The big news in our world this month was, of course, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that took place in Copenhagen. PCI’s live blog from Copenhagen captured our anger and disappointment as the US and other major industrialized nations failed to take any meaningful action to address the climate crisis. PCI Fellow Bill McKibben views the convention as a disaster, writing "the ice caps won't be the only things we lose with this deal."
Despite this, we find ourselves actually invigorated now that it’s become clear to many that we mustn’t depend on elected officials to do the heavy lifting for us. We’re going to have to do it ourselves. How? Another of our Fellows, Rob Hopkins, throws out an intriguing idea. He asks "What if They Held a Climate Summit and Nobody Came?". Rob promotes the notion of “show don’t go,” by urging us to spend our efforts over the next year visualizing and modeling a world that emits 90% less carbon, rather than gearing up for the next convention in Mexico City. This is a great idea as the need for replicable, aspirational models of sustainable, resilient communities has never been greater.
As 2009 comes to an end, the stakes couldn’t be clearer. Or our focus. Join us in 2010 for a year of real change.
Happy holidays.
Asher Miller
Executive Director
pci copenhagen diary
Throughout December Post Carbon reported on the Copenhagen climate conference— from hope to crashing disappointment, through to resolve and new purpose. Here are some selections from our Copenhagen blog:
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The Search for Conservation Part 1: Lonely & Looking
Commentary by Tod Brilliant • December 13, 2009
After 28 hours spent in cars, buses, trains and planes, I arrived in Copenhagen jet-lagged but eager to take in the global ambition that is the COP15 Climate Change Conference... Read more |
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Search for Conservation Part 2 - The Politics of Exclusion
Commentary by Tod Brilliant • December 14, 2009
Day Two of my 'Search for Conservation' at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen turned out to be quite the bonanza. As of thirty minutes, ago, the G77 group (130 developing nations) walked out of the talks... Read more |
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No time for tears in Copenhagen
Commentary by Bill McKibben • December 14, 2009
I've spent the last few years working more than fulltime to organize the first big global grassroots climate change campaign. That’s meant shutting off my emotions most of the time... Read more |
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Search for Conservation Part 3: A Detour into Reality
Commentary by Tod Brilliant • December 15, 2009
...Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who I just witnessed deliver the powerful opening remarks at Oxfam’s "First International Climate Hearing" is a man of faith whose charisma, intellect and passion I’ve always admired.... Read more |
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Only the numbers count – and they add up to hell on earth
Commentary by Bill McKibben • December 16, 2009
The Bella centre is a swirl of chatter, the streets of Copenhagen are a swirl of protest. Depending on what hour you listen to the news bulletin, the UN climate negotiations have "come off the rails" or are "back on track" or have "stalled" or are "moving swiftly"... Read more |
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A $100B Joke?
Commentary by Asher Miller • December 17, 2009
Faced with stalled climate negotiations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today expressed US commitment to back a $100 billion climate fund for developing nations. With strings attached, of course... Read more |
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Scandal Under Our Noses
Commentary by Bill McKibben • December 17, 2009
For two weeks we’ve been listening to the story of the leaked emails from East Anglia—a media tempest in an English teapot. And all the time the biggest scandal has been directly under our noses... Read more |
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Obama as White Knight: Naked Ambition at COP15
Commentary by Tod Brilliant • December 18, 2009
From Wikipedia: 'Emperor's New Clothes' has become a standard metaphor for anything that smacks of pretentiousness, pomposity, social hypocrisy, collective denial, or hollow ostentatiousness... Read more |
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Reflecting on Copenhagen: Activism is Dead. Long Live Activis
Commentary by Tod Brilliant • December 21, 2009
By now, you've likely heard conflicting reports on what was or was not accomplished in Copenhagen these past two weeks. Whatever you’ve been told, I can tell you with conviction you need only know this: The U.N. convention on climate change in Copenhagen resulted in zero meaningful progress on global emissions reductions... Read more |
The Top 10, 5, and 1 of 2009
So many "best of" lists, so little time. But here’s one list that will leave you wanting more: more positive change, more sustainability, more resilience, more equity. More of what Post Carbon Institute and our 28 Fellows worked for every day of 2009—and will work for in 2010, with your help.
Here’s a reminder of what PCI brought you this year...Read more
Photo: Chuckumentary/flickr |
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latest publications
Read and listen to the latest content by our Fellows, Board and Staff anytime on our website. Here are some selections from the last month:
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Top Ten Sustainability Stories of the Decade
Commentary by Warren Karlenzig • December 21, 2009
It's the end of the decade 2000-2009, and there has been progress as well as potential disaster for sustainability. In chronological order, I've chosen these ten stories to show a range of relevant global and national issues and events... Read more |
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Six Things We Know For Sure in the Wake of 'Climate Gate'
Commentary by Rob Hopkins • December 4, 2009
A few people have been in touch to ask whether, in the light of the recent illegal hacking into UEA's emails, and the proposition by climate deniers that some of the emails that have emerged prove climate change is a scam... Read more |
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Is "Clean Coal" a Dead End?
