Author: Clifton Ware

UPCOMING EVENT

> SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION FORUM: DISCUSSION OF RELEVANT NEWS-VIEWS FOR 2015 (including information provided in SEF newsletters). Sat., Jan. 10^th, 2:30-4:30 p.m., St. Anthony Village Library, SAV Shopping Center, Pentagon Drive. Free. Info/RSVP: warex001@umn.edu

EDITOR (Clifton Ware)— Out With the Old, In With the New

Now that the holiday rush is subsiding, it’s likely that most folks are thinking ahead and making plans for the rapidly approaching New Year. I think we all agree that looking ahead constructively usually requires looking back over the past year to assess what’s been accomplished, overlooked, or postponed. A serious desire to improve life for our selves, and others, requires a candid appraisal of both achievements and unfulfilled objectives.

This time of year provides an excellent opportunity for taking stock of our accomplishments and our failures. I’ve certainly had my share of both, and I imagine you have as well. The saying that we learn more from our failures than from our successes rings true for me. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over my lifetime is that it’s OK to let go of anything that restrains a sense of freedom or hinders the accomplishment of worthwhile goals.

When principal values and goals have been determined, it’s easier to decide what should be dropped, as well as what should be adopted. Typically, unnecessary material things are the first to go, as I increasingly learn that we can live with much less stuff. Owning excessive stuff requires expending considerable time and effort caring for items, including cleaning, moving, or storing. So one recurring resolution is to continue going through stuff and getting rid of items that will likely never be used. Our intended mantra remains “reduce, reuse, recycle!”

Activities that drain energy and cause emotional stress are also on the chopping block. Who needs negative stress? Because of work and family obligations, younger people have limited options. But retirees, like me, appreciate the freedom we have to selectively choose pursuits. Regardless of age or life circumstances, everyone can improve his or her overall life. How? By focusing more on initiatives that foster positive opportunities, including time for convivial social relations, creative pursuits, recreational activities, and rewarding charitable work.

In creating greater resilience and sustainability, however, we face greater challenges. So learning as much as possible about economic, social, political, and environmental issues and conditions is a necessary first step. As the sayings go, “Being forewarned is being forearmed”, and “knowledge is power”.

As I’ve written previously, the mainline media primarily deliver news and views of institutionalized pundits dedicated to promoting the conventional “growth paradigm”, which some highly respected futurist experts claim is no longer creditable. The bad-but-factual news is that our finite planet cannot continue supporting a bulging human population that’s dedicated to constant material growth.

The good news is there’s plenty of room for growth in non-material terms, including personal growth in psycho-emotional and spiritual dimensions. And the same applies to communities committed to providing the basic needs of all citizens, while living in harmony with nature. Living more simply and frugally is a “degrowth lifestyle” concept that most Americans have yet to accept, but eventually will adopt in order to create adequate resilience and long-term sustainability. (See articles about degrowth in the Economy section)

Best wishes to you, your family, your friends and colleagues, and your community for continuing growth in the things that truly matter—in the New Year 2015!

ENVIRONMENT (Natural Resources-Wildlife-Climate)

> Climate Progress: What We Learned About Climate Change In 2014, In 6 Scary Charts (Joe Romm). The 2014 chart I consider the most important is the one that best captures our latest understanding of what has emerged as the greatest danger to humanity this century from human-caused climate change — Dust-Bowlification, and the threat to our food supplies.

> NPR (MPR): Arctic Is Warming Twice As Fast As Anyplace Else On Earth. Here’s the latest from the 2014 Arctic Report Card — a compilation of recent research from more than 60 scientists in 13 countries. The report was released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

> Resilience: Climate: The Crisis And The Movement. Allen White, Senior Fellow at the Tellus Institute, talks with writer and activist Naomi Klein, author of the new book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, about how our economic system has driven us to the point of crisis and how we can build a movement to confront the root causes of contemporary planetary perils.

> Common Dreams: What Climate Change Asks Of Us: Moral Obligation, Mobilization And Crisis Communication (Margaret Klein). The future of humanity falls to us. This is an unprecedented moral responsibility, and we are by and large failing to meet it. Passivity, in a time of crisis, is complicity. It is a moral failure. Crises demand that we actively engage; that we rise to the challenge; that we do our best.

> Daily Telegraph: Global Warming Blamed For ‘Worst Ever’ Marshall Islands Coral Bleaching. Coral bleaching is widespread across the northern Pacific, apparently due to greenhouse gas emissions causing elevated temperatures under climate change.

ENERGY (Fossil Carbon • Natural Resources • Renewables)

> The Archdruid Report: Déjà Vu All Over Again (J.M. Greer). What’s going on with the recent plunge in the price of oil and the apparent end of the fracking bubble is something that a number of us in the peak oil scene have been warning about for a while now. To start with, oil isn’t the only thing that’s in steep decline.

> Resilience: The Oil Price Crash Of 2014 (Richard Heinberg). Since it’s almost the end of the year, perhaps this is a good time to stop and ask: (1) Why is this happening? (2) Who wins and who loses over the short term? and (3) What will be the impacts on oil production in 2015?

> Resilience: Are Small-Scale Renewable Energy Grids Already Starting To Replace Mega-Utlility Corporations. The environmental magazine Ensia shows that lithium-ion battery prices have fallen by 40 percent since 2010 while solar panels are 80 percent cheaper than five years ago. Wind turbine prices have also fallen up to 35 percent from their 2008 high.

ECONOMY (Finances-Global-Local)

> CASSE-The Daly News: Peace, Love, And The Gift (James Magnus-Johnson). Today, money acts as a profane separator when seen as an end in itself rather than a means to an end. Rather than understanding money as a tool that helps facilitate the exchange of goods or truly improve our quality of life, we tend to see money–its accumulation and growth–as the ultimate end

> Feasta: Degrowth – A Vocabulary For A New Era: Review (Brian Davey). Reviewer Davey respects parts of the book but weighs in with some keen insights as to its shortcomings.

> DeGrowth: Revolution, Part 1: The End of Growth? (Nafeez Ahmed). New research suggests that the ongoing global economic crisis is symptomatic of a deeper crisis of industrial civilization’s relationship with nature. The continuation of the crisis is part of major phase shift to a new form of civilization that could either adapt to post-carbon reality and prosper, or crumble in denial. See also: Revolution, Part 2: The New Paradigm (An summary comparison of old vs. new paradigm)

> USA Watchdog: Financial Fantasy Land Continues To Prevent Collapse (Bill Holter). The entire distribution chain runs on credit, and if credit seizes or even hiccups, you could very well see a panic and shelves clean up lock, stock and barrel.” This same thing could happen in America.

EXPECTATIONS-ENLIGHTENMENT (Ideas • Knowledge – Psychology – Beliefs)

> The Conversation: Even Climate Change Experts And Activists Might Be In Denial. For at least a century, psychoanalysis has taught us that we might be consciously thinking and saying one thing, but unconsciously doing another. In this context that means people are very consciously aware of the threats posed by climate change, even if they aren’t doing too much about it.

> Resource Insights: Greed Explained: J. Paul Getty, Aristotle And The Maximum Power Principle (Kurt Cobb). Do we–meaning the human species as a whole–have any choice in the matter? Or are we as a species destined to live by the Maximum Power Principle to its seemingly inevitable and calamitous conclusion–a story in which the drive for maximum energy gain is no longer adaptive, but rather dangerous to the continued existence of humankind?

> Huffington Post: Everything’s Coming Together While Everything Falls Apart (Rebecca Solnit).  Americans are skilled in a combination of complacency and despair that assumes things cannot change and people are powerless to change them. One has to be abysmally ignorant of history and current events not to see that our country and our world have always been changing, occasionally through the power of the popular will and idealistic movements.

EQUALITY (Equity-Health-Social Concerns)

> Common Dreams: Wealth Gap Between Rich And Poor Americans Highest On Record. An analysis released Wednesday by Pew Research Center finds that the wealth gap between the top 21 percent of families and everyone else is the widest since the Federal Reserve began collecting such income data 30 years ago.

> Inequality.Org: Program On Inequality And The Common Good. The Program on Inequality and the Common Good focuses on the dangers that growing inequality pose for U.S. democracy, economic health and civic life.

ENGAGEMENT (Goals-Activism-Solutions)

> Peak Prosperity: An Opportunity To Live Resiliently (Adam Taggart). After watching the Crash Course, who among us hasn’t felt insecure with where we live? The idea of a sustainable community has a powerful allure. But what exactly is a “sustainable community” anyways? How do you find one? What’s it like to live there? How do you know if it’s all going to work out in the long run?

> Resilience: Connecting With Nature: Farmsters + Citizen Science. Getting back to the roots. What does it really mean? Check out this 30-minute discussion on radio.

> Grain: Food Sovereignty: 5 Steps To Cool The Planet And Feed Its People.  A worldwide redistribution of lands to small farmers and indigenous communities – combined with policies to support local markets and ecological agriculture – can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by half within a few decades, significantly curb deforestation and meet the food needs of the world’s growing population.

> Star Tribune: Some Minnesotans Garden Under The Snow. In Dawn Pape’s Shoreview yard, under a blanket of snow, is a polycarbonate-topped, 2- by 8-foot box, or “cold frame” that contains healthy spinach, kale, salad greens and other veggies growing in the frigid ground. Cold-weather gardening is not for everyone, but a hardy few are giving it a try.

> Product Design & Development: Vehicles Powered by Electricity from Renewables Could Save Lives.  Driving vehicles that use electricity from renewable energy instead of gasoline could reduce the resulting deaths due to air pollution by 70 percent.

> E&E Publishing: Commuting By Bike Begins To Roll, Lowering Emissions And Enriching Cities. An unfinished billion-dollar urban planning project set to connect downtown Atlanta with green spaces, affordable housing, and trails for biking and walking may already be paying dividends.

> Yes! Magazine: Walking: The Secret Ingredient For Health, Wealth, And More Exciting Neighborhoods (Jay Walljasper). Over recent decades, walking has come to be widely viewed as a slow, tiresome, old-fashioned way to get around. But that’s changing now as Americans recognize that traveling by foot can be a health breakthrough, an economic catalyst, and the route to happiness.

EVENTS AND INFORMATION

> Minnesota Environmental Partnership: Minnesota’s Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment
 Fifth Anniversary Celebration and Forum,
Thurs., Jan.15, 2015, Noon to 6 p.m. (program begins at 12:30)
 Minneapolis Marriott Northwest,
7025 Northland Drive North, Brooklyn Park, MN 55428 
Fee: $10.To register click here.

> CERTs: CERTs 2015 Conference: Community Driven Clean Energy, March 10-11, 2015, St. Cloud, MN Agenda; Register to Attend

 Gratitude for the Little Things in Life (Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher)

Here we are, celebrating another Thanksgiving season. For Bettye and me, Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday, primarily because it represents a time for acknowledging our good fortune, and sharing nourishment and convivial fellowship with family members. This season has been a bit colder, snowier, and wetter than usual, but as long as the heat and electricity are functioning, we’re very grateful.

Another reason for appreciating this special holiday is the perception that it offers an occasion to be thankful for what we have, and, hopefully, to ignore the pervasive commercialism associated with accumulating and dispersing more stuff than we need to live well. Nevertheless, some businesses will initiate the Christmas holidays’ shopping mania a day early: on Thanksgiving Day!

Isn’t Black Friday early enough; indeed much too early? The growing Holiday Shopping Creep gets longer every year, and I hope that you will join us in foregoing the frantic rush to buy, buy, buy. Admittedly, society’s ingrained commitment to production and consumption of goods and services may be beneficial in creating short-term economic stability; but does the current economic system, which is based on constant economic growth, provide stability and security over the long term? Some highly reputable experts think not, including Richard Heinberg, Chris Martenson, and Herman Daly, all of whom are featured fairly regularly in this newsletter.

In the past decade I’ve worked on cultivating an attitude of gratitude, reinforced by a daily meditative-prayerful litany honoring a wide range of persons and things for which I’m grateful. I begin with expressing gratitude for life, body-mind health and healthcare, basic needs, freedom, and nature, and continue by acknowledging the contributions of parents, family, friends, mentors, colleagues, and all who have influenced my life in special ways. Gratitude is also extended to all persons embracing a love of nature, including our unique human role in a universal ecosystem, as one species among many enjoying life on this fantastically beautiful and hospitable planet.

To continue this theme of gratitude and emphasis on the little things in life, I highly recommend a recent article by Stephanie Castillo titled The Science Of Gratitude: It Really Is The Little Things.

NOTE. We’ll be touring Turkey Dec. 3-19, so the next newsletter will be sent Dec. 31^st, in time for the New Year 2015. Here’s wishing you and yours a very joyful celebration of holiday seasons.

ENVIRONMENT (Natural Resources-Wildlife-Climate)

> Common Dreams: Planet Already On ‘Unavoidable Course To Warming’: World Bank Report. The WB reports: “Even very ambitious mitigation” can’t change the fact that the world has already “locked in” mid-century warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial times”, indicating increased threats to food and water security and jeopardizing poverty-reduction efforts.

> Star Tribune: Commentary: No, It Doesn’t Mean Global Warming Is Myth (Chris Mooney).  It’s important to keep in mind that just because it is very cold in the U.S. doesn’t mean that you should question the overall warming trend for the planet. Weather shifts heat and cold around — we know that. We also know our own local experiences inherently bias us, since we only live the weather in one place.

> NRDC-On Earth:  Hot Times, Cold Comfort. Last month was the hottest October on record, according to data from NASA and the Japanese Meteorological Agency. That’s going back to at least 1880, when global record keeping began. May, June, August, and September were all record breakers, too.

> CASSE-The Daly News: Animal Welfare: Seeing The Forest For The Denizens (Brian Czech). The most prevalent source of animal suffering is habitat destruction. Habitat includes food, water, cover, and space. When any of these elements are destroyed or depleted, wild animals suffer and often die more miserable deaths than if killed by hunters or predators.

> World Wildlife Fund: Five Ways Food Impacts Our Planet. The average American will eat nearly one ton of food in a year: That is almost 2,000 pounds per person! Our need for food is one of the biggest threats our planet faces—and the impacts from food production, distribution, management and waste also threaten wildlife and wild places.

ENERGY (Fossil Carbon • Natural Resources • Renewables)

> Resilience-Our Finite World: Eight Pitfalls In Evaluating Green Energy Solutions (Gail Tverberg). Does the recent climate accord between US and China mean that many countries will now forge ahead with renewables and other green solutions? I think that there are more pitfalls than many realize, at least 8.

> MPR: Oil Boom, Pipeline Safety Put Enbridge On The Spot. Plans for a new oil pipeline across northern Minnesota are bringing increased scrutiny to Enbridge. Federal data show 49 spills since 2002 on Enbridge lines in Minnesota.

> Earth Justice: A Climate Solution Within Reach: Coming Clean: The State Of U.S. Renewable  Energy. How does your state stack up on the road to a cleaner energy future? 8 states, including Minnesota, rank at the top.

