2012 began with earthquakes in Ohio linked to hydraulic fracking for shale gas. Already this is starting to look like an apt metaphor for the stress fractures appearing right across our society as we move into the age of extreme energy. Fighting for the environment has never been for the faint hearted — when your message runs against someone's chance to make serious money you can expect to come up against some opposition. But with the economy on the floor, and a growing number of people questioning the wisdom of the market to turn things around, this battle is becoming acrid as Asher Miller's post Enemies of the State reveals.
Crucial in the face of the spin and the hype is to stay focused on facts. In 2011 PCI Fellow David Hughes wrote our acclaimed report Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century? Follow his work with us as he continues to inform the energy debate in the US and Canada — see With Gas so Cheap and Well Drilling Down, Why is Gas Production so High? and The Expert's Report that Damns the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Also keep an eye on Energy Bulletin to get the stories behind the news as well as a trove of inspirational material on how to respond.
For all the latest from PCI, read on...
latest publications
Read, watch or listen to the latest content by our Fellows, Board, Advisers and Staff anytime on our website. Here are some selections from the last month:
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Enemies of the State
Article by Asher Miller • January 31, 2012
Almost exactly nine years ago, opposition to the US invasion of Iraq was reaching a fever pitch. On February 15, 2003 millions of people around the world rallied to protest the inexorable march to war, including in over 150 cities in the United States. .. Read more |
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Organics and Sustainability: Reflections on my New York Times Misquote
Post by Michael Bomford • January 24, 2012
The phone rang as I was tying up loose ends for my last day in the office before Christmas. New York Times reporter Elisabeth Rosenthal wanted my thoughts on the sustainability of organic agriculture... Read more |
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"Sewer Mining" — Efficient Water Recycling Coming to a Community Near You
Post by Sandra Postel • January 23, 2012
It sounds yucky at best, but mining sewage is growing in popularity, especially in Sydney, Australia, where a decade of drought forced some creative thinking about how to get, use and manage water... Read more |
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With Gas so Cheap and Well Drilling Down, Why is Gas Production so High?
Post by David Hughes • January 19, 2012
Natural gas prices have declined to below $3.00/mcf, levels not seen for years, yet the EIA posted the highest gas production ever in October, 2011... Read more |
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Security by Design
Article by David Orr • January 19, 2012
It is commonly assumed that our national security depends only on our capacity to project military power beyond our borders and has little to do with how we organize the internal business of the country... Read more |
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The Peak Oil Crisis: Gasoline in 2012
Article by Tom Whipple • January 11, 2012
In recent days there has been much discussion in the press about what might happen to gasoline prices in the coming year. Cognizant of the fact that retail gasoline is currently running nearly 30 cents per gallon higher than it was in January 2008... Read more |
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Film review: Why 'Thrive' is best avoided
Post by Rob Hopkins • January 11, 2012
What do you do when you are the heir to the Proctor and Gamble fortune and you have spent years surrounding yourself with new agey thinking and conspiracy theories? You make a film like 'Thrive', the latest conspiracy theory movie that is popping up all over the place... Read more |
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At the Crossroads of Sustainability
Conversation with Bill Ryerson by Michael Charles Tobias • January 10, 2012
Imagine a country like French Guiana or Vanuatu — with human populations of 225,000 to 235,000 — emerging, every day! That is the conundrum facing humanity and the natural world... Read more |
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Armed with naïvete
Article by Bill McKibben • January 5, 2012
My resolution for 2012 is to be naïve -- dangerously naïve. I'm aware that the usual recipe for political effectiveness is just the opposite: to be cynical, calculating, an insider... Read more |
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Book Review: The Post Carbon Reader
Interview with Daniel Lerch by Kyle Curtis • January 4, 2012
Let's make this clear from the beginning: The Post Carbon Reader is not an easy read. Indeed, if you're looking for a breezy take on the end of the world, I would instead recommend World War Z. But whereas Max Brooks's novel is a gore-drenched take on the zombie apocalypse... Read more |
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300 Years of Fossil Fuels video landmark!
 Our video 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds has now passed a million views on YouTube. Thanks for spreading the word. Let's see if we can make it 2 million.
the end of growth
Richard Heinberg's book The End of Growth, published by New Society Publishers continued to attract attention in January. Catch up with the latest from Richard.
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Reality Strikes Back: A Review of Richard Heinberg's The End of Growth
By Chris Stratton, The Center for a New American Dream
If you're worried about the recession and looking for reassurance that the world's economies will soon be back on track and everything will return to normal, you should probably stop reading now... Read more |
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Geopolitical Implications of "Peak Everything"
Article by Richard Heinberg • January 10, 2012
From competition among hunter-gatherers for wild game to imperialist wars over precious minerals, resource wars have been fought throughout history; today, however, the competition appears set to enter a new—and perhaps unprecedented—phase... Read more |
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Heinberg, Kunstler, Foss, Orlov & Chomsky on A Public Affair
Richard Heinberg joins James Howard Kunstler, Nicole Foss, Dmitri Orlov and Noam Chomsky in a panel discussion... Listen |
fellows and advisers in the press
energy bulletin highlights
Below is a selection of recent articles and media appearing on Energy Bulletin.
