Victory gardens
Imagine Hollywood celebrities campaigning for backyard gardens, and America’s best-selling music stars singing songs about patriotic recycling. It may sound crazy, but that actually happened 80 years ago.
Brian Kaller
What the U.S. grab of ocean seabeds signals
The United States’ recent expanded claims to ocean seabeds signals that the easy stuff has run out or will soon.
The end of paper?
While the world continues to consume paper in ever greater amounts, the idea that we can preserve all our knowledge electronically is catching hold. Is that really a good idea?
Text substitutions
Over the years, I have developed a number of automatic text substitutions for phrases/platitudes I hear people utter. The filter works so that what I hear is converted into my internal version before processing further.
China grinch stops rare earth tech transfer in time for Christmas
The continuing trade spat between China and the United States demonstrates the increasing vulnerability of the worldwide trading system to geopolitical disputes.
Clearing skies: Opening a new path on climate and the future
Adapting to climate change does not address the societal systems and values that spawned the current crisis. What’s needed is “systemic adaptation” that fundamentally changes our economy, our politics, and our priorities in ways that put community and the planet first.
Self-driving cars are driving right into their own grave
Autonomous vehicles as currently deployed face a conceptual flaw that can’t be overcome
Doubling down on fusion
There’s a reason the U.S. is asking the world to double down on fusion energy at the UN climate summit known as COP 28. The rest of the energy transition isn’t going as planned. It’s part of the fantasy of a painless energy transition.
Visit to a future sustainable neighborhood Pt 2
Once this sustainability revolution started to take hold, the ‘great sorting’ of deciding what was essential and what was simply voracious desire, reshaped many areas of society. And, so, it was decided to de-commodify food, education and healthcare, in line with a more ecological form of economics, where Nature has a seat at the boardroom table.
Stagnating science and disillusioned scientists: a personal story
This post was inspired by a recent article by Tom Murphy, in which he tells how he discovered that most science is not just useless but an evil force worsening the human situation. So much that he decided to quit. Murphy’s case is not isolated; a feeling of dismay runs through the very fabric of scientific research. My career as a scientist parallels Tom’s experience.
Confessions of a disillusioned scientist
After a rocket ride through science, I am hanging up the gloves, feeling a little ashamed and embarrassed to have devoted so much of my life to what I now see as a misguided cause that has done more harm than good in this world.
Why we need to grow an ecosocialist party in America (part 2)
When America is ready for ideas that work, we’ll need political leaders who are ready with ideas that work.