Tag Archives: the environment

Solar Roofs over Parking Lots Are Going Viral in California and The Southwest

This is in the New York Times this week: Ersatz roofs made of solar panels have sprouted above dozens of school parking lots in the state [of California], altering vistas and promoting a philosophy of green thinking among the young. Yet … Continue reading

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My Predictions for the Human Future

My daughters are four and six, and barring a severe catastrophe (personal or civilizational), my guess is that they’ll have lifespans that might double that of the average person living today. By the time they hit about the age of 50 (around … Continue reading

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Better living through data crunching, or a centralized tool for global government shenanigans?

I’m an old-style Albert Einstein/Bertrand Russell/Buckminster Fuller internationalist. I think that national sovereignty will—and should—give way to a democratic “Spaceship Earth” world government at some point in human history (perhaps with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights functioning as an international Bill of … Continue reading

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Six years later, I collapse (my defenses) and listen to Jared Diamond present the broad outlines of his book, “Collapse” (Viking 2004)

Back in December of 2004, when Jared Diamond’s Collapse  came out, I decided that I wouldn’t buy it. I simply didn’t want a Paul Ehrlich-1970s-style-downer book about the environment marring my otherwise sunny disposition. I’m not brave Oedipus: I don’t necessarily … Continue reading

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The Post Carbon Institute’s Richard Heinberg on Peak Oil

Richard Heinberg’s talk on peak oil is very good. Here’s part 1 of 5: And here’s part 2 of 5:

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Cap and Trade: The Big Picture

At Salon.com today, physicist Joseph Romm suggests how to frame the debate on “cap and trade”—and win it—as the bill passed in the House now heads for a vote in the Senate: The key to framing a win on this bill is to portray it — … Continue reading

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