> University of Michigan News: Lean Times Ahead: Preparing For An Energy-Constrained Future. According to environmental psychologist Raymond De Young, at some point in this century the era of cheap and abundant energy will end, and Western industrial civilization will likely begin a long, slow descent toward a resource-limited future characterized by “involuntary simplicity.”

> Huffington Post: Challenging (Crude) Convention. Instead of being on the dawn of a new age of plenty, a careful analysis of all available data indicates the probability of near to mid-term trouble even maintaining current levels of production, let alone eliminating the chasm between US production and consumption.

ECONOMY (Finances-Global-Local)

> Peak Prosperity: Energy & The Economy – Crash Course Chapter 22 (Adam Taggart). We know that energy is required for both growth and complexity, that surplus energy is shrinking and that the age of cheap oil is over.  We know that because of this oil costs will consume an ever-greater proportion of our total budget. And with these known facts, come along specific risks.

> Economy & Markets Daily: The Economy’s Ebb And Flow (Harry Dent). It’s human nature to overdo and over shoot everything. That’s why the economy and markets have natural mechanisms for re-balancing. Inflation stimulates investments that bring inflation down and then benefit the economy for decades to come — the killer apps like the assembly line in 1914 and the PC in the late 1970s.

> CNBC News: Rich Hoard Cash As Their Wealth Reaches Record High. With the annual gross domestic product of the U.S. closing in on the $17 trillion mark, according to the World Bank, this means that the ultra-rich now have almost twice the wealth of the world’s largest economy. Their global population will reach 250,000 individuals in the next five years, an increase of 18 percent.

> Huffington Post: Seven Years After: Why This Recovery Is Still A Turkey (Dean Baker). Usually an economy would be fully recovered from the impact of a recession seven years after its onset. Unfortunately, this is not close to being the case now.

EXPECTATIONS-ENLIGHTENMENT (Ideas • Knowledge – Psychology – Beliefs)

> The Archdruid Report: Facts, Values, And Dark Beer (J. M. Greer). The notion that life has to justify itself to me seems, if I may be frank, faintly silly, and so does the comparable claim that I have to justify my existence to it, or to anyone else.

> Resilience: A Two-Century Fight For The Small, The Local And The Beautiful (Allan Carlson). Living simply and well through the self-sufficiency of the home economy, finding meaning and identity in family and community as expressed through song and dance, and joyfully submitting to the cadences of nature: these were the common attributes of the American Agrarians.

> Resilience: Learning From Icarus (Erik Aassadourian). The challenge is ensuring that all our efforts to become more resilient make us more sustainable—and vice versa. But even if we fail at that, we should still work to stop any ‘resilience’ projects that serve to extend the reach and robustness of the consumer society. That, at least, may help cushion our eventual fall when we crash into the proverbial sea.

> MSN News: Doomsday Pope Warns Man’s Greed Will Destroy World. At the Second International Conference on Nutrition, the Pope cautioned that if men continue to be greedy about abusing natural resources to make a profit, the earth will eventually take her revenge, the Daily Mail reported.

> Resource Insights: Nuclear War: A Forgotten Threat To Human Sustainability (Kurt Cobb).  The possibility of a new Cold War between Russia and the United States and its NATO allies brings with it the spectre of nuclear war, an all-but-forgotten threat since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

EQUALITY (Equity-Health-Social Concerns)

> Common Dreams: Do We Live On A One-Party Planet? (Martin Kirk). Introducing a new digital pamphlet designed to connect the dots on advanced-stage, 21st Century neoliberalism. “There is a force so broad, so enmeshed within the logic of modern global power, that the solutions we all work toward in the specific struggles we care most about – be that rampant inequalities in income and opportunity, widespread poverty, or climate change – are all facing it.”

> Star Tribune: Gen X Struggles As Baby Boomers, Millennials Hog Spotlight (Jackie Crosby). Generation X is struggling to come into its own, crushed between the aging baby boomers and the rising wave of millennials.

> Huffington Post: Nutrition Policies Can Address Inequalities (Michael F. Jacobson). The analysis of Americans’ diets shows just how important the campaign against trans fat has been to the public’s health — especially that of low-income Americans — and why FDA needs to bring it home.

ENGAGEMENT (Goals-Activism-Solutions)

> Sustainable America: How To Have A 100-Mile Thanksgiving (And other tips for more sustainable holidays!). In the spirit of using less fuel and supporting local farms and food artisans, we challenge you to try a 100-mile Thanksgiving (ingredients sourced from within 100 miles of your dinner table).

> US Government: Toolkit For Addressing The Challenges Of A Changing Climate (http://toolkit.climate.gov/) Here are some helpful strategies in building resilience for individuals and communities.

> Yes! Magazine: 10 Climate Conscious Cities—Electric Cars, Rooftop Farms, And Other Ways They’re Preparing For The Future. There’s no time to waste when it comes to acting on climate change. The world’s most forward-thinking cities are curbing carbon and building for a sustainable future, now.

> Our World: New Research Says Plant-Based Diet Best For Planet And People. Examining almost 50 years’ worth of data from the world’s 100 most populous countries, University of Minnesota Professor of Ecology G. David Tilman and graduate student Michael Clark illustrate how current diet trends are contributing to ever-rising agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and habitat degradation.

> Resilience: Atamai Village: An Experiment In Resilient Community. If you clue in to the kinds of dramatic changes that are coming with limits to growth, climate, energy, etc. you come to realize the personal consequences and implications: An essential element of a re-localized new paradigm is a new kind of human settlement – a resilient community.

EVENTS AND INFORMATION

> Growth Busters: Free Online Movie on Black Friday— GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth. See this short trailer. Visit GrowthBusters channel Friday and the film will be featured and easy to find.

Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

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FEATURED EVENTS (More Events at End)

> THIRD ANNUAL EVENT: SUSTAINABILITY FAIR, Thurs., Nov. 20^th, 5:30-8:00 p.m., Silverwood Park Visitors Center, St. Anthony Village (Map). Co-sponsored by the cities of St. Anthony Village, Lauderdale, and Falcon Heights, in collaboration with Three Rivers Park District and U of MN sustainability faculty and students. Exhibits include poster projects presented by 43 students and 20 exhibits presented by local sustainability groups, including CFS. Free and open to the public. 

EDITOR — Hey, Ho, Let’s Go To The Fair!

As the above “featured event” shows, a unique sustainability fair will be held Thursday evening in the eco-friendly visitor center at beautiful Silverwood Park, a natural oasis in the northeast area of the Twin Cities metro. Citizens interested in sustainability are a very supportive group, so a respectable turnout is expected.

As one of the U.S’s top-rated progressive states, Minnesota ranks high in most lifestyle categories — economy, politics, education, environment, social programs, health, and so on. Twin Citians, in particular, are fortunate to have plentiful opportunities for participating in sustainability events and initiatives. Any sustainability enthusiast can select specific areas of interest to pursue, including causes related to protecting endangered species, promoting local food programs, cleaning up waterways, reducing pollution, promoting renewable energy, and working on climate change issues, among other worthwhile pursuits. In sum, there’s something for everyone.

Sustainability fairs provide a prime opportunity for gaining a broader and deeper perspective of relevant issues. They also provide a gathering place for networking with like-minded citizens and establishing collaborative connections. By participating—as a presenter, an exhibitor, a performer, an organizer, or as an observer—the sustainability movement gains strength, and the requisite power for making substantial progress. So let’s go to the fair!

