustainability" were included in this material. They are part of Al Bartlett's contribution to the anthology The Future of Sustainability by Marco Keiner, published in 2006.

-John Maynard Keynes: Don't call it a comeback
-Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism
-Economic growth has let us down. What's the alternative?
-The Iron Cheer of Empire
-Small Deposits Add Up: Savings, not just loans, factor into microfinance formula

Wealth is not what we are taught. Wealth is a verb, not a noun. Wealth is not stuff; it is a fiercely protected system of concentration. It is the act of the hoarding, and is a pillar of our culture.

On a stretch of desert near the U.S.-Mexico border, the only eatery on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation opened last spring to a full house. The Desert Rain Café brightened a space in a small shopping complex, drawing dozens of curious customers who filled patio tables by noon. Its menu, local by design, featured ingredients from the café’s own farm: desert squash enchiladas, mesquite-flour muffins, hummus made from tepary beans. The café recently extended its hours to take advantage of its booming business.

-U.N. Signals Delay in Climate Change Treaty
-Republicans walk out of Senate hearing on climate-change bill
-African nations make a stand at UN climate talks
-Senators opposed to the Clean Energy Jobs Act are ignoring the bill’s benefits to Americans
-We only have months, not years, to save civilisation from climate change

-Changing a City: Inside Portland's 80 Percent by 2050 Target
-Zone5 Podcast #1 with Albert Bates and #2 with Noel Carillo
-Urban Permaculture in Clacton-on-Sea
-Toward an Ethic of Place: Experiments in Regional Governance

One of the best things about being invited to present at conferences and events is that I get to meet the other speakers, and usually talk with them in at least a semi-relaxed setting. Generally speaking, at a good conference I can count on meeting at least a few people who I’ve never heard of, but should have, at least one person who I regard with a measure of awe (sometimes even more), and a whole lot of just plain interesting people doing important work.

I have been following with interest the discussions surrounding Alex Steffen’s piece at WorldChanging in which he critiques Transition. I am honoured that someone so widely respected as a writer on sustainability issues saw fit to engage in discussions around Transition, but, as a critique of Transition, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Until 1 January 2010 Sweden holds the presidency of the EU. This means that Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is head of the EU-delegation that today travels to the USA for a summit on climate between the EU and the USA on Wednesday. Reinfeldt will meet president Obama today and can then present the offer that the EU nations agreed on last week.

-Think Again: God
-A City Unbottled: Mary Beard's Pompeii
-Why we don’t do much about climate change

-I'm Too Sexy for This Footprint: Eco-Designers Take on Fashion's Carbon Footprint
-French make cars from flax
-Farmers Arrested Planting Hemp On DEA Headquarters Lawn (Video)

When I published the previous article about the ever-more-dire forecasts of ocean level rise, little did I know that I was blundering into the midst of a "climate change debate."...

I live in Boulder, Colorado where the buzz among eco-activists who attended a recent lecture by Vandana Shiva is her chilling statement that if the human species continues on its present destructive trajectory, it has no more than 100 years of life on this planet. At about the same time this bomb was dropped on Shiva’s audience, Keith Farnish’s amazing book Time’s Up: An Uncivilized Solution To A Global Crisis arrived in my mailbox for review...

-UK urged to lead on future food
-World must use GM crops, says UK science academy
-Feed the world
-Can Biotech Food Cure World Hunger?
-Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations