Blacks Must Lead On Climate Change
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Black people in the U.S. have a lot to lose from the twin crises of energy decline and climate change. These are global catastrophes that will soon cause massive changes in our lives. We can expect everything from utilities to common household goods to become much more expensive, and new regulations will make everyday activities more difficult. Increases in epidemics and natural disasters will make health insurance and mobility far more important. Our tough economic circumstances and lower access to information will make it harder to adapt to these changes.
Must See: The Story of Stuff
Posted by Sonja Ebron
I’ve always felt that power and natural gas utilities provide more than kilowatts and therms. They provide light, heat, hot water and data transmission (electronics). Likewise, energy is larger than utilities and gasoline. It’s the basis of our whole consumption society, driving everything from fast food to home construction. If you really want to understand how your use of everyday “stuff” affects the energy and environmental chain, take a peek at The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard. It’s 20 minutes long, the most entertaining and informative discussion of these issues I’ve seen, and well worth the time!
We Have To Make Other Arrangements
Posted by Sonja Ebron
James Howard Kunstler is a pessimist on the effects of peak oil, no doubt about it. But he’s mostly right about the changes needed to survive the next few decades. For many years, Kunstler has served as the leading doomsday forecaster on the American economy and way of life, due to our unwillingness - perhaps inability - to grapple with the facts of declining access to cheap oil. He is certainly not alone in predicting the current crisis and the economic sand castles we’ve built on cheap energy, but his straight talk has only recently been welcome in mainstream media.