energy bulletin featured articles
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Green economy and growth: Fiddling while Rome burns?
by Manu V. Mathai, Our World 2.0
"Fiddling while Rome burns" may seem a stale analogy, but when talking of "green growth" and "green economy" (GGE, for short), it is appropriate. Despite assertions to the contrary, the only thing innovative about the GGE concepts is the buzz that surrounds them...Read more |
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Why "But We Walked On the Moon!" doesn't mean what they think it does
by Sharon Astyk , Casaubon's Book
"If you have followed energy issues from anywhere other than a cave on a mountain peak, you've probably heard technoutopians utter some variation on the following sentence two or three hundred times "We walked on the moon"..Read more |
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Man and the natural world
by Akshay Ahuja , Dark Mountain Project
Most people in today's society are profoundly helpless. Try to imagine what you would do if the water stopped coming out of the taps and filling up your toilet tank. As America and perhaps the global industrial system... Read more |
energy bulletin featured media
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Peak Moment 207: Planting the Seeds for a New Society
by Yuba Gals Independent Media Peak Moment Television
"We're a conduit and a packager of important cutting edge material that people need to do the work that they're engaged in." Judith Plant and the New Society Publishers (NSP) team are social change agents bringing emerging ideas and authors to the forefront... Watch |
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Strategies for mobilizing our workforce towards urban agriculture with Michael Abelman
by Luke Miller Callahan Groaction
How do we catalyze a movement of urban farmers throughout the country and throughout the developed world? Renowned speaker, activist, and urban farmer, Michael Abelman sits down with me to discuss the reasoning and strategy behind encouraging millions of people to become small plot farmers... Watch |
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Oil Shock - The No Growth World
by Alex Smith Radio Ecoshock
The price of oil hits you at the pump, in your food bill, and everything you buy. What if you can't afford it? For years, I've covered Peak Oil as the story of a limited resource. Meanwhile, the oil industry, glutted with billions in profits... Listen |
transition US update
A monthly update from the US regional hub of the international Transition movement.
 This year is bursting forth with collaboration and synchronicity. In the Fall, we put out a general survey to get a sense of how Transition is evolving in the US. Thanks to over 250 people who responded to the survey, we have a better sense of challenges and successes, how best to develop resources and support, and a reflection of the collective vision for this evolving network. Check out the results from our Annual Survey for 2011!
This month we welcome four new official Transition Initiatives: Transition Marbleton (NY), Transition Letcher County (KY), Berkeley Transition Initiative (CA), and Local 2020 (WA). Upcoming Transition Trainings are being held in Charlottesville, VA, Santa Rosa, CA and Stone Ridge, NY. Find more updates in our January Roundup of What's Happening out in the World of Transition. |
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events
View our events calendar
 Energy Geopolitics - Portland State University
February 3, 2012, Portland, OR
Join Daniel Lerch for this event. Against the backdrop of European crisis and and high U.S. unemployment, what does this changing energy landscape mean for national and global economies in 2012?...
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 Chesapeake Energy Lecture — David Hughes and Terry Engelder
February 7, 2012, Tulsa, OK
The University of Tulsa College of Law and the National Energy Policy Institute will host a discussion on hydraulic fracturing with geoscientists David Hughes and Terry Engelder. This is the fourth in a series of annual lectures sponsored by Chesapeake Energy...
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UBC Reads — Richard Heinberg
February 9, 2012, Vancouver BC
Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg will be at UBC on February 9th to read from and do a book signing for his recent book The End of Growth from Noon to 1pm in the CIRS building. ...
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 World Community Film Festival
February 10, 2012, Vancouver BC
Richard Heinberg will give the keynote speach to open the World Community Film Festival. Admission to the festival opening lecture is by donation and the event is cosponsored by Village Vancouver and Vancouver Peak Oil...
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 New Frontier: The Political Crossroads of Our Environmental Future
March 1, 2012, Eugene, OR
Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg will give the keynote address at the 30th Annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference...
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 Eugene Sustainability talk
March 3, 2012, Eugene, OR
Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg will speak about his newest book, The End of Growth. Suggested donation for Richard's talk is $5-10...
Further event information. |
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 Day Long Workshop in Princeton
March 13, 2012, Princeton, NJ
Local Dollars, Local Sense author Michael Shuman will conduct a day-long workshop with the Princeton Merchants Association...
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 Food for Thought: Richard Heinberg
March 14, 2012, Gainesville, FL
Post Carbon Fellow Richard Heinberg author of The End of Growth, will speak as part of the University of Florida 'Food for Thought' campaign...
Further event information. |
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 Economics of Happiness Conference
March 23, 2012, Berkeley, CA
Post Carbon Fellows Richard Heinberg, Michael Shuman, and Bill McKibben will be presenting at the Economics of Happiness Conference. As crises intensify, a chorus of citizen voices is rising up in response. People are demanding an end to the exploitation of the many for the profit of the few....
Further event information. |
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 Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism
March 18-20, 2012, Portland, OR
Local Dollars, Local Sense author Michael Shuman will conduct a day-long workshop with the Princeton Merchants Association...
Further event