SEF News-Views Digest No. 168 (4-26-17)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher
Perhaps you’ve noticed that this newsletter is no longer being issued weekly, but every other week. I’ve pondered some options, questioning if the EROEI (energy returned on energy invested) makes this project tenable long term. I’ll probably continue producing it on alternate weeks, or perhaps periodically, or maybe not at all.
My quandary is a common one: prioritizing several interesting, worthwhile projects on which to focus my finite time and energies. Attaining the ripe age of 80 last month seems to have brought this topic to the fore, making it easier to address it. Researching, reading, writing, and publishing the newsletter have certainly presented positive challenges for an aging brain, and I’ve enjoyed participating in the process and publishing a worthy product. I intend to remain mentally active as long as possible, pursuing various intellectual and artistic activities.
Readers who have been receiving my newsletters from the beginning in 2013 are aware of some evolving changes in formatting, content, and style. The goal has been to produce a sustainability-oriented e-newsletter unlike any other that’s available, with contents that include a personal commentary and one-paragraph summaries of 20-30 articles offering views, news, and solutions. Also included are announcements of events and information associated with creating resilience and sustainability.
I realize that some readers think too much information is provided, and read very little, if any of it. Most readers probably read and/or skim a few articles. I suspect only a few read everything, even though it takes no more than 15 minutes or so. It’s easy to understand why. Like readers, I receive an inordinate amount of email, including newsletters, most of which I typically skim for essential information. The plethora of negative news reports—plus numerous requests from a multitude of worthwhile causes seeking activism and financial support—can be overwhelming.
The motivation in producing this newsletter is rooted in a deep concern about the acceleration of converging crises that humanity and the planet are facing. With great gratitude, Bettye and I have lived through what could well be the most extravagantly productive era of human history on Earth—the second half of the 20th century—when fossil-based energy was plentiful and cheap, and the world economy was expanding. But along with that constant economic growth were some “externalities” associated with modernity’s technological advances. The devastating long-term results include: profligate consumption; increasing amounts of waste products and pollution (air, land, and water); ongoing decline of all natural resources; and overpopulation, the main catalyst of all socio-ecological crises.
I confess that an abiding sense of moral responsibility weighs heavily on me, spurring a need for atonement; thus, this newsletter. The lifestyle benefits we’ve reaped were made possible by a socio-economic system that is increasingly growing untenable, especially for future generations. Regrettably, I sense that getting the public to understand the severity and precariousness of life in the 21st century and beyond might not occur in time to avert potential future catastrophes. Most readers will not feel the full effects of the changes that are coming, but it’s very likely that anyone alive at the turn of the 21st century will be experiencing a drastically different world. Several articles in Views and News sections provide ample support for such concerns.
So what can we do? First, become better informed on all major issues, always supported by critical thinking and analysis. Second, act constructively and positively in promoting community resilience, all sustainability causes, and effective political leaders. Third, accept the realities of living on a finite planet, and enjoy all that’s true, good, and beautiful—while it’s still possible!
Finally, I don’t know how long I’ll continue producing this newsletter, but I do know I’ll stop when it seems appropriate and timely. For certain, feedback from readers is appreciated—and welcomed!
SUSTAINABILITY VIEWS
> Huffington Post: Climate Change Is Ruining Farmers’ Lives, But Only A Few Will Admit It (Joseph Erbentraut). Federal research indicates that extreme weather events like droughts and floods can harm crops and reduce yields. Warmer weather can also mean more weeds and pests for crops, and more heat stress and disease for livestock. The limited research available on the topic indicates that most farmers agree that climate change is happening. Yet only a few—perhaps about 16 percent, according to one survey of Iowa farmers—seem to believe that human activities are a primary cause, even as a growing body of research shows that farming is a leading contributor to climate change and is responsible for as much as one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, due largely to livestock and use of synthetic fertilizers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration expresses climate skepticism and works to dismantle climate-change initiatives.
> Resource Insights: Living World: Should Natural Entities Be Treated As Legal Persons? (Kurt Cobb). It defies our normal modes of thinking that natural entities such as trees, rivers, mountains, lakes, and glaciers should be given legal standing in courts and public life. And yet we take as a matter of course the legal rights of other inanimate entities. Perhaps our most important blind spot is that we forget that we humans are natural entities as well. Ultimately, what’s at stake is what our relationship with other natural entities will be and whether it is in our interest to grant them legal rights. How we would be obliged to act if humans were classified as an endangered species under the law. What might we as a species be required to change to insure our own survival? The argument for legal rights for natural entities goes beyond human survival. It imagines that natural entities have worth in and of themselves and not just as materials necessary for human survival.