Article by Richard Heinberg • October 29, 2009
Many energy experts, politicians on both sides of the aisle, and representatives of the coal industry agree on the need to spend billions to develop technologies to capture and store the carbon from burning coal, thus making coal "clean" from a climate standpoint... Read more |
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An Interview with Urban Revitalization Strategist Majora Carter
Interview with Majora Carter • December 14, 2009
A few hundred African American Environmentalist gathered to talk among other things about the role people of color can play in protecting the natural world. There I met Majora Carter... Read or listen |
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The Food System and Public Policy
Article by Jason Bradford • December 7, 2009
...What I'd like to do for this post is ask if government policies contribute to the troubles in the food system. I see ways in which we are we working against our own interests... Read more |
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Is Canada Criminally Negligent on Climate Policy?
Article by Bill Rees • December 4, 2009
In the lead-up to Copenhagen, the Canadian government's (non)policy on global warming borders on the criminally negligent. This may seem to be an outrageous assertion, particularly to those lost in the thickening fog of deception churned out by climate change deniers, but please bear with me for a moment... Read more |
fellows and staff in the press
energy bulletin highlights
Thanks to the more than 1500 Energy Bulletin readers who participated in our survey. Please click here for a summary of the results.
Below is a selection of recent articles and media appearing on Energy Bulletin.
energy bulletin featured articles
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What if they held a Climate Summit, and nobody came?
by Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture
So Copenhagen has been and gone, with no meaningful agreement being reached, and now the politicians and lobbyists... Read more |
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Project for Revolution in Philadelphia
by Gregor Macdonald, The Oil Drum: Campfire
Dear Campfire, I'm sitting before a photograph of the completion of the transcontinental railroad...Read more |
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A Copenhagen Christmas Present from Naresh Giangrande
by Naresh Giangrande, Transition Culture
As many have now written, the Cop15 conference, which is focussed on creating a treaty that will prevent our climate... Read more |
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The Complexity Myth
by Keith Farnish, Culture Change
I'm looking forward to the rhubarb growing season; it happens when you least expect it... Read more
Photo: jnthnhys/flickr |
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Climate finance, the new fiscal frontier
by Rahul Goswami, Energy Bulletin
Not deterred by the international financial crisis which became widespread in 2008 or by the many recessionary patterns, ... Read more |
energy bulletin featured media
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Deconstructing Dinner: Linnea Farm - Ecological Gardening Programme
by Jon Steinman, Deconstructing Dinner
In October 2008, Deconstructing Dinner had the pleasure of spending time on Cortes Island, British Columbia with a group of young enthusiastic adults... Listen |
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Peak Moment 155: Peak Oil: Adapting for Big Changes Ahead
by Yuba Gals Independent Media, Peak Moment Television
With a long-time eye to declining energy resources, Bart Anderson envisions a very different society... View media |
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Peak Moment 157: The Heart of Permaculture
by Yuba Gals Independent Media, Peak Moment Television
Former truck driver Bill Wilson tells an insightful story about the energy packed in a gallon of gas... View media |
transition US update
A monthly update from the US regional hub of the international Transition Towns movement.
 This month we've been inspired by the communities across the country and around the world who have come together to take action on climate change. From Copenhagen to the streets of their neighborhoods, read some of their stories of how climate change is being addressed at the community level. We also welcome four official Transition Initiatives bringing the total to 53 in 22 states in the US! Another significant milepost reached this month is 1,000, marking the number of people who have completed the 2-day Training for Transition in this country.
Get stories, news resources and details on upcoming trainings and webinars in our December Newsletter (subscribe). |
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events
View our events calendar
 Commonwealth Club Presents: The Peak - Oil, Water & Climate
January 26, 2010, San Francisco, CA
Chris Martenson puts together the macro-trends that will shape our finances and our relationships to our natural and social environments in the years to come.
Further event information. |
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 Sustainability Education: Connecting Art, Science, and Design
February 8-10, 2010, Berkeley, CA
This seminar will probe the implications for education of Leonardo da Vinci's science, examine ways to deepen students' understanding of the natural world through art and science, and apply ecological principles and processes to student projects to design solutions to environmental issues.
Further event information. |
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 Illahee Lecture Series - Power, Change and Energy
February 22, 2010, Portland, OR
The lectures provide a forum for science-based, policy-relevant environmental inquiry. Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg will speak on Power, Change and Energy.
Further event information. |
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 15th Water Conservation/Xeriscape Conference
February 25–26, 2010, Albuquerque, NM
Post Carbon Fellow Sandra Postel will participate in this special 2-hour panel discussion that will assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of creating and expanding product stewardship efforts, including framework policy...
Further event information. |
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 Peak Oil and the Industrialised World
March 8–12, 2010, Dartington, UK
Part of a 3 week course After Copenhagen: Opportunities and Challenges, Post Carbon Fellows Richard Heinberg and Rob Hopkins will join Nigel Topping teaching week 2 of the course
Further event information. |
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Schooling for Sustainability: Making Teaching and Learning Come Alive
June 23–25, 2010, Berkeley, CA
An opportunity to learn about the growing schooling for sustainability movement, explore the principles of schooling for sustainability, and develop strategies for transforming participants' schools.
Further event information. |
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issues
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