Young, Smart, and Full of Crops

Great little film to check out: The Greenhorns. If you're young and want to farm let this be your road map.

The trailer is here.

My Challenge

I can be intense from time to time but have never really figued out how to be an activist.

My challenge:

You also need to be able to articulate, simply, clearly and honestly, what
you believe and why. There is power in intention and strength in numbers, but
you will be unable to achieve either unless you are able to convey what is, and
what needs to be done, to those who are ready to listen and to make common cause
with you. You cannot do it alone, and you have to pace yourself. You need to
understand too that many people will not be ready for your explanation, and that
your response when you meet them is to be polite and to move on, not waste your
energies trying to make them believe what they are not ready to believe. You
must have faith that they will come around, in time, and you or one of those you
have joined in common cause will be there, then, to welcome them.

A Party That Runs on Running Out of Gas

If "Yes We Can" had actually posted about Peak Oilon Obama's triumphant run to the White House I'd have been amazed. But that's exactly what the Brittish National Party did back in 2008 and it actually gained them some seats in the European Parliament.

Well, you might ask, what else do they stand for? It's something that whoever figures how to do it right in the U.S. will be in charge for a while. It's War Socialism, bringing the sexiness of "the Bush Doctrine" (easy Sarah) with all the bourgieous kerfuffle of Western European living. Staples of war socialism include "kicking out immigrants" and "free mass transit" so it really does have something for everyone!

Worse Idea than Guerilla Monkeys

There is nothing that geo-engineering can do to save the world. There is no silver bullet to unleash unlimited growth, unlimited carbon outputs, unlimited domination of nature. What is going to happen will be a full intanglement of a problem. Beside possible side effects (if we block the sun, what happens to growing seasons?), who will pay for these giant factories? What will we use to build them and transport the parts cheaply when there is no cheap fuel?

Sounds like a bad case of the guerilla monkeys. (somewhere there's an SNL skit of Tim Meadows for mayor of a small town where he brings in guerilla monkeys to defeat the killer bats)

Coal, Yeah It Could Be Cleaner

via VH1:

Gregg Easterbrook in an op-ed for the NYT describes our government's failure (do they ever produce a different outcome) to implement a "clean coal" policy. I do like the idea of "gasification" if it was implemented quickly, which is a must.

But I'd rather take a look at why we need more efficient power. The equation for this is:

more people+more gadgets+24x7 = greater need for power

If we were able to reduce our need for electricity requiring gadgets, unplug unused gadgets, use cfl's and leds, turn off the lights and not worry about getting McDonald's and it's glowing megawatt sign at 1am then worrying about jamming more electricty into the grid wouldn't be such a huge deal. We should strive to change the paradigm. Use less, need less.

Even more pressing will be the maintenance needed to do all this. Machines that can transform coal into natural gas and then harnessed into energy by a giant jet engine sound pretty cool but how will they be built, transported and maintained in a world of increasingly scarce oil. The investments made towards these facilities would be better spent creating a world built to run off little oil.

M. Night Shyamalan has his Vengeance

Mr. Shyamalan has a movie in the 100 Greatest Films ever made. The rest are some of the worst cinematic crap every made. But today he gets to have the last laugh as we've found a genuine super-hero. A 5-year old was the sole survivor of a Yemeni plane that crashed yesterday.

Can anyone say Unbreakable 2?

Demolition Town

A good start to getting people back into "community" would be to actual physically create a place for it. Bull-dozing the sprawl-burbs to return them back into nature while moving the population back towards a city center is a double-whammy-plus-bonus for reducing our dependence on foreign oil and fighting climate change.

Less sprawl means less gas needed for daily survival. Less gas means less money into OPEC's hands and less carbon flowing into the atmosphere. Epic win.

Every day, In Some Small Way, People Get the Gist

I am always tickled when somewhat mainstream blogs publish stories that actually are important.

The Energy Information Agency posted it's 2009 forecast today which happen to include a massive decline in future oil production. Perhaps we have to look at what's changed since 2007 or maybe keeping up the energy bonanza facade has grew wearisome.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Let The Nation's Michael Klare lay it on ya:

So here's the headline for you: For the first time, the well-respected
Energy Information Administration appears to be joining with those experts who
have long argued that the era of cheap and plentiful oil is drawing to a close.
Almost as notable, when it comes to news, the 2009 report highlights Asia's
insatiable demand for energy and suggests that China is moving ever closer to
the point at which it will overtake the United States as the world's number-one
energy consumer. Clearly, a new era of cutthroat energy competition is upon us.

We Really Are Adult Babies

When I was a kid I had a collection of Marvel superhero toys. The kind where if you pulled back the arm they'd throw a super haymaker into a pile of Lincoln Logs. The back story being that they were bit by some radioactive insect or came from another planet.



Today, the kids have Evan Tanner.

For those of don't know his backstory he didn't come from Krypton or have his DNA altered in anyway. He taught himself mixed-martial arts via training videos and eventually went on to win the UFC 185lb championship. Outstanding. He also was an alcoholic rambler who lost his only title defense and died of dehyrdation in the desert.

Is this a great way to teach the kids about life's challenges or is this toy meant for 35 year old babies with a credit card?

Glenn Beck Should Take Note

Now this is how you pimp on the American Revolution. Several congressmen clearly admitted to knowing very little or worse, made factually incorrect arguments, about the Waxman-Markey bill which passed (barely) last week.

You can play semantics and say it's not treason since their act of negligence doesn't involve a foreign entity. But I would say traitor would be a more proper fit as refusing to perform the due dilligence of understanding climate change and the details of a bill that stems to abate it would classify as "a person who betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own nation."

Climate change will affect more than nature's lil' furry helpers. It will affect agribusiness, 401K's and every in this country's livelyhood.

Atleast We Won't Miss the Toilet

Peak Oil is the sexy crisis. It's definitive: no gas at the station, you don't drive. It's giant: Huge companies conspiring with mysterious international cartels to separate you from your cash. But it's not the only crisis.

No one is talking about Peak Water. Besides not being able to live without it for more than 3 days, if the only "potable" stuff you get is tainted you end up with a bunch of fun bits:

Now scientists are connecting the dots with evidence of increasing abnormalities
among humans, particularly large increases in numbers of genital deformities
among newborn boys. For example, up to 7 percent of boys are now born with
undescended testicles, although this often self-corrects over time. And up to 1
percent of boys in the United States are now born with hypospadias, in which the urethra exits the penis improperly, such as at the base rather than the tip.

Atleast the pee stains on the floor will desist. :) If you don't like reading, Flow: For the Love of Water is a great introduction to the topic.