> Humanity’s Test: Exiting The Anthropocene (Roger Boyd). The beginning of the Anthropocene, the period when humanity became the predominant driver of changes in the Earth Systems, includes three main views: the period of the post-WW2 Great Acceleration; the beginning of industrialization; and even the European conquest and colonization of the rest of the world. Now, to exit the Anthropocene is to enter a period where humanity will be incapable of doing anything meaningful to stop climatic changes, which may occur abruptly. While the evidence mounts that the door to the end of the Anthropocene is opening wide, our society seems unable to grasp the scale and urgency of the danger. The Arctic is the canary in the Earth System. With temperatures now regularly 20 degrees centigrade above normal in parts of the Arctic it is apparent that it has already entered a period of abrupt climate change. We are close to the point where the Earth will tip over and start rolling by itself, ending the short Anthropocene.
> Resource Insights: Split Personalities: We Like Some Science, But Not All Of It (Kurt Cobb). We modern folk embrace what the sciences and technology have to offer, but refuse to believe that we live in the world described by those very sciences. The science of physics tells us that we live in a thermodynamic system that produces entropy. In the U.S. two-thirds of all energy used is wasted, resulting in increasing amounts of climate-changing CO2 in the atmosphere. We can keep increasing our wellbeing by drawing down the natural capital of the biosphere, but eventually this drawdown will drastically cut into the productivity of the biosphere. Although Earth’s resources are finite, there are people who claim with a straight face that resources are infinite, especially when considering other planets. What they do not take into account is the risk of systemic discontinuities, the type of systemic ruin that could come from climate change, resource extraction and new, untried technologies.
> Resilience: No More Devil’s Bargains (Aaron Vansintjan). Forty years ago, the rulers of the West made not one, but several Devil’s bargains: 1) The oil-to-arms deal made the 1970s; 2) The credit-for-resources deal, with Western banks lending money to colonies that could be paid later (debt); and 3) The promotion of cheap goods for cheap labor, a deal made with Western consumers. For a while economic growth was great, but the party couldn’t last. Another Devil’s bargain was made when the lifeblood of the economy, fossil fuels, was found to be toxic when consumed in high doses. Finally, the financial system became unwieldy. Now, options for the West include: 1) Increasing Neoliberalism policies (borrowing, increasing weapons, cutting government budgets, receiving migrants, increasing surveillance, etc.); 2) Promising a progressive liberalism approach, by slowly shifting to a better world while not challenging anything; and 3) Taking a conservative nationalism approach (sealing the gates, militarizing borders, increasing public spending, pumping oil, etc.) An alternative fourth option—progressive nationalism–will involve: 1) Stopping the arms trade; 2) Stopping credit-based finance; and 3) Ending cheap labor.
> Permaculture Research Institute: Do People Really Care About The Environment? (Angelo Eliades). The idea of caring for our planet may seem like self-evident common sense to the indigenous tribes of the world who live in close connection to the Earth. Likewise, for all other environmentally aware people worldwide, including green activists and practitioners of permaculture (who are supposed to live by the ethics of care for the people, care for the planet and taking only one’s fair share). To such people, the idea that others may not actually care for the planet may seem quite perplexing! Why would they not care for the natural systems that sustain their lives?
> Resilience: Limits To Economic Growth? (Brian Davey). This lecture was presented at the University of Nottingham on April 4, 2017. It is a lengthy presentation filled with slides, explanations, and information about the historical development of economic thought and practice, plus the effects produced, including environmental conflicts. Some positive solutions are offered, as indicated with the closing comment: “Many groups therefore share an overarching vision of the need for a Great Transition—and for “Degrowth”.
> Peak Prosperity: Where There’s Smoke… (Chris Martenson). Central banks around the world have colluded, if not conspired, to elevate and prop up financial asset prices. At the macro level, dumping hundreds of billions of freshly printed currency units into the financial markets each month without any question whatsoever, plays a huge role in keeping them elevated. A tumble from these heights would destroy jobs by the millions, wipe out trillions of (phony) wealth, and invite great populist angst opening up the possibility of truly horrible leaders to emerge. As I’ve quipped to some people, if you don’t like Trump you are going to positively *hate* whoever comes next—if the current wealth gap persists (or worsens). But make no mistake: it will be the ordinary people who will be forced to eat the losses when all this blows up.
SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
> U.S. News-Reuters: March For Science Draws Big Crowds, Clever Signs Across U.S. (Lacey Johnson & Lisa Fernandez). Tens of thousands of people turned out in cities across the United States and beyond on Saturday for Earth Day events billed as a “celebration of science” to counter what organizers say is a growing disregard for evidence-based knowledge in Washington. While the events were non-partisan according to organizers, many marchers were in effect protesting Trump’s proposal to sharply cut federal science and research budgets and his administration’s skepticism about climate change and the need to slow global warming. The marches put a new twist on the traditional Earth Day activities, the aim of which was to reaffirm “the vital role science plays in our democracy,” according to the march’s website. Festivities at one of the largest events on Washington’s National Mall included scientific “teach-ins” and musical performances. [See also: At Least 10K Gather At Capitol For Minnesota’s March For Science]
> Climate Progress: Arctic Meltdown: Sea And Land Ice Are Cracking Up At A Record Pace (Joe Romm). Driven by warming air and water temperatures, Arctic sea ice continues its death spiral. A big new crack has been found in a major outlet glacier of the Greenland ice sheet, and disintegration is accelerating. Last month set records for the lowest Arctic sea ice extent ever in March, as well as the lowest sea ice volume and lowest sea ice thickness. Faster melting of the land-based Greenland ice sheet causes faster sea-level rise. Greenland ice mass loss has tripled since 1997. In National Geographic’s Greendex Sustainable Consumption Index, American consumers ranked last in regard to sustainable behavior, while Chinese and Indian consumers rated highest. The main reasons why people don’t care about the environment are: 1) greed; 2) apathy; 3) technological utopianism; and 4) misinterpretation of religions. In sum, the way to change the world is to change how people think about it! [See also: Arctic River Ice Deposits Rapidly Disappearing]
> Climate News Network: Jet Streams Stumble As The World Warms (Tim Radford), Researchers have once again linked a sequence of devastating climate events to global warming fuelled by prodigal human use of fossil fuels. They believe they have identified the agency behind the blazing summers that have repeatedly claimed lives and destroyed livelihoods during this century. They argue in the journal Scientific Reports that human impact on the climate now reaches high into the stratosphere, influencing the behavior patters of the giant jet streams that carry heat and moisture around the northern hemisphere, and keep the weather on the move. “The unprecedented 2016 California drought, the 2011 US heat wave and 2010 Pakistan flood as well as the 2003 European hot spell all belong to a most worrying series of extremes,” says Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University. The researchers now have support for their suspicions: the jet streams that sweep the hemisphere in huge atmospheric waves, plunging between Arctic and tropics, bring changes of weather.
> Common Dreams: Wilder Fires And Rising Waters, Climate Impacts Coming To America’s Door (Lauren McCauley). Studies show that Americans are generally reluctant to perceive climate change as anything more than a moderate risk, seeing it as something that impacts people in more vulnerable, developing nations. The idea of a person becoming a climate change refugee seems similarly foreign. Mathew Hauer, a demographer at the University of Georgia, estimates that by the end of the century as many as 13.1 million Americans could find themselves displaced due to rising sea levels, forcing migrants to inland cities, ultimately “reshaping” the population landscape. The U.S. coastlines on the Gulf and Atlantic will be the most affected. At the same time, residents who live near drought-stricken areas of the western U.S. are going to increasingly see larger, more devastating forest fires—and researchers are beginning to recognize that the only way to deal with them is to get out of the way.
> LA Times: Status Of Forests Is ‘Dire’ As World Marks 2017 Earth Day (Ann M. Simmons). Since 1990 the world has lost the equivalent of 1,000 football fields of forests every hour. That’s 1.3 million square kilometers of forest, an area larger than South Africa, according to the international financial institution. Tropical regions are seeing the fastest loss of forests. Indonesia, with its thriving paper and palm oil industries, has lost at least 39 million acres since the last century. Brazil, Thailand, Congo and parts of Eastern Europe also have significant deforestation. Aside from the increased demand for food, energy and minerals, the clearing of forestland for agriculture “accounts for the lion’s share of the conversion of forests. Outright forest clearance could result in the loss of species, while degradation—where a forest’s quality is compromised—could reduce species’ ability to find food and reproduce and cause potentially dangerous exposure to humans. Moreover, deforestation and forest degradation have caused a surge of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according conservationists.
