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Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation
Newsletter
Post Carbon Newsletter - February 2009
 As the US economic stimulus package finally leaves the starting gate, both the Obama Administration and the media are speaking more openly about a stark reality: the global economic crisis is deep, severe, and will last more than a few years.This month's featured articles dig in to the depths of the crisis, starting with Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg on the always-difficult subject of population. Program Director Daniel Lerch discusses the significance of last summer's record oil price and record stock market plunge. Heinberg and Matt Savinar then explore the crisis in greater detail in an hour-long radio interview. Next there's an update from Transition United States, the new US arm of the international Transition Towns movement and a Post Carbon Institute partner. From our sister site Energy Bulletin we highlight three articles on the challenges we face in both understanding and confronting the global economic crisis. Kurt Cobb suggests our modern lifestyles have not adapted us to deal well with long term societal challenges. Dmitry Orlov applies first-hand lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the teetering American economy. And John Michael Greer continues his exploration of "the ecology of social change." And finally, we list a set of new features from Global Public Media. First, there's the second installment of a Richard Heinberg Museletter on energy limits to growth and the path to sustainability. Then "Reality Report" host Jason Bradford interviews Matthew Stein, author of When Technology Fails. Transition US co-founder Jennifer Gray is interviewed by "Peak Moment" host Janaia Donaldson about how this dynamic initiative got started and where she sees it going. And finally, "Crop to Cuisine" host Dov Hirsch talks about one local resource that doesn't seem to be anywhere close to peaking: beer. Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images Read the latest commentaries by our Fellows and staff anytime on the front page of our website. Here are some selections from the last month:
 Many exciting developments have emerged over the past few months, not to mention settling into a new office in Sebastopol, California! As a newly established non-profit organization, we are working in close partnership with the Transition Network, a UK based organization that is supporting Transition Initiatives around the world, as well as the Post Carbon Institute, based in the US. Our mission is to catalyze, inspire, encourage, network, support and train communities throughout the U.S. as they consider, adopt, adapt and implement the Transition model... Read moreA selection of articles appearing at Energy Bulletin this month. Please state the nature of your emergency by Kurt Cobb  When a 911 operator answers a call, the operator often begins as follows: "Please state the nature of your emergency." As anyone who has called 911 knows, how you describe your emergency has everything to do with how the police respond... Read morePhoto credit: flickr/Al Howat Social collapse best practices by Dmitry Orlov  Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for showing up. It's certainly nice to travel all the way across the North American continent and have a few people come to see you, even if the occasion isn't a happy one. You are here to listen to me talk about social collapse and the various ways we can avoid screwing that up along with everything else that's gone wrong... Read morePhoto credit: flickr/alfuso Toward Ecosophy by John Michael Greer  Two weeks ago, in The Ecology of Social Change, I suggested that the great flaw in most of today's schemes for social change is their failure to grasp the ecological dimensions of human society. That flaw has been almost impossible to avoid, because it is not simply a matter of consciously held beliefs; many of the people drafting plans for social change these days have learned quite a bit about ecology. It’s the unexamined and often unconscious presuppositions underlying most such plans that blind them to ecological reality – and the struggle to confront one’s own presuppositions is very challenging work... Read more
Post Carbon Institute Speakers Schedule Energy and the Future of Calgary: Sustaining Robust Cities in an Changing Energy Future May 7-8, 2009, Calgary, Alberta, Canada  A Conference for Thoughtful Leaders in Industry, Business, Policy, Governance, Education and CommunityPost Carbon Program Director Daniel Lerch will be a featured speaker. This unique Gaining Ground conference links the energy future to the key urban topics of land use, economic development, transportation and mobility, and infrastructure. It challenges Calgary--and all cities--to consider their choices and futures as the requirement for urban sustainability intensifies. Featured Events Power Shift Conference 2009 February 27th - March 2, 2009, Washington D.C. Convention Center  The Climate Crisis Coalition will be participating in Power Shift Conference 2009, the largest student conference on climate change in the country. Over 10,000 students will gather in Washington, DC throughout the weekend to develop strategies, lobby Congress, and demand that our leaders stand up to dirty energy, create green jobs, and re-engage globally to tackle the climate and economic crises.Author, poet, and farmer Wendell Berry will be joined by authors and activists Bill McKibben, Gus Speth, Terry Tempest Williams, and Janisse Ray to speak on the climate crisis, and, as always, they will inspire young people to take climate action. Oil and Investment Summit 2009 March 17, 2009, New York City, New York  The Peak Oil Investor Summit is an intensive one-day summit put together by and for the financial community to find out what peak oil is, and how to both protect your capital and identify profit strategies. |
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