 The drop in housing prices wasn't quite as steep this month as previously. The price of oil has been pretty stable compared to last year's rollercoaster ride. It's tempting to think that things are starting to return to normal...
But what exactly is "normal," anyway? What should be normal? Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg leads off this month's commentaries with his reflections on the ever-evolving economic crisis and the choice we have to look backwards or forwards. Executive Director Asher Miller also weighs in on the perspectives we hold and the struggle to maintain hope against a worrying future.
We're particularly pleased this month to feature an article by new Post Carbon Fellow Gloria Flora. Gloria mounts an impassioned defense of biochar, a soil amendment with the potential to revolutionize soil management, biomass waste, and carbon sequestration.
Also this month the Transition Towns movement garners an impressive blast of national media coverage. And as usual we highlight some of the most interesting articles from Energy Bulletin and Global Public Media. There's even a surprise announcement of a big Spring Sale at the Post Carbon Bookstore — up to 65% off some of our top-selling books!
But to start off, we're pleased to announce further additions to our team of Fellows. Read on...
Photo: kworth30/flickr
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As part of our new direction, we're adding more experts to our team and producing new reports and books to help people make sense of the global transition. We're pleased to welcome the following colleagues as our newest Post Carbon Fellows:
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Bill McKibben, author and activist. Bill is author of twelve books, most recently Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (2007). He is co-founder and Director of 350.org, an international campaign building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. |
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Joshua Farley, ecological economist. With economist Herman Daly, Joshua co-authored the foundation textbook Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications (2003). He is a fellow of the Gund Institute of Ecological Economics. |
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Warren Karlenzig, urban sustainability expert. Warren has developed sustainability plans and metrics with nations, states, major cities, and corporations. He is President of Common Current and author of the highly-regarded city rankings book How Green is Your City? (2007). |
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Chris Martenson, finance expert and educator. Chris is creator of The Crash Course, a virally-popular 20-chapter online video course that educates viewers on our broken economic system, the crisis of population demographics, and Peak Oil. |
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2. Post Carbon Commentaries and Articles
Read the latest commentaries by our Fellows, Board and staff anytime on the front page of our website. Here are some selections from the last month:
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A Beguiling Veneer of Normalcy
Richard Heinberg • April 23, 2009
Recent travels have taken me to Las Vegas, New Orleans, and of course my home city, Santa Rosa, California. The economies of these places... Read more
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Don't throw out the biochar baby with the bathwater
Gloria Flora • April 23, 2009
When penning his stinging rebuke of biochar and all who support it, George Monbiot not only threw out the baby... Read more
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The Schizophrenic Dance of Hope & Fear
Asher Miller • April 19, 2009
My son is three and, true to his age, a handful. His favorite thing these days seems to be calling me or his mom stupid, just to see the... Read more
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3. Transition United States
April has been a busy month for Transition US, with an impressive run of national press coverage:
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The End Is Near! (Yay!) by Jon Mooallem, New York Times Magazine, April 19, 2009 |
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Do Worry. Be Happy by Lisa Chase, Elle, May 1, 2009 |
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Life After Oil by Rachel Dowd, Common Ground, April 2009 |
Transition US also unveiled its new logo and launched a new website featuring news, interviews, training events, resources, toolkits, and more.
Stay tuned for the upcoming Transition US Newsletter for more updates and recent activities: sign up to their mailing list. |
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A selection of articles appearing at Energy Bulletin this month.
Not enough oil for the G20 package
by Kjell Aleklett |
The world's wealthiest nations, the G20 group, have decided to light a fire but have forgotten a very important detail – to check whether there is sufficient fuel to enable the fire to burn. Historically we have never had global economic growth without a simultaneous increase in the use of energy. This means... Read more
Photo: Downing Street/flickr
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Until all the evidence is in
by Kurt Cobb |
Nobody actually waits until all the evidence is in. The simple reason is that all the evidence will never be in. For that to occur one would have to know about everything going on in the universe right now and where those things would lead in the future. For Earth-bound residents, perhaps it would be sufficiently rigorous to know everything that... Read more
Photo: billaday/flickr
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Peak People: The Interrelationship between Population Growth and Energy Resources
by Graham Zabel |
| This paper investigates the link between population growth, energy resources and carrying capacity at a global level, to determine if there might be dependencies and if so, how they could be modelled. Different qualities of energy... Read more
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Post Carbon Institute Speakers Schedule
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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 Community
Post 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. |
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Freestone Fermentation Festival 2009
May 16-17, 2009, Freestone, California |
Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg will be speaking at this event, which is a fundraiser for Post Carbon Institute and West County Health Centers.
"Artisan Foods, Alchemical Speakers, Hands-on Exhibits, Dynamic Music, Winemakers and Brewmasters of all kinds. Featuring local enterprises and artisans, schools, farmers, neighborhood health care and volunteer organizations. Sample a wide variety of fermented foods including bread, cheese, pickles and drinks from local producers. Learn about the magic of fermentation from displays, exhibits and a program of fascinating talks. Enjoy a festive program of great music." |
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Featured Events
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BALLE Conference 2009, Entrepreneurs Building Living Economies
May 21-23, 2009, Denver, Colorado |
| The seventh annual BALLE conference is the premier venue to forge deep connections with entrepreneurs, social innovators, investors, policymakers, and BALLE network leaders. Together we are building a global network of local living economies. |
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2009 Transition Network Conference
May 22-24, 2009, London, England |
| The conference will offer a selection of workshops and Open Spaces – sessions that cover "outer work" and "inner work"; deep analysis and creative outpourings; success stories and challenges. There will also be 1 and 2-day Transition Training courses before and after the main program. Two public evening events will be held on the Friday and Saturday, including the premiere of "The Transition Movie", the extraordinary "Energy Descent Plan in 2 Hours" workshop, and some truly inspirational speakers. |
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Post Carbon Institute
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Copyright (C) 2009 *|LIST:COMPANY|*. All rights reserved.
Post Carbon Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the state of Oregon (USA).
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