Category: Sustainability Education Forum

SEF News-Views Digest No. 154 (11-23-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

Once again, Thanksgiving is nigh, a time to celebrate the quintessential American holiday, when we honor our natural resources, historical origins, enlightened beliefs, and creative accomplishments. It’s also a time to join with others, family members and/or friends, to share good conversation, enjoy a festive meal, and, hopefully, avoid unpleasant contentious confrontations, especially this year with the recent election results.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 153 (11-16-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

What a tempestuous week this has been! We Americans are apparently evenly split into two major camps. While conservatives joyfully celebrate their presidential victory, defeated progressives sadly bemoan their losses and lick their wounds. Anger, denial, and grieving are profusely evident in the progressive camp. But it seems to me that the sooner everyone accepts the current reality and moves on—and forward—the better off we’ll be.

As expected, the media—mainstream, upstream, and downstream—have produced an outpouring of commentaries that reflect the main ideological perspectives of the two major parties, with minor attention given to views of independents, greens, and libertarians. In this newsletter issue, experts associated with a variety of sustainability-oriented views are featured, particularly notable proponents of environmental and social causes, with climate change as a major topic.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 152 (11-9-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

The elections are over, thankfully, but the results may not sit well with many readers. Today, as I began my early morning exercise routine and tuned into NPR news, I was shocked to learn than Donald Trump has been elected the 45^th president of these United States. What this means for progressive causes like climate change is uncertain. But we will surely find out in coming months and years. Meanwhile, we must continue supporting all plans and efforts to create greater resilience and sustainability. Educating the public and creating greater understanding about the accumulating effects of climate change is an essential strategy, hence this commentary.

Before The Flood, a recently released must-see environmental film, is receiving very favorable reviews. According to Peter Bradshaw, reviewer for The Guardian: “Here is a heartfelt, decent, educational documentary about the most important issue of our time—climate change—presented by A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio, who proves his own commitment to the cause.”

SEF News-Views Digest No. 151 (11-2-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

I try to limit writing about political matters, but since the upcoming elections will help define and determine our collective future as a nation, I am compelled to comment.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 149 (10-19-16)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

One of my favorite futurists is John Michael Greer, a profound thinker and prolific writer of thought-provoking, informative publications. He might appear to conventional folks as an eccentric intellectual, and they might be right.

One of Greer’s latest writings—An Afternoon In Early Autumn—was posted last week on his website, The Archdruid Report. This challenging article inspired me to contemplate the subject of time, particularly “deep time”, a term coined by science writer Stephen Jay Gould.