P.S. Don’t miss the movie preview of Origins (see following listing).

ENVIRONMENT (Natural Resources • Wildlife • Climate)

> Well.org: Origins: Our Roots, Our Planet, Our Future (http://origins.well.org/movie/).  The film crew spent the last four years traveling the world to make this piece and, as part of their directive to “help the world first”, they are opening it up for this no-cost world premier preview window for all to enjoy. It will be available until Nov. 22, so view it soon!

> On Earth: Interstellar: Could The New Film Be A Survival Guide For The Planet? Here’s the basic plot: The environment gets so bad that Earth is no longer a suitable habitat for Homo sapiens. As our species hangs in the balance, a handful of amateur astronauts head off into space to find another home.

> Scientific American: 7 Solutions To Climate Change Happening Now (David Biello). Even as the world continues to spew more carbon pollution, change has begun—and is accelerating—regardless of the political scene in D.C.

> Ecological Gardening: Where Do We Find Beauty In A Landscape? (Adrian Ayres).  As our climate changes, hedgerows and greenways could be crucial not only for their carbon-storage properties, but also for their ability to serve as corridors linking larger, wilder areas so that animals and even plants can migrate to more favorable habitats.

> CBS News: Salt-Water Fish Extinction Seen By 2048. The apocalypse has a new date: 2048.That’s when the world’s oceans will be empty of fish, predicts an international team of ecologists and economists. The cause: the disappearance of species due to overfishing, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change.

ENERGY (Fossil Carbon • Natural Resources • Renewables)

> Peak Prosperity: Shale Oil – Crash Course Chapter 21 (Expensive, Over-Hyped, and Short Lived). If you’ve watch the previous video chapter on Peak Cheap Oil, you may be wondering how any of that could be still be true given all the positive recent stories about shale oil and shale gas, many of which have proclaimed that “Peak Oil is dead”. The only problem with this story is that it is misleading in some very important ways. And entirely false in others.

> Resilience: Watching The Watchdogs: 10 Years Of The IEA World Energy Outlook (David MacLeod). Over the last decade the IEA World Energy Outlook has gradually moved from rosy to pessimistic reports, or “increasingly reality-based.” Projected oil demand has gradually decreased by 20 million barrels per day (mb/d), and the projected costs have continued to rise. Yet even their most pessimistic reports fail to capture true reality, largely because of politics.

> On Earth: Dirty Legacy. (article, plus videos) Exposing the lax regulation and health risks of Alberta’s tar sands industry.

> NEF Blog: Energy Round-Up: The Road To Decarbonisation? The latest energy and climate news – subscribe now to get updates straight to your inbox.

> Grist: With Eyes In The Sky, Researchers Try To Link Fracking And Illness. Fracking has long been the oil and natural gas industry’s best-kept secret – in particular, the chemicals found in fracking fluids, which have been linked to a host of weird mystery ailments, like respiratory or gastrointestinal distress.

ECONOMY (Local/Global • Wealth • Finances)

> The Atlantic: Why Aren’t Milennials Saving Money? (Bourree Lam)  This mistrust of banks, along with historically low income and investment, is added to the fact that saving money is just really hard—for everyone. It may be that we need to trick ourselves to do it: Harvard economist David Laibson has some suggestions on how to raise the savings rate for those with jobs, namely an opt-out (rather than an opt-in) system that would make it easier for Americans to save.

> Bloomberg: World Economy Worst In Two Years, Europe Darkening, Deflation Lurking: Global Investor Poll (Rich Miller). Much of the concern is again focused on the euro area: Almost two-thirds of those polled said its economy was weakening while 89 percent saw disinflation or deflation as a greater threat there than inflation over the next year.

> CASSE-The Daly News: Use And Abuse Of The “Natural Capital” Concept (Herman Daly).  In the ecosystem money is fungible, natural stocks are not; money has no physical dimension, natural populations do. Exchanges of matter and energy among parts of the ecosystem have an objective ecological basis. They are not governed by prices based on subjective human preferences in the market.

> The Guardian: US Wealth Inequality – Top 0.1% Worth As Much As The Bottom 90% (Angela Monaghan). Over the past three decades, the share of household wealth owned by the top 0.1% has increased from 7% to 22%. For the bottom 90% of families, a combination of rising debt, the collapse of the value of their assets during the financial crisis, and stagnant real wages have led to the erosion of wealth. See also: Why Economic Inequality Leads To Collapse.

> Resilience: Frugal Value: Designing Business For A Crowded Planet (Carina Millstone).  Growth seems to have become an end in itself. In this article, I critically examine the notion of business growth in our time, reflecting on the purpose, nature and workings of individual firms in the age of the Anthropocene.

EXPECTATIONS (Knowledge • Psychology • Beliefs • Views • Future)

> The New York Review of Books: Can Climate Change Cure Capitalism? (Elizabeth Kolbert). In Naomi Klein’s ambitious new polemic, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, “ she claims that “Climate change can’t be solved within the confines of the status quo, because it’s a product of the status quo . . . Our economic system and our planetary system are now at war.” The only hope of avoiding catastrophic warming lies in radical economic and political change.

> Yes! Magazine: 7 Ways To Get Happy—Without Costing The Planet (Sarah Van Gelder).  The starting point is to realize we have choices—like meaningful work, authentic relationships, and gratitude. [Adapted from Sustainable Happiness: Live Simply, Live Well, Make a Difference, edited by Sarah van Gelder and YES! Magazine staff; published by Berrett Koehler. Order now at yesmagazine.org/happiness-book.

> HowEricLives: Energy And The Future Of Food (Eric Garza). The problems we must overcome procuring food over the next 100 years will differ from those we’ve faced before, both in their complexity and their magnitude.

EQUITY (Equality • Health • Social Concerns)

> Common Dreams: The Unforgiven: How College Debt Is Crushing A Generation.  According to the report (pdf), the average bachelor-degree graduate—along with a diploma of increasingly questionable value— leaves school with and an average of $28,400 in personal debt. That number is a full 2 percent increase over 2012.

> Common Dreams: Study: More Homeless Children Now Than Any Point In US History (Jon Queally). Prepared by the National Center on Family Homelessness, the report—America’s Youngest Outcasts (pdf)—shows that with poverty and inequality soaring in recent years, approximately 2.5 million children in 2013 found themselves without a roof over their head or place to call home.

> New Republic: Extreme Wealth Is Bad For Everyone—Especially The Wealthy (Michael Lewis).  In a 2014 book, Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Crust by Darrell M. West, the author notes that the concentration of wealth in the top 1 percent of American citizens has returned to levels not seen in a century. One percent of the population controls a third of its wealth, and the problem is only getting worse: from 1979 to 2009 after-tax income for the top 1 percent rose by 155 percent while not changing all that much for everyone else.

> Common Dreams: The Super-Rich And Sordid Tales Of Selfishness (Paul Buchheit). Compelling research has demonstrated that the accumulation of wealth leads to a sense of entitlement and qualities of narcissism. For example, rich people are more likely to flout traffic laws, to take items of value from others, and to cheat when necessary to win a prize or position.

> On the Commons: Walking Is Going Places (Jay Walljasper). Sixty percent of Americans would prefer to live in a neighborhood with stores and services within easy walking distance, according to a recent survey from the National Association of Realtors, nearly twice as many who want to live where stores can be reached only by car.

ENGAGEMENT (Goals • Activism • Solutions)

> ENSIA: To Feed The World In 2050 We Have To Change Course (Timothy A. Wise).  In order to feed a growing population we need to focus on reducing biofuel production and food waste (one third) and spoilage. A U.N. report confirmed that the best area to invest in agriculture is small-scale farming, where the “yield gaps” are the largest and where hunger in the most prevalent.