> The Washington Post: The U.S. Wind Industry Now Employs More Than 100,000 People (Brady Dennis). The U.S. wind industry, like renewable energy in general, is continuing to flourish. The fastest-growing occupation in the United States—by a long shot, is wind turbine technician. The number of workers maintaining wind turbines, a job with a median pay of about $51,000 a year, is set to more than double between 2014 and 2024. Wind energy remains a relatively minor part of the nation’s electricity mix, contributing about 5.5 percent of overall generation in 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration. Coal and natural gas, by contrast, account for nearly two-thirds of U.S. electricity generation. And the solar industry still employs more people than wind, about 260,000. The wind industry also faces other potential obstacles, such as the gradual phase out of a key federal tax incentive for wind energy investment that Congress extended in 2015.
> Inside Climate News: The Surprising List Of States Leading The U.S. In Clean Energy (Zahra Hirji). A new analysis, which ranks states in a dozen different ways, offers some intriguing results. Depending on what’s measured, many different states can claim laurels, according to the report published Thursday by the science advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists. And there are high performers among states led by Republicans and Democrats alike. Kansas led the nation in largest increase in renewable energy generation between 2011-15. Hawaii ranked No. 1 in residential solar power. In California, electric vehicles made up the highest percentage of new car sales last year. And in Iowa, in-state companies could most easily procure renewable energy from utilities and third-party providers in 2016 than anywhere else. While this report paints an optimistic picture of the U.S. clean energy industry, it faces new obstacles even in states when there has been progress.
> Big Think: 10 Companies That Control Just About Everything You Eat (Ned Dymoke). In today’s increasingly corporate world, we all have certain brand allegiances. They (sad but true) make us who we are in today’s America. But it might surprise you that the majority of items in American supermarkets are owned by about 10 companies: Nestlé, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, Associated British Foods, and Mondele. Each employs thousands and makes billions of dollars in revenue every year. The study, undertaken by Oxfam, is summarized in an impressive graphic.
> Star Tribune: Appetite Grows For Local Food, Fueling Land Rush In Twin Cities (Hannah Covington). Consumers, concerned about climate change and pesticides and food safety, have become much more willing to pay higher prices for food grown locally on smaller, sustainable farms. This “local food economy” as it’s been called, can be measured by the soaring number of farmers markets, which have quadrupled in the Twin Cities over the last 15 years, and by the grocery stores and restaurants where “locally grown” has taken root as a critical marketing pitch. That has set off a scramble for the land to grow those vegetables and fruits, especially 1- to 10-acre parcels close to metro area markets. More than 20 new community gardens were planted in the metro area in 2016, according to the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Gardening Matters. Last year, it counted 608 community gardens in the Twin Cities, up from 166 in 2009. The Minnesota Farmers’ Market Association estimates that there are about 60 farmers markets in the Twin Cities.
> Chicago Tribune: Don’t Count On That Government Pension (Terry Savage). Millions of Americans are expecting to receive a pension from the city or state that employs them. The nonprofit organization Truth in Accounting surveyed 237 municipal pension plans across the country, using newly required reporting data about pension underfunding, and found many pension funds in bad shape. This newly collected data should be frightening to those counting on a state or municipal pension. Of the 237 cities studied, 29 received an “F” grade, reflecting a funding ratio of less than 35 percent. Based on the size of unfunded pension liabilities, Chicago, NYC, and Portland, Oregon represent the most troubled cities. The largest unfunded promises in America come from the federal government and are related to Social Security, military, and federal worker retirement pension plans. But it is easier for the federal government to get away with underfunding pensions—because it can always print the money.
SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS
> Post Carbon Institute: Building A National Community Resilience Corps (Asher Miller). In 1934 Eleanor Roosevelt championed the formation of the National Youth Administration (NYA), which joined the better-known Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in providing incomes, skill building, and meaningful work for millions of young people. Young people today face their own share of economic and financial challenges, along with other, very real, fears about their future—most notably, the climate crisis. Considering the economic insecurity that even a smooth transition to a post-carbon economy will bring, might it be time to bring back the NYA or the CCC, or to establish something like these for the twenty-first century? One means of doing this would be to form a National Community Resilience Corps (NCRC), which would harness the untapped passion, creativity, and labor of millions of young people to implement projects to grow resilience and build sustainability in tens of thousands of communities across the country. [Chapter 18 excerpt: EarthEd: Rethinking Education on a Changing Planet]
> Waging Non-Violence: Preparing For The Next ‘Movement Moment’ (George Lakey). Jonathan Matthew Smucker’s new book—Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals—is timely, revealing deep learning from the important role he played in the Occupy movement. Smucker believes Occupy was unable to realize that potential partly because of its unwillingness to give up its specialness, its identity, as different from not only the 1 percent but most of the 99 percent as well. The problem, Smucker says, comes when we make the need for community more important than our mission. He also suspects another fear might be lurking beneath the surface: the fear of being powerful. It’s counter-intuitive, but people grow more extreme within homogeneous groups as a way to conform. Even fairly homogeneous groups can transcend such dynamics by centering on campaigns and cooperative businesses. Smucker’s book offers a kind of chart for diagnosing the condition of our own group’s culture.
