Stay going.
.
Friday, October 02, 2009
C-ROADS less taken...
Speaking of Hopenhagen - you want some hope?? Check out this new TED talk from (fellow Dartmouth alum!) Drew Jones of the Sustainability Institute. This is the kind of way we need to be thinking - acknowledging the danger of potential "Business as Usual" emissions scenarios, and then immediately recognizing that those are not a pre-determined future, and that we must mobilize immediately and in a big way if we're even going to get close to achieving atmospheric concentrations of 350 ppm in a meaningful timescale. Enjoy, (and learn more at the Climate Interactive Blog):
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Hopenhagen
Another grassroots campaign to show the broad support for meaningful action in Copenhagen (we need all we can get!)
Check out the site - pretty inspiring to see the quotes from around the world of what gives people hope in a very cool visual lay out: http://hopenhagen.org/
And sign the petition.
Stay going.
.
Check out the site - pretty inspiring to see the quotes from around the world of what gives people hope in a very cool visual lay out: http://hopenhagen.org/
And sign the petition.
Stay going.
.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The End of Poverty
Check out this trailer for what looks to be an excellent new movie, The End of Poverty. In theaters in November, it looks like it will do a good job of getting to the root of the major drivers of global poverty, and how our globalized economic system and our lifestyles exacerbate and increase that poverty.
Stay going.
Stay going.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Happy Earth Overshoot Day!
Yep, it's Earth Overshoot Day again. Ok, not that happy an occasion, but an important one to help us step back and really let it sink it... just what we are doing here. Just what "unsustainability" means.
Here's the basics from the Global Footprint Network that tracks this stuff:
Unlike governments, nature doesn’t do bailouts. Yet as of today, humanity will have placed more demand on ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing food, fiber and timber– than nature can provide in this year, according to Global Footprint Network calculations. From now until the end of the year, we will meet our demand for ecological services by depleting resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Stay going.
.
Here's the basics from the Global Footprint Network that tracks this stuff:
Unlike governments, nature doesn’t do bailouts. Yet as of today, humanity will have placed more demand on ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing food, fiber and timber– than nature can provide in this year, according to Global Footprint Network calculations. From now until the end of the year, we will meet our demand for ecological services by depleting resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Stay going.
.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Implications of the Anthropocene
We've been slamming the table on this key point for some time in speeches, conversations, etc. - which is that as the magnitude, scope, and scale of human activity are now so large that we are a driving force in earth systems.
A group of 30 scientists just published a new article in Nature that digs into the planetary boundaries that our activities have crossed or threaten to cross... climate change is just one of 9 identified boundaries (they put the threshold for that one at 350 ppm).
Take 10 minutes to listen to the explanation:
The whole concept is a great step for mainstream science in that it begins to address inter-connectivity at the global scale and define clear boundaries and thresholds that we cannot cross. These kinds of constraints can be effective drivers for creativity and innovation (and not simply limits that imply sacrifice or lower life-quality). It essence it the same concept as sustainability principles, just taken a step further towards details and hard numbers in some of the major groups of material and energy flows. This is similar to the process any organization moving towards sustainability using the framework for SSD would do in terms of grouping activities under each principle and then measuring impacts and implementing solutions to eventually eliminate those impacts (which is in my view the only way to really ensure that we stay below thresholds and within "safe" limits).
Stay going.
.
A group of 30 scientists just published a new article in Nature that digs into the planetary boundaries that our activities have crossed or threaten to cross... climate change is just one of 9 identified boundaries (they put the threshold for that one at 350 ppm).
Take 10 minutes to listen to the explanation:
The whole concept is a great step for mainstream science in that it begins to address inter-connectivity at the global scale and define clear boundaries and thresholds that we cannot cross. These kinds of constraints can be effective drivers for creativity and innovation (and not simply limits that imply sacrifice or lower life-quality). It essence it the same concept as sustainability principles, just taken a step further towards details and hard numbers in some of the major groups of material and energy flows. This is similar to the process any organization moving towards sustainability using the framework for SSD would do in terms of grouping activities under each principle and then measuring impacts and implementing solutions to eventually eliminate those impacts (which is in my view the only way to really ensure that we stay below thresholds and within "safe" limits).
Stay going.
.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Help keep the Maldives above water...
Check out this quick message from the President of the Maldives, who is helping to ring the bell for 350:
And if you're around Cape Ann, join us on Oct. 24th at 1pm at the fisherman statue on the boulevard. RSVP here...
Stay going.
.
And if you're around Cape Ann, join us on Oct. 24th at 1pm at the fisherman statue on the boulevard. RSVP here...
Stay going.
.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A big week for the future of humanity
Lots of people are still fixated on healthcare. Or the Acorn scandal. But the real news this week (and every week until we start making real progress in decarbonizing our economies) is climate.
While the rest of the world is moving on, taking action and still waiting, asuming the US will wake up and lead, things on this side of the pond are looking pretty pesimistic in terms of liklihood of a meaningful climate bill this year and sufficient US leadership in Copenhagen. It is clear that time is tck tck tcking away.
But lots of people are stepping up to give it things a serious push this week. It's Climate Week NYC, helping to lay the ground work ahead of COP 15 in Copenhagen. Clinton's Global Initiative is going on with a big focus on climate. Obama made his first real speech on climate as president today. A group of 500 businesses executives pushed for international climate action today, stating in a release:
"Failure to find agreement would result in trade tensions and competitive distortions that not only threaten the foundations of our global economy, but also any future advances in sustainable economic and social development."
Later in the week is the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh and plenty of climate action, protests and awareness building stunts are planned. (but the Yes Men definitely took the cake in NYC today distributing fake copies of the Post - "We're Screwed" ... sad thing is, they might not be joking).
Taken all together is has the feel of a last gasp. Folks who understand the systemic challenge we're facing, the time delays in the system, the feedback loops, and the real face of climate disaster know this might be our last shot to really get serious about it. And the deaf ears upon which the message falls are filled with acorns.
But of course, we can't lose hope for Hopenhagen.... if you're on Cape Ann, be sure to come represent on Sat 10/24 at the Man at the Wheel statue - get details and learn more at http://www.350.org/capeann.
Stay going.
While the rest of the world is moving on, taking action and still waiting, asuming the US will wake up and lead, things on this side of the pond are looking pretty pesimistic in terms of liklihood of a meaningful climate bill this year and sufficient US leadership in Copenhagen. It is clear that time is tck tck tcking away.
But lots of people are stepping up to give it things a serious push this week. It's Climate Week NYC, helping to lay the ground work ahead of COP 15 in Copenhagen. Clinton's Global Initiative is going on with a big focus on climate. Obama made his first real speech on climate as president today. A group of 500 businesses executives pushed for international climate action today, stating in a release:
"Failure to find agreement would result in trade tensions and competitive distortions that not only threaten the foundations of our global economy, but also any future advances in sustainable economic and social development."
Later in the week is the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh and plenty of climate action, protests and awareness building stunts are planned. (but the Yes Men definitely took the cake in NYC today distributing fake copies of the Post - "We're Screwed" ... sad thing is, they might not be joking).
Taken all together is has the feel of a last gasp. Folks who understand the systemic challenge we're facing, the time delays in the system, the feedback loops, and the real face of climate disaster know this might be our last shot to really get serious about it. And the deaf ears upon which the message falls are filled with acorns.
But of course, we can't lose hope for Hopenhagen.... if you're on Cape Ann, be sure to come represent on Sat 10/24 at the Man at the Wheel statue - get details and learn more at http://www.350.org/capeann.
Stay going.
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