> Shareable: Community Supported Everything Incubates Social Change In Portland. When people are faced with a dire community challenge, they often turn to their neighbors to create a solution. There’s something powerful about starting where you are, with what you have, with the support of those around you.

> RedOrbit: Fish And Vegetable Diet Could Save The Planet As Well As Our Lives (Jon Hopton). The best diet for both humans and the planet is one built around local foods, especially fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains. If you eat meat and dairy products, make sure they’re local and make sure they’re organic. Also, avoid “empty calories” such as sugar, fat, oils and even alcohol, which are contributing to greenhouse gases and poor human health.

> MinnPost: Community Voices: Agriculture And Climate Change: A Cause, A Victim And A Potential Solution (Katie Siegner). Properly managed soil is a natural carbon sink, and organic farming is increasingly recognized as a viable, more adaptable, and healthier alternative to conventional modern agriculture.

> Sierra Club: How Solid Waste Is Doing You A Solid (Chelsea Leu). Many zoos compost thousands of tons of manure produced by herbivores like giraffes and rhinos, converting poop to nutrient-rich fertilizer that they sell, give away, or use to enrich their grounds. But the Toronto Zoo is taking their composting to the next level: building the first zoo-based biogas plant in North America.

MORE EVENTS

> MN350-MCAD: Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (feature-length documentary of a filmmaker’s undercover investigation of the cattle industry). Sun., Nov. 23, 6:30 p.m., MN Institute of Arts Auditorium. 2501 Stevens Ave, Mpls. Free (donation requested).

> U of MN Arboretum: Winter Farmers Market, Sat., Nov. 29^th, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Oswald Visitor Center. Learn more >

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Will Technology Save Us? (Clifton Ware, Editor/Publisher)

One of the optimistic themes underpinning the functioning of modern society is the common belief that science and technology will save civilization from any future calamities.

Some of the latest projected technical wizardries include: seeking new forms of plentiful, cheap energy; developing space travel; mining for precious minerals on asteroids; engineering ever-more genetically modified organisms; and, most significantly for civilization, artificially modifying Earth’s climate systems through geoengineering.

Advocates of the “dark green environmentalism” persuasion (like me) seriously question the “bright green environmentalism” tribe’s undying faith in technology to solve all of humankind’s challenges. I hasten to add that dark greens do embrace science and the scientific method, especially open-minded searches for answers and solutions based on confirmable evidence.

As humanity continues seeking ways to create a resilient, sustainable future, dark greens advocate finding an equitable balance between unbridled technology and judicious technology. For a brief overview of light, bright, and dark green environmentalism, go to bright green environmentalism (Wikepedia).

I discovered an article this week that addresses this issue with admirable substance, clarity and passion. Actually, it’s a recorded talk, with transcript, of a presentation given by Jerry Mander at the recent International Forum on Globalization “teach-in” (Techno-Utopianism and the Fate of the Earth), which took place October 25th-26th in New York City.

Jerry Mander is the founder, former director, and presently distinguished fellow of the International Forum on Globalization (IFG), a San Francisco “think tank” that, since 1994, has focused on exposing the negative impacts of economic globalization, and the need for economic transitions toward sustainable local economies. Click here to read and/or hear Mander’s talk: Questions We Should Have Asked about Technology.

ENVIRONMENT (Natural Resources-Wildlife-Climate)

> Resilience: Wild Carbon (Courtney White). “You cannot save the land apart from the people or the people apart from the land. To save either, you must save both.” ~ Wendell Berry. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the landmark Wilderness Act, so I thought I’d add a carbon perspective to the debate: Is there a role for wilderness in the twenty-first century?

> Huffington Post: Tuesday’s Election: A Record Day For Land Conservation (Will Rogers). One clear message was delivered: Americans cherish land and water and want to protect the special places they hold dear. And they sent that message most clearly in three large states — Florida, New Jersey and California –approving record spending to protect land and water. Voters approved 35 local and statewide measures, generating a record $13 billion in funding for conservation purposes.

> NY Times: U.S. And China Reach Climate Accord After Months Of Talks. China and the United States made common cause on Wednesday against the threat of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases.

> Huffington Post: The Big Climate Deal: What It Is, And What It Isn’t (Bill McKibben).  If we want this to be a start, and not a finish, we’ve got to build even bigger and more powerful movements that push the successors of these gentlemen to meet what science demands. Today’s an achievement for everyone who’s held a banner, signed a petition, and gone to jail — and a call for many more to join us going forward!

> New York Times: Climate Tools Seek to Bend Nature’s Path. Once considered the stuff of wild-eyed fantasies, ideas for countering climate change — known as geoengineering solutions, because they intentionally manipulate nature — are now being discussed seriously by scientists. The National Academy of Sciences is expected to issue a report on geoengineering later this year.

ENERGY (Fossil Carbon-Natural Resources-Renewables)

> Peak Prosperity: Peak Cheap Oil – Crash Course Chapter 20. Energy is the lifeblood of any economy.  But when an economy is based on an exponential debt-based money system and that is based on exponentially increasing energy supplies, the supply of that energy therefore deserves our very highest attention.

> Our Finite World: Oil Price Slide – No Good Way Out (Gail Tverberg). The world is in a dangerous place now. A large share of oil sellers needs the revenue from oil sales. They have to continue producing, regardless of how low oil prices go unless they are stopped by bankruptcy, revolution, or something else that gives them a very clear signal to stop. History shows that many economies have collapsed because of diminishing returns.

> ASPO-USA: Peak Oil Review – 03 November 2014 (Tom Whipple).  Here’s a weekly roundup of peak oil news, including: Oil and the Global Economy; The Middle East and North Africa; Russia/Ukraine; Quote of the Week; and The Briefs.

ECONOMY (Finances-Global-Local)

> Peak Prosperity: Central Planners Are In A State of Panic (Chris Martenson). In short, everything the central planners have tried has failed to bring widespread prosperity and has instead concentrated it dangerously at the top. Whether by coincidence or conspiracy, every possible escape hatch for 99.5% of the people has been welded shut. We are all captives in a dysfunctional system of money, run by a few for the few, and it is headed for complete disaster.

> The Daly News: Do U.S. Election Financing Laws Force Politicians To Ignore Limits To Growth? (Brent Blackwelder). Money in politics has stopped progress toward real economic reform and slowed efforts to move to a true-cost, sustainable, steady state economy. It will continue to do so unless people seeking to end today’s cheater economics, with its global casino-style economy, join in the ongoing efforts to change the election financing laws.

> Shareable: Michel Bauwens On The Rise Of Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives. A multi-stakeholder cooperative (MSC) is, as the name implies, a co-op that’s governed by two or more stakeholder groups. These groups can include workers, producers, consumers, owners, volunteers and community supporters. The brilliance of MSCs, also known as solidarity cooperatives, is that the various stakeholder groups throughout an enterprise have a shared vision that prioritizes equality, sustainability, and social justice.

> The Archdruid Report: Dark Age America: The End of the Market Economy (J. M. Greer). One factor that makes it difficult to imagine the economic consequences of the industrial age’s end is that we’re accustomed to a world where all forms of economic activity have been channeled through certain familiar forms for so long that very few people remember how things could be any other way. Another factor that complicates our thinking is that conventional economic thinking has invested immense effort into obscuring the possibility that things could be any other way.