> Resilience: Embracing Climate Truth And Escalating To Win: Excerpt (Anya Grenier). Most Americans today acknowledge that climate change is real, but the scale and urgency of the threat are not widely known. The premise of the Climate Mobilization is that if people did—if they recognized that they and their children are profoundly threatened by runaway global warming—they would want to do everything possible to save humanity from this fate. The crisis is too advanced for gradual, incremental measures to be effective. An all out, all-hands on deck emergency effort is our last, best hope for stopping runaway global warming. Which is why we are campaigning for a World War II-scale climate mobilization to end emissions in less than ten years, transform our agricultural system and use every tool we have to draw down the excess carbon in the atmosphere. For an in-depth explanation of how this rapid transformation could take place, please see our Victory Plan.
> TED TALKS: 3 Ways To Plan For The (Very) Long Term (Ari Wallach). We increasingly make decisions based on short-term goals and gains—an approach that makes the future more uncertain and less safe. How can we learn to think about and plan for a better future in the long term … like, grandchildren-scale long term? Wallach shares three tactics for thinking beyond the immediate: 1) trans-generational thinking; 2) futures thinking; and 3) telos thinking, which focuses on meaning and purpose.
> Becoming Minimalist: 9 Stress-Reducing Truths About Money (Joshua Becker). According to a recent survey, 71% of Americans identify money as a significant cause of stress in their lives. But money-related stress is not entirely a matter of simple dollars and numbers. Instead, the stress stems from the way we think about and interact with money and the solution is not as simple as “just add more.” This may mask the symptoms temporarily, but the anxiety always returns. Instead, the solution may be as simple (and as difficult) as changing the way we think about money entirely. Here are 9 stress-reducing truths about money: 1) You need less than you think: 2) Money won’t make you happy; 3) Money is not the greatest goal of your work; 4) Wealth has its own troubles; 5) The desire for riches robs us of life; 6) Boundaries are life giving (art thrives with limitations); 7) There is joy in giving money away; 8) The security found in money/possessions is fleeting at best; and 9) Money, at its core, is only a tool.
> Peak Prosperity: Does Your Plan B Include A Second Place To Live If Plan A Doesn’t Work Out? (Charles Hugh Smith). In case Plan A doesn’t work out, people with reasons for a Plan B break out into three general categories: 1) Preppers who foresee the potential for a breakdown in Plan A due to a systemic “perfect storm” of events that could overwhelm the status quo’s ability to supply healthcare, food and transportation fuels for the nation’s heavily urbanized populace; 2) People who understand their employment is precarious and contingent, and they might have to move to another locale if they lose their job and can’t find another equivalent one quickly; and 3) Those who tire of the stresses of maintaining Plan A and who long for a less stressful, less complex, cheaper and more fulfilling way of living. This inherent fragility of current modern society has long fueled interest in rural “bug-out” retreats, a topic I recently addressed in Having A ‘Retreat’ Property Comes With Real Challenges.
> Resilience: What An Energy Revolution Looks Like (Alexis Zeigler). Living Energy Farm (Louisa, Virginia) is a fully operational, modest-cost farm community that’s mostly self-supporting, and independent of fossil fuel use. Village-level use of renewable energy allows for a level of centralization and integration that works fantastically well. LEF has cooperative housing at LEF, no free-standing, single-family or “tiny houses.” Cooperative use of resources is the most important “technology”, which results in acquiring, building, and integrating better housing, water, and agricultural systems, and the various tools needed for support. The village grows and preserves much of their food. The goal with the direct drive economy is to build machines that are cheap and effective, and to store energy in forms other than electricity. Living a comfortable and happy life supported by renewable energy is easy if we are willing to adjust our lifestyles to the rhythms of nature.
