AUSTRALIA: New PM Called On to Tackle Climate Change
Australia’s newly appointed prime minister, Julia Gillard, has hardly warmed her
seat, yet she has already been urged to take action on climate change.
Archive for June, 2010
Free Ride for Oil and Coal Industry May Be Over
Every day, governments give away an estimated two billion
dollars of taxpayer money to the fossil fuel industry. This
unmatched largesse to a highly profitable sector by countries
verging on bankruptcy or unable to feed large numbers of their
own people is “complete madness”, according to many experts.
Redesigning Civilization after the Stress Tests
The BP oil gusher should remind us that our civilization relies on unseen, not very well understood forces, especially energy and the environment, for our day-to-day economies.
Workers of the world — cooperate!
With both Labour and the Conservatives attempting to appeal to left-leaning voters by encouraging the use of co-ops to provide public services, interest in these once-fashionable methods of organisation has been reignited. But are they microcosms of the democratic society that we crave?
Solarize the White House
Symbols matter. When Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House in 1979, they weren’t today’s efficient electricity-generating PV panels (they produced only hot water) and the goal wasn’t to make 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue energy-independent. Nevertheless, during a historical period remembered for oil shocks and gas lines, this was a way of sending the message that changes were needed in America’s energy habits and that the President was ready to lead by example.
Interview with Jeff Rubin, part 2
“Everybody gets peak oil in some sense because, you know, what’s BP doing drilling in a mile of water at the Macondo well, or planning to develop the Tiber field which is much deeper below the ocean floor? Or for that matter, what’s Suncor doing in the tar sands? We’re there because that’s all that’s left. They may not want to articulate it as peak oil, but their actions speak louder than their words.”
Natural gas as panacea: dubious path to a green future
Many energy experts contend natural gas is the ideal fuel as the world makes the transition to renewable energy. But since much of that gas will come from underground shale, potentially at high environmental cost, it would be far better to skip the natural gas phase and move straight to massive deployment of solar and wind power.
Shale gas — the hydrofracking wars
Josh Fox’s film Gasland has stirred up a lot of controversy over the environmental damage caused by shale gas drilling. Shale gas reservoir rock lies many thousands of feet below the surface, with the depth depending on the location. In order to get the gas to flow up to the wellhead, operators drill down to the shale rock layer, and then apply a process called hydraulic fracturing to “open up” the rock.
Laughs for doomers
Boris Yelnikoff is a self-described “Nobel-level thinker” who feels beseiged by “microbes,” one of his many terms for people who don’t see “the big picture.” And, what’s the big picture? He tells us in the first five minutes of Woody Allen’s latest movie, “Whatever Works,” when he says, “On the whole, I’m sorry to say, we’re a failed species.”
U.S.: Youth on Frontlines of Green Justice Struggles
The committed determination of young people in the
environmental justice movement is emerging as a highlight of
the 2010 U.S. Social Forum, which opened in Detroit this week
with some 20,000 activists meeting in ‘Motor City’ to network
and share their visions for social change.
The environmentality of ‘Earth Incorporated’ (paper excerpt)
In the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, the villainous business tycoon Domenic Greene, makes a moving (and familiar) speech to potential company sponsors at a spectacularly glamorous, environmental fund-raising gala in Bolivia.
The environmentality of ‘Earth Incorporated’ (paper excerpt)
In the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, the villainous business tycoon Domenic Greene, makes a moving (and familiar) speech to potential company sponsors at a spectacularly glamorous, environmental fund-raising gala in Bolivia.
BP’s deadline to give facts on Gulf oil spill
BP has been given until Friday, July 2 to provide documentary evidence establishing exactly what is happening behind the scenes at their ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This material would answer current worst-case scenario speculation about the state of BP’s Mocando wellbore – whether it is structurally compromised – and the ongoing attempts to dig relief wells…The demand comes in a letter written by Congressman Edward J. Markey, chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee.
BP’s deadline to give facts on Gulf oil spill
BP has been given until Friday, July 2 to provide documentary evidence establishing exactly what is happening behind the scenes at their ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This material would answer current worst-case scenario speculation about the state of BP’s Mocando wellbore – whether it is structurally compromised – and the ongoing attempts to dig relief wells…The demand comes in a letter written by Congressman Edward J. Markey, chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee.
Less is more
Within the body of Transition movement literature, I don’t often see references to the Simple Living or Voluntary Simplicity movement.