EXPECTATIONS (Knowledge-Psychology-Beliefs)

> Common Dreams: Paul Krugman And The Tortoise: Why The Limits To Growth Are Real (Ugo Bardi). In the abstract realm of economics, the GDP can grow without natural resources; in the real world, it is not so. In the end, we need to be wary of abstract theories and remember that the limits to growth are real.

> Resilience:  Genetically Modified Escalation (Eric Garza). How much money, effort and time must be wasted in the service of feeding today’s GMO escalation trap? In her book Thinking in Systems, Donella Meadows articulates several traps that individuals and groups can fall into. Escalation is one of them, and it’s characterized by two or more opposing sides investing ever-greater resources towards the goal of triumphing over their opponents, like an arms race.

> Countercurrents: Ring The Bell: This Is Our Future By John James. When the IPCC promises that mean world temperature will rise by between 3.7 and 4.8 degrees by the end of the century if we go on as we are, what would this actually mean to our daily reality? We are told the likely outcome in very general scientifically correct sentences, but what do these words mean in the actual events we would have to live with?

> Common Dreams: Peace Ecology: Deep Solutions In An Age Of Water Scarcity And War (Randall Amster).  A key concept of what we term “peace ecology” is grounded in the notion that conflicts and crises driven by scarcity of natural resources—such as water—can also be opportunities for us to reimagine what is possible and ultimately foster mutually beneficial solutions and longer-term sustainability.

EQUITY (Equality-Health-Social Concerns)

> Roar Magazine: The Protests, Occupations And Uprisings Changing Our World. The latest book by Cristina Flesher Fominaya, Social Movements and Globalization, comes as a careful dissection of some of the most intriguing concepts relevant to the economic and political processes of the last century and the enduring desire for social transformation. Fominaya provides us with a master compilation of all that catches our attention, grasps our interest and urges our understanding.

> Common Dreams: Please Note: Democratic Candidates Lost, But Progressive Issues Won (David Morris).  My own opinion is that ballot initiatives more accurately take the ideological pulse of the people because debates over issues must focus on issues, not personality, temperament or looks.  Those on both sides of the issue can exaggerate, distort and just plain lie but they must do so in reference to the question on the ballot.

> Common Dreams: The Billion Dollar a Month Club: A Runaway Transfer of Wealth to the Super-Rich (Paul Buchheit). Our national wealth has grown by an astonishing $30 trillion since the recession, but most of it has gone to people who were already wealthy. See also: The Peasants Still Have Their Pitchforks (Sam Pizzigatti).

Yes! 6 Ways Americans Voted Against Corporate Power In The Most Expensive Midterm Elections Ever  (Mary Hansen & Kayla Schulz). In a few statewide ballot measures and local elections, Americans voted against corporate interests, embracing progressive policies. They endorsed protecting the environment from oil and gas companies, getting corporate money (like the record $3.76 billion spent during this midterm election) out of politics, and favoring local businesses over chain stores.

ENGAGEMENT (Goals-Activism-Solutions)

> Washington Post: Israeli Students Find Affordable Housing — In Metal Boxes. The Israeli have discovered a unique use for discarded shipping containers: inexpensive, practical housing for students.

> ENSIA: Can Sports Make Sustainability Mainstream? (Kellen Klein). For better or worse, sports are beyond mainstream. They’re integral to our global cultural fiber and have the kind of following sustainability advocates only dream of. With such a massive global audience, it’s no surprise that professional sports have also been major drivers of societal change.

> Yes! Land, Co-Ops, Compost: A Local Food Economy Emerges In Boston’s Poorest Neighborhoods. From kitchens that buy and sell locally grown food, to a waste co-op that will return compost to the land, new enterprises are building an integrated food network. It’s about local people keeping the wealth of their land at home.

> Energy Balance: Regenerative Agriculture: The Transition (Chris Rhodes). In the face of peak oil and in order to curb carbon emissions, methods of farming that depend less on oil and natural gas, respectively to run machinery and to make synthetic fertilizers, must be sought. Such options are to be found within the framework of regenerative agriculture, but the transition from current industrialized agriculture to these alternative strategies will prove testing.

> Common Dreams: Back-To-The-Future Agriculture: ‘Farming Like The Earth Matters’ (Courtney White). It is easy to forget that once all agriculture was organic, grass-fed, and regenerative. Seed saving, composting, fertilizing with manure, polycultures, no-till, raising livestock entirely on grass—all associated today with sustainable food production—was the norm merely a century ago.

FEATURED EVENTS

> SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION FORUM (New Format): HUMANS AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. Sat., Nov. 15^th, 3-5 p.m., St. Anthony Village Library, 2941 Pentagon Drive in St. Anthony Shopping Center. Presentations and discussions include a book, For Love of Lakes by Dave Demsey, presented by Idelle Peterson; plus discussion of articles by various writers, and presented by participants. Seating limited to 20 persons. RSVP (warex001@umn.edu)

> THIRD ANNUAL EVENT: SUSTAINABILITY FAIR, Thurs., Nov. 20^th, 5:30-8:00 p.m., Silverwood Park Visitors Center, St. Anthony Village (Map). Co-sponsored by the cities of St. Anthony Village, Lauderdale, and Falcon Heights, in collaboration with Three Rivers Park District and U of MN sustainability faculty and students. Poster exhibits presented by 43 students and other exhibits presented by local sustainability groups, including CFS. Free and open to the public. 

MORE EVENTS AND INFORMATION

> UM Institute on the Environment: Frontiers in the Environment: Big Questions, Wednesdays, 12:00-1:00 p.m., IonE Seminar Room R380, Learning & Environmental Sciences Bldg., St. Paul. Free. Watch online • Nov.19 — Environmentalists and Corporations Make Strange Bedfellows . . . Or Do They?

> Sierra Club-North Star: Minnesota Beyond Coal To Clean Energy, Sat., Nov.15, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sabathani Community Center, 310 East 38th Street Mpls., MN. RSVP: http://sc.org/MNBeyondCoalRetreat  Questions: (jessica.tritsch@sierraclub.org)

> Women’s Environmental Network: Transportation Funding: Opportunities And Obstacles In The 2015 Legislative Session. Wed., Nov. 19^th, Olin-Rice Science Center, Macalester College, 5-6 p.m. Buffet Dinner ($20 professional; $5 student), 6-8 p.m. Panel (Free). Info: http://wenmn.org/

> MN350-MCAD: Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (feature-length documentary of a filmmaker’s undercover investigation of the cattle industry). Sun., Nov. 23, 6:30 p.m., MN Institute of Arts Auditorium. 2501 Stevens Ave, Mpls. Free (donation requested).

I Believe, Therefore I Must Be Right  (Clifton Ware, Editor/Publisher)

The two words in the declaration “I believe” can make a potent impression on listeners or readers. Thanks to our advanced mental skills, each of us constructs a belief system or worldview that provides a functional psycho-emotional foundation for managing life’s many challenges.

Fortunately, regardless of the validity of our belief system, we are able to survive and perhaps even thrive when living conditions are relatively stable. Proof of this assertion rests in the fact that, although humans worldwide espouse a wide range of beliefs, all are managing to get by in life, albeit some more successfully than others.

And here we may ask: Are some belief systems more serviceably effective than others? I think so, because an effective belief system stimulates greater freedom of expression, the result of nurturing such positive qualities as curiosity, inclusiveness, complexity, flexibility, and creativity—the types of qualities that enable us to consider a wide range of topics, including issues deemed too sensitive, or even taboo in some societies.

