Ricardo’s Dream: Excerpt
Economists in the mainstream have typically looked down on the heretical ideas of these ecological economists and promoted a solution that leaves their core theories as little changed as possible: externalities.
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Egregious Inequality
Rather than exalting brains and our thoughts, a successful human culture will be suspicious of where these narcissistic, unconstrained, decontextualized shortcut machines might lead us, if left unchecked.
China holds the world’s climate future in its hands
China has its own fate in its hands, as well as the rest of the world. We can hope it will take the needed actions that will give us a fighting chance to hold at 1.5°C, or near it.
High rises made out of wood? What matters in whether ‘mass timber’ buildings are sustainable
A material that’s been around since people built shelters – wood – is increasingly being proposed for low- and mid-rise buildings.
Yuria Celidwen on Applying Indigenous Wisdom Traditions to Modern Challenges
So while ancient and modern commoners may share a disdain for capitalism, ancient wisdom traditions bring much more gravitas and insight to the challenges we face than, say, politicians and political parties.
Thank you for ruining my life
What does it feel like to be confronted with the uncomfortable realities of the systems synthesis? Is it worth it? And are you ready to join a growing community of changemakers leaning into this challenge?
Food: from commodity to commons
The ride will be easier if we halt the depletion of resources and the degradation of nature and build a regenerative food system now, before we are faced with the possibility of worrying whether we will get any food at all before going to bed.
How Republics Succeed, Falter, and Fail
The United States today faces inherent challenges that have weakened the republic, making lessons from the Roman Republic even more necessary to avoid greater political instability.
How Community Solar Can Liberate You From Fossil Fuels
Local and rural cooperative utilities can use community solar to meet unique place-based clean energy needs.
States have a shelf life of about 200 years
Thinking about civilisations as being time-limited immediately leads you to a particular perspective about them, which is in effect, that as civilisations age they are more likely to show signs of decline, in the same way that we can make the same kinds of assumptions about people.
The Dumb and Dumber Economy
If critical masses of people could recognise this fully, and join forces to finally say ‘enough!’ to this misleading belief about ‘making it’, perhaps there would be a real chance that something better could arise in its place.
The View from Washington (3)
It’s chaotic—perhaps surreal is a better word—here in Washington. In this third essay on Trump 2.0 and climate politics, I’ll be touching on the continuing transition activities of the Trump administration, both parties in Congress, and efforts by the Biden administration to Trump-proof his climate legacy.