Culture & Behavior

The Political Ecology of Collapse, Part Three: The Bomb at the Heart of the System

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The failure of the Copenhagen climate talks has been blamed on everything from Chinese intransigence to Barack Obama’s failure to live up to the messianic fantasies projected onto him. Behind the rhetoric, though, lies the uncomfortable reality: the political systems of America and most other industrial nations are pinned in political cul-de-sacs that make them incapable of constructive change.

Taking Responsibility for the Climate Crisis

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Taking responsibility for our own lot and the climate crisis means we must first reject an unworkable system and culture. I hasten to clarify; this does not mean there aren’t a lot of nice people caught up in it. But if they believe elections and voting with their consumer dollars are going to save them from the ecological crisis and the slide into societal chaos of collapse, they are of no help to themselves or to the countless species being driven extinct by modern civilization.

Peak oil and the psychology of work

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This is a preliminary attempt to explore the relationship between the current predicament facing humanity arising out of an exploding population facing planetary resource limitations, in other words known as overshoot, and the psychology of work inherent in the human species.

James Hansen: Good Riddance, Copenhagen. Time for Better Ideas.

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NASA climate scientist James Hansen never expected the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen to amount to much. He told the British Guardian newspaper that it would be better if Copenhagen failed. That’s because Hansen is a vocal critic of the economic policies discussed there, and he hopes Copenhagen’s failure gives the public a chance to talk about new options.

Copenhagen Blame Game and Wrap-up – Dec 23

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-Ed Miliband: China tried to hijack Copenhagen climate deal
-Carbon Supplicants on the Copenhagen Pilgrimage
-Review of the Year 2009: Climate change
-How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room
-There’s No Negotiating With Nature
-BC Fossil of the Decade Awards
-Copenhagen’s failure belongs to Obama
-Clear-Cutting the Truth About Trees
-Doom and Gloom
-Mammals May Be Nearly Half Way Toward Mass Extinction

Food & agriculture – Dec 22

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-Seed behemoth Monsanto stumbles into antitrust trouble
-Weather no obstacle for Pittsburg garden
-How a Hoop House Can Extend the Growing Season
-Copenhagen: peasant farmers can save the planet
-Getting at the roots of unsustainable U.S. ag policy
-Copenhagen could lead to increase in intensive farming
-Meet the Milk
-Where Industry Once Hummed, Urban Garden Finds Success

Trolley canal boats

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For many centuries, canal boats were propelled by men, horses or mules on the towpath beside the water. Before diesel power took over, engineers developed several interesting methods powered by electricity: trolleyboats, floating funiculars and electric mules. Many of these ecological solutions could be applied today instead of diesel engines.

Endgame: USA

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Economic recovery! The media, economists and politicians are talking it up. The spin machines are working flat out cherry picking statistics to convince us that recovery is underway and we are entering another growth phase. It could, however, be argued that this is the least likely of all the potential outcomes from the global financial crisis. One of those potential outcomes, one rarely spoken about unless you are Barnaby Joyce, is the subject of this article.

Climate conference aftermath – Dec 21

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-Copenhagen: a look back at the most striking narratives
-If you want to know who’s to blame for Copenhagen, look to the US Senate
-There is a way ahead after Copenhagen
-Copenhagen: Things Fall Apart and an Uncertain Future Looms
-All over the map: Rounding up editorial reax to Copenhagen
-No One Is Going To Save You Fools
-Copenhagen – Historic failure that will live in infamy
-Terminator 2009
-A Climate Con: Analysis of the Copenhagen “Accord”