> Ensia: How A New Way Of Thinking About Soil Sparked A National Movement (Steven Rosenzweig). The soil health movement is a management philosophy centered around four simple principles: reduce or eliminate tillage, keep plant residues on the soil surface, keep living roots in the ground, and maximize diversity of plants and animals. Some immensely successful farmers are growing more food while drastically reducing their inputs, like herbicides and fertilizers, which is the ultimate strategy for becoming more profitable. Benefits on top of profitability include enhancing the health of ecosystems we depend on. One of the most unexpected outcomes of the soil health movement is that groups that were once fighting each other are now working together to achieve the same goal. The soil health terminology made it possible for agroecological farming practices to emerge in mainstream American agriculture.[See also: The Key To Feeding The World? It’s Healthy Soil]
SUSTAINABILITY EVENTS
> Sierra Club: People’s Climate March Minnesota April 29, 2017• 2:30 PMMinneapolis, US Federal Courthouse, 300 4th Street S, Minneapolis, MN 55415. Host Contact Info: jessica.tritsch@sierraclub.org; Get Details & RSVP;
> MN350.Org: People’s Climate March-Washington, D.C. April 26-28. Several buses from MN: https://mn350.yapsody.com/event/index/63186/bus-mn-to-peoples-climate-march-in-dc
> Transition Twin Cities: Events: Northern Spark Transition Message—May, June; Transition Day in Northeast—May 6th; 1st National Gathering of Transition Towns US—July 27-31, Macalester College, St. Paul. For info: (http://transitiontwincities.org/).
> Citizen’s Climate Lobby: Regular Meetings And Events (www.citizensclimatelobby-mn.org); Meetings in 18 MN locations on the 2nd Saturday of each month to focus on bi partisan Carbon Fee and Dividend Legislation; 36 members of the US House on the Climate Solutions Caucus are involved.
> Clean Energy Resources Teams (CERTS). MN Energy Stories & Upcoming Events; Calendar.MnCERTs.org
> Beyond Pesticides: The 35th National Pesticide Forum: Healthy Hives, Healthy Lives, Lands: Ecological and Organic Strategies for Regeneration, April 28-29, U of MN Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Mpls.
> Transition Twin Cities: General Transition Mailing List (click here to sign up). NOTE: The National Transition Gathering, July 27-31, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
> MN Environmental Partnership (MEP) Upcoming Environmental Events. See website: http://www.mepartnership.org/events/ (search by month)
> MN350: Climate Campaigns And Projects. For a listing of campaigns, projects, and events, see: http://www.mn350.org/campaigns-projects/
> Alliance For Sustainability: Linking Citizens, Congregations And Cities For Sustainable Communities. See Projects: http://www.afors.org/
SUSTAINABILITY INFO
> World Population Balance: The Overpopulation Podcast: Episode 8: Small Family Campaigns & Incentives (Ethicists Colin Hickey & Jake Earl, with Director Dave Gardner); Listen here; One Planet, One Child (worldpopulationbalance.org); Preview: https://youtu.be/T4bed-He-Zk
> WTS: Weathering The Storm, Michael Conley, Founder-Speaker-Author, Seminars & Presentations; Several offerings: News Flash; Newsletter; Information Services; OLLI Course Hand-outs; Best Practices; Buy The Book (Lethal Trajectories)
> Conversation Earth: Conversation Earth–Exploring Our Place on the Planet (Dave Gardner, Interviewer). This weekly Radio Series & Podcast provides surprising perspectives from leading thinkers on the most important issues of our time. The latest: Travis Reader featured on Moral Basis for Small Families and Public Policy Brakes on Procreation?; and Cultural Metamorphosis and What Keeps Us Stuck? with Mike Nickerson.
> Resilience: Think Resilience – Preparing For The Rest Of The 21st Century. This course, consisting of 22 video lectures by Post Carbon Institute Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg, totaling about 4 hours), may be taken at your own leisure ($20) or in a six-week long guided course, facilitated by Richard himself (currently sold out).
> Population Growth: Population Clock – Poodwaddle World Clock. Watch the population increase minute by minute.
> Bloomberg News: Bloomberg Carbon Clock. A real-time estimate of the global monthly atmospheric CO2 level.
> US Debt Clock: U.S. National Debt Clock: Real Time. Every aspect of the economy is documented.
> Happy Planet Index. The HPI Index measures what matters: sustainable wellbeing, life expectancy, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint. America limps in at a thoroughly miserable 108th. About the HPI
