Mann and Kump hit the nail right on the head when they say “there is no easy way to meet the world’s rising energy demands in a climate-friendly manner” (Dire Predictions p 161), and they are right. Nothing worth having is easily attainable.
Indeed, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from the energy, agricultural and transportation sectors will require investment of time and money on developing technologies. But while solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources have struggled to gain significant financial and federal support, corn-based ethanol has dominated the game. Consider this: of all 2007 federal subsidies allotted for […]
The Union of Concerned Scientist asserts that in order to prevent “dangerous” climate change, we must stabilize the global concentration of atmospheric green house gasses at 450 parts per million (ppm). Stabilization at or below this level, would provide a 50% or “medium chance,” of avoiding a temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius. […]
But as humanity faces the major challenge it has ever seen, it seems an opportune moment to redesign our value structures along with our energy systems. Is it time we forgo the pretty picture for the sake of the smart picture?
Continue reading about The pretty picture: clean energy edition
Humans are no different from other animals. Human population growth seems to be similar to rabbit population growth without predators. This continually increasing growth is unsustainable and may be part of the boom and bust cycle. Are humans smart enough to avoid the bust? We are an extremely adaptive species. We have reduced death rates […]
Continue reading about Population Adaptation: Are We Rabbits Without Wolves?
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