Personally, I believe that all topics should be open to intellectual study, intelligent discussion, skeptical criticism, and civil debate. Such open-mindedness ensures the freedom to address the most controversial human concerns, including politics, culture, health, the natural environment, and especially religious beliefs. I think you’ll agree that our most remarkable human attribute is the ability to integrate critical reasoning and temper emotionalism in seeking equitable, practical solutions in managing all aspects of living well.

Each of us depends on others to provide useful knowledge and skills, beginning with parents or caregivers in childhood, and gradually expanding to include family members, teachers, religious leaders, politicians, and media pundits. For most of our adult lives, we rely on conventional media sources for the latest news and views, a topic to be addressed shortly.

When interpreting any news or views, most well-balanced, rational-minded persons rely on using a combination of: curiosity—a desire to learn as much as possible; skepticism—an attitude of doubt or disbelief (when warranted); and critical thinking—a reliance on evaluating, analyzing, and judging any idea or action. As fallible beings, most of us fall short of using our full psycho-emotional capacities in practicing principled thought, talk, and walk. Only saints are capable of thinking and acting rationally in most situations, and they are few and far between.

This leads us to consider the powerful reach of the media in influencing our beliefs. When media are used primarily to shape others’ beliefs, the disseminated information may be construed as indoctrination or propaganda, the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause that reflects the views and interests of certain causes or groups. This is largely what we’re experiencing daily in the conventional media, with individuals, corporations, and organizations shaping our attitudes and behaviors—to consume more, to vote this way or that way, to support this cause or that cause. The sad reality is that most people seldom question what they hear and see in the conventional media. In such cases, it may be said that we’re not using our “thinking caps”. This follow-the-herd-instinct may be summarized with the biblical text found in Handel’s Messiah: “All we, like sheep, have gone astray!”

So where can we find substantive, factual, less-biased information? For an answer, begin by reading an informative article by Chris Hedges: The Myth Of The Free Press. Also, in the Expectations section you’ll find several articles for curious-minded readers, and none are associated with the conventional media. Trust me, they’re worth reading.

ENVIRONMENT (Natural Resources-Wildlife-Climate)

> Yes! Matt Damon, Harrison Ford Lead All-Star Cast In Showtime Climate Change Series. If we’re to preserve the planet we call home, it’s time to go big. This 9-episode series weaves together important elements of the climate change story, from how scientists study it to how effects—such as droughts, wildfires, heat waves, and melting glaciers—are playing out. Perhaps most importantly, it thoughtfully explores how politics and religion divide people and impede action on this critical issue.

> TC Daily Planet: When It Comes To Climate Change, Our Feelings Do Matter. We talk a lot about the science of climate change and the economic impacts of various solutions, but we don’t always talk about how we feel about it. Embedded in the science, the calls to action, and the debating are deeply felt emotions: Anger, sadness and despair, and hope that solutions will create a healthier, more equitable world.

> Washington Post: The World’s Climate Change Watchdog May Be Underestimating Global Warming (Chris Mooney). We do not always hear directly from the IPCC about how bad things could be. For instance, by 2100, sea level rise could be plenty worse than the IPCC suggests — and realizing this might lead policymakers around the world to view global warming very differently.

> Associated Press: Climate Change Is Real, Humans Are Mostly To Blame, Time Is Short, UN Panel Says (In MPR)”Rising rates and magnitudes of warming and other changes in the climate system, accompanied by ocean acidification, increase the risk of severe, pervasive, and in some cases irreversible detrimental impacts,” the report said.

> MinnPost: Poor Irrigation Has Poisoned Much Of World’s Farmland With Salts, Study Finds.  Based on the IWEH estimate of 2,000 hectares or 5,000 acres lost per day, and a gazetteer figure of 33.7 square miles for the island of Manhattan, the world is losing that much acreage every four and a half days. It’s estimated that the annual losses attributable to salt-induced land degradation might amount to $27.3 billion worldwide.

> NPR: As Infrastructure Crumbles, Trillions Of Gallons Of Water Lost (In MPR). But not all of that treated, potable water makes it through the system to homes and businesses. In fact, quite a bit of it is lost. Where does it go? Much of it just leaks out of aging pipes and water mains that crack and break.

> Thomson Reuters Foundation: Sao Paulo Running Out Of Water As Rain-Making Amazon Vanishes. South America’s biggest and wealthiest city may run out of water by mid-November if it doesn’t rain soon.
 São Paulo, a Brazilian megacity of 20 million people, is suffering its worst drought in at least 80 years, with key reservoirs that supply the city dried up after an unusually dry year.

> Food Tank: Dirt In Danger: How Soil Around The World Is Threatened (Kathlee Freeman). For a multitude of reasons, including modern agricultural practices, the world’s soil is at risk. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), “Half of the topsoil on the planet has been lost in the last 150 years.” “Additionally, as a result of erosion over the past 40 years, 30 percent of the world’s arable land has become unproductive.”

ENERGY (Fossil Carbon-Natural Resources-Renewables)

> Post Carbon Institute: The Peak Oil Crisis: A Reality Check (Tom Whipple). This week the Post Carbon Institute (PCI) released a detailed study of the prospects for US shale oil and shale gas production entitled Drilling Deeper – A Reality Check on the US Government Forecasts for a lasting Tight Oil and Shale Gas Boom. This new study takes a hard, detailed look at what has actually happened during the shale boom to date and at the EIA’s projections.

> Resilience: Is There Really An Oil Glut? (Kurt Cobb). Between consumers who can’t afford to pay higher and higher oil prices, and companies that can’t afford to produce the extra oil we’d like at lower prices, we are stuck in an ever-shrinking no man’s land, a price band really–one that will eventually disappear, as the average cost of producing the extra barrel of oil goes beyond what consumers, and businesses, can and will pay.

> Common Dreams: The Revolution That Wasn’t: Why The Fracking Phenomenon Will Leave Us High And Dry. A new, landmark report shows that hopes of a long-term golden era in American oil and gas production are unfounded.

> Common Dreams: Tar Sands Resistance Blowing Huge Hole In Oil Industry’s Bottom Line: Report. The growing tide of tar sands resistance—seen in blockades, tree sits, petitions, education efforts and calls to divest—is having a measurable negative impact on the bottom line of the tar sands industry, according to a new report, prompting researchers to declare that “business as usual for tar d sands is over.”

> ENSIA: This Infographic Shows Why Renewable Energy Is Here To Stay. This infographic depicts the evolution and future growth of renewable energy, from WWI to the present and beyond.

> Common Dreams: Oil Industry Set To Ignore “Final Warning” On Climate Change (Andy Rowell). The bottom line is that because the fossil fuel industry has so much capital already invested or lined up to be spent extracting fossil fuels, it will just carry on doing so, ignoring the desperate calls for action from the climate scientists.

ECONOMY (Finances-Global-Local

> Post Carbon Institute: How To Shrink The Economy Without Crashing It: A Ten-Point Plan (Richard Heinberg). The human economy is currently too big to be sustainable. We know this because Global Footprint Network, which methodically tracks the relevant data, informs us that humanity is now using 1.5 Earths’ worth of resources.

> Yes! Before The Zombie Apocalypse—These 4 Trade Deals Were Ravaging The World! What really keeps us at YES! Magazine up at night are the international trade agreements [free trade] constantly being negotiated by the United States and its partners—each one more terrifying than the last.

> Bloomberg News: Hackers Probing Financial System’s Defenses Show Why Everyone Should Worry. Financial companies are losing ground to hackers, according to a report by management-consulting firm Deloitte. In 2013, 88 percent of all successful intrusions into the computer systems of financial companies were accomplished in seconds, minutes or hours, not days, Deloitte found, while 79 percent of intrusions were discovered by the targeted firms only after days, weeks or months.

> WeTheEconomy:  We The Economy (22 Short Films, including “A Bee’s Invoice: The Hidden Value in Nature”).  In the current economic climate, the need for citizens to be engaged and informed is greater than ever. Distributed digitally, across multiple platforms and in theaters, WE THE ECONOMY will do both… and best of all: it’s available everywhere, to everyone.

EXPECTATIONS (Knowledge-Psychology-Beliefs)

LastOurs: Last Hours. This 10-minute documentary is a must-see experience for a succinct overview of global-warming’s potential to destroy life on earth.

> Peak Prosperity: About that Shale Oil ‘Miracle’… (Chris Martenson). It’s been said that humans are rationalizing — not ‘rational’ — animals. The deep truth in that statement is that we humans have strongly-held beliefs that color the information we take in and accept. We’re often guilty of recognizing only the data that supports those beliefs while rejecting the rest.

> The Archdruid Report: Dark Age America: Involuntary Simplicity (J.M. Greer). 23,000 man hours is a barrel of oil equivalent (BOE), so if you are employing energy at those rates you can produce debt at those rates, because pretty soon there will be work done to pay off the debt and interest (the energy from fossil carbon doing the work). What has changed with the advent of peak oil is that the future is one of debts not being able to be re-payed, because there isn’t the energy to do the work to pay the debts.

> Solutions: Introduction: Why Resilience? (Joseph Fiksel). While there are many definitions of resilience, it can generally be defined as the capacity for a system to survive, adapt, and flourish in the face of turbulent change and uncertainty.¹ In short, this means the ability to overcome adversity and bounce back.

> The Daly News: Are We Hard-Wired To Think We Can Grow Forever? (James Magnus-Johnston) Is there an evolutionary mechanism stopping us from living within our planetary constraints? In Denial: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind, co-authors Varki and Brower argue that human intelligence is unique in the animal kingdom, but our capacity for denial may be the greatest differentiating factor.

> AlterNet: The Coming Revolution: Evolutionary Leap Or Descent Into  Chaos (David DeGraw) A new paradigm is organically evolving: new economic systems, sustainable communities, solar energy, organic farming, liquid democracy, worker co-ops and new media. For all the problems we are confronted by, there are existing viable solutions. This is Part 3 in a series of adapted excerpts from DeGraw’s new book, The Economics of Revolution. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

> Resilience: Sufficient Liberal Stories–The Krugman Function Part 4 (Erik Lindberg). The primary narrative of Krugman, Reich, and the whole Liberal enterprise today is a narrative of perpetual repeatability with regard to past accomplishments (FDR’s New Deal, etc.) The introduction just of oil supply and carbon emissions into the liberal field of view pretty much undoes the main story told by mainstream Democrats today.

EQUITY (Equality-Health-Social Concerns)

> AlterNet: Americans Are Huge: 5 Surprising Reasons Why.  Between the 1960s and the 2000s, Americans grew, on the average, an inch taller and 24 pounds heavier. The average American man today weights 194 pounds and the average woman 165 pounds. Almost a third of American children and teens are overweight.

> Common Dreams: Infuriating Facts About Our Disappearing Middle-Class Wealth (Paul Bucheit). People in the U.S. and around the world are being rapidly divided into two classes, the well-to-do and the lower-income majority. This severing of society will change only when progressive thinkers (and doers) agree on a single, manageable solution that will stop the easy flow of wealth to the privileged few.

> Resilience-Transition Voice: American Kids In The Age Of Oil: ‘Economically Worthless But Emotionally Priceless’ (Erik Curren). Only in an industrial economy where energy is cheap and corporations provide most of a household’s needs can families afford to turn two generations, the youngest and the oldest, into economically unnecessary people — Two generations of mouths-to-feed who don’t carry their own weight.

> Grassroots Economic Organizing: Ways To Create A Democratized Economy (Gar Alperovitz). This article is excerpted from What Then Can I Do? 10 Ways to Democratize the Economy, which originally appeared on Gar Alperovitz’s website. The full article is also available in PDF format here.

> Green Money: REIT, Drink, And Be Merry: Farmland LP’s Fund Gives Investors, Enviros, And Foodies Something To Cheer About (Rob Dietz & Eric Roach). Farmland LP (www.farmlandlp.com) is an investment fund that buys conventional farmland, converts it to organic using a pasture and crop rotation, and then manages the farmland for an optimal mix of environmental health, food production, and financial returns.

> ENSIA: Cities Are The Greatest Hope For Our Planet (Denis Hayes). Cities matter because they represent our greatest hope for long-term survival, not only for humans but for all species. They offer the best chance to dramatically reduce carbon pollution, provide shelter and community for the world’s growing human population, and protect rural habitat for species in decline.

> Shareable: Sharehub: At The Heart Of Seoul’s Sharing Movement. In 2012, Seoul publicly announced its commitment to becoming a sharing city. It has since emerged as a leader of the global sharing movement and serves as a model for cities around the world.

> TC Daily Planet: No Big Bucks Needed For Complete Streets. Here are some lessons from NYC in creating interesting, safe, attractive, and inexpensive upgraded streets for pedestrian use.

EDUCATION (Local Events- Information)

> SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION FORUM (New Format): HUMANS AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. Sat., Nov. 15^th, 3-5 p.m., St. Anthony Village Library, 2941 Pentagon Drive in St. Anthony Shopping Center. Presentations and discussions include a book, For Love of Lakes by Dave Demsey, presented by Idelle Peterson; “The Ebola Crisis”, material presented by Peter Doughty; plus discussion of articles by various writers, and presented by participants. Seating limited to 20 persons. RSVP (warex001@umn.edu)

> THIRD ANNUAL EVENT: SUSTAINABILITY FAIR, Thurs., Nov. 20^th, 5:30-8:00 p.m., Silverwood Park Visitors Center, St. Anthony Village (Map). Co-sponsored by the cities of St. Anthony Village, Lauderdale, and Falcon Heights, in collaboration with Three Rivers Park District and U of MN sustainability faculty and students. Poster exhibits presented by 43 students and other exhibits presented by local sustainability groups, including CFS. Free and open to the public. 

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> UM Institute on the Environment: Frontiers in the Environment: Big Questions, Wednesdays, 12:00-1:00 p.m., IonE Seminar Room R380, Learning & Environmental Sciences Bldg., St. Paul. Free. Watch online

• Nov.12 — How Can We Help Children Connect to the Natural World?
• Nov.19 — Environmentalists and Corporations Make Strange Bedfellows . . . Or Do They?

> Future First: 2014 Women’s Congress for Future Generations, Nov. 7-9, Earle Brown Heritage Center, Mpls., MN. Register> 

> Pilgrim House Unitarian Fellowship: Minnesota Clean Energy Solutions (J. Drake Hamilton, Science Policy Director, Fresh Energy). Sun., Nov. 9, 10:15-11:30 a.m., 1212 W. Highway 96, Arden Hills, MN

> Sierra Club-North Star: Minnesota Beyond Coal To Clean Energy, Sat., Nov.15, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sabathani Community Center, 310 East 38th Street Mpls., MN. RSVP: http://sc.org/MNBeyondCoalRetreat  Questions: (jessica.tritsch@sierraclub.org)

> MN350-MCAD: Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (feature-length documentary of a filmmaker’s undercover investigation of the cattle industry). Sun., Nov. 23, 6:30 p.m., MN Institute of Arts Auditorium. 2501 Stevens Ave, Mpls. Free (donation requested).

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