Category Archives: Sustainability

1.4 earths: sustainability and overshoot, or 6 earths and the moon for dessert

I like to think of myself as a good person of the Boy Scout variety–trustworthy, brave, kind, helpful, etc.–except without the homophobia. You probably like to think the same (of yourself, not me). Well, according to the Global Footprint Network’s “Footprint Calculator” it would take six earths if all 6.7 billion of us lived aContinue reading “1.4 earths: sustainability and overshoot, or 6 earths and the moon for dessert”

Comment on a HuffPo column

Here’s a comment I posted on an opinion piece written by Richard Stuebi, The Petroleum Industry: Past the Tipping Point? Interestingly, where it’s the minerals and non-renewable resources that should run out: oil, gold, aluminum, etc.; it’s been the renewable stuff that’s proven to be exhaustible: mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, cedars of Lebanon, gorillas. The paradoxContinue reading “Comment on a HuffPo column”

Let’s not gush about our clean energy options

Estimates regarding the rate of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil blowout get spewier with each succeeding news cycle. The mess being made requires that we Americans consider what we are willing to pay—economically and environmentally— for energy. I didn’t see President Obama’s live televised remarks to the nation on the BP oil spill but watched itContinue reading “Let’s not gush about our clean energy options”

BP oil spill: A teachable moment?

“I want to really challenge the idea that we can’t move into renewable energy sources a lot faster. We put a man on the moon pretty fast…What is really sad now is that Obama is not using this moment as a teachable moment to bring the country together.” – Arianna Huffington (on KCRW’s Left, Right,Continue reading “BP oil spill: A teachable moment?”

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

Try matching the quote with who said it (answers at the bottom). Most convincing as evidence of populousness, we men have actually become a burden to the earth, the fruits of nature hardly suffice to sustain us, there is a general pressure of scarcity giving rise to complaints, since the earth can no longer supportContinue reading “It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine”

Africa, organic doesn’t work

Nearly one-third of the world’s hungry are in Africa and the Green Revolution has yet to reach the most of the African continent. They farm using organic methods. [Many repeat] “the mantra that ‘sustainable food’ in the future must be organic, local, and slow. But guess what: Rural Africa already has such a system, andContinue reading “Africa, organic doesn’t work”

The hangover after Earth Day

A few expletive filled thoughts for the day after the 40th anniversary of Earth Day from George Carlin, stand-up philosopher. Watch him “coalesce the vapors of human existence into a viable and meaningful comprehension.” “The planet isn’t going anywhere. We are. We’re going away. Pack your sh*t folks…The planet will be here and we’ll beContinue reading “The hangover after Earth Day”

Happy 40th Anniversary, Earth Day

Happy 40th Earth Day Everyone! As I’ve written before, on April 22, 1970, I attended one of the first Earth Day celebrations (as did 20 million others that day). The one I went to was held at Santa Monica City College. In those days, most of us in the environmental movement worried about the populationContinue reading “Happy 40th Anniversary, Earth Day”

Clearcutting, Climate Change, and the Center for Biological Diversity

“A clearcut is about as beneficial to the climate as a new coal-fired power plant.” – spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity Spin consumes science Such a sound bite is ‘spin;’ and we should not confuse such political posturing with fact. Perception trumps truth and the California Air Resources Board has caved to politicalContinue reading “Clearcutting, Climate Change, and the Center for Biological Diversity”