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Our Fellows, Advisors, Board and staff weigh in on the top issues of the day on the Post Carbon Institute blog.

Posts on Ecology


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Tar Sands Is Worse Than You Can Imagine: Incredible Images You Have to See

Leslie Moyer Apr 19, 2013   

The mining of the Alberta tar sands is the biggest industrial project on earth and quite possibly the world's most environmentally destructive. ... >>

Colorado River, Meet the Sea

Sandra Postel Apr 18, 2013   

If a river is born with a destiny, it is to reach the sea.  It carries sweet water, sediment, and nutrients to the coastal zone, where fisheries and marine life depend on it for sustenance and habitat. ... >>

The Accidental Wetland in the Colorado Delta

Sandra Postel Apr 4, 2013   

Wellton-Mohawk Canal Seen here at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Wellton-Mohawk Canal carries drainage water from an Arizona irrigation district sixty miles into the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. … >>

Energy literacy through an astonishing coffee table book

Kurt Cobb Jan 29, 2013   

It is hard to imagine a more unlikely vehicle for advancing energy literacy than a finely crafted large format picture book. Energy, after all, is invisible. We see its effects, but never the … >>

Unchecked Growth Is a Path to Poverty

William Ryerson Jan 18, 2013   

Endless growth is not possible because of constraints of renewable resources like fresh water, clean air and biodiversity. Also, much of our industrial system depends on nonrenewable resources … >>

A Historic Binational Agreement Gives New Life to the Colorado River Delta

Sandra Postel Nov 21, 2012   

The Cienega de Santa Clara is an area of Delta wetlands sustained by agricultural drainage crossing into Mexico from the United States. The beautiful Cienega is a reminder … >>

Ode to a fallen oak

Rob Hopkins Oct 29, 2012   

For that short time, we were gathered in celebration of the life of a quiet, graceful sentinel of local life, a distinguished local resident who had done so much to add to the quality of life of the local community. ... >>

A Bolder Clean Water Act for the Next 40 Years

Sandra Postel Oct 18, 2012   

The Connecticut River, New England's largest, at Holyoke Dam in Massachusetts during the dry summer of 2012. Thanks to the Clean Water Act, many rivers like the Connecticut … >>

Who do you trust: Mother Nature or Mr. Wizard?

Richard Heinberg Jun 20, 2012   

Why we should respect planetary boundaries Just when you thought weird weather and dying oceans might get us all thinking about how to reduce human impact on this little planet we call home, … >>

Fun with Trends

Richard Heinberg Mar 19, 2012   

If current population trends continue . . .    The population of the United States will increase to over 600 million by 2080, and in 2150 it will equal China’s present size. … >>