Category: Sustainability Education Forum

SEF News-Views Digest No. 158 (12-21-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

“ ‘Tis the season to be jolly”, but for a large segment of American society expressing merriment—or optimism—may be challenging. Most sustainability supporters, in particular, are dealing with some grim post-election realities, as conservative politicians threaten to impede prime progressive initiatives, with climate change a principal target.

“Sustainability Forum: Threats and Opportunities”, a free event, will be held on Saturday, January 7th, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Columbia Heights Library, 3939 Central Ave. NE.

Three 30-minutes presentations will be featured:

1. Mike Conley: The Perfect Storm: Our Sustainability Challenges
2. Alan Ware: Making the Connection: Overpopulation and Sustainability
3. Matt Hoiland: Beyond Boom & Bust

Forum co-sponsors include Sustainability Education Forum-Citizens for Sustainability,  Weathering The Storm, and World Population Balance. This is a collaborative pilot project exploring the possibility of creating ongoing study forums addressing a variety of sustainability issues. Since seating is limited seating, please register via e-mail by January 5th: Clif Ware.

Flyer – Sustainability Forum: Threats and Opportunities

SEF News-Views Digest No. 157 (12-14-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

One major concern voiced by sustainability experts involves the promotion of constant economic growth by conventional economists. Beginning with fossil-fuel discoveries in the late 18^th century, the world has been on an increasing consumption binge propelled by a dubious economic paradigm: All Economic Growth is Good. This endemic socio-political, religious-like belief holds that true prosperity can only be achieved by increasing the economic growth rate, the higher the better. In other words, without economic growth, society can expect austere living conditions.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 156 (12-7-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

Sustainability is a catchword that has various meanings, depending on who’s using it. Twink.org provides some definitions that seem appropriate. Simply put, sustainability is the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely. For more practical detail, sustainability can be viewed in three ways:

SEF News-Views Digest No. 155 (11-30-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

On Black Friday, the day after celebrating Thanksgiving Day, Americans were bombarded with the media hyping a familiar seasonal jingle: “Tis the season to spend money, fol-ly, fol-ly, la—fol-ly-fa-!a!” According to media reports, many Americans spent time, energy, and money over the past weekend, caught up in the all-too-soon holiday shopping frenzy. As usual, Bettye and I refused to participate in this seasonal commercial madness, preferring instead to join more sane folk in pondering ways to promote peace and good will within our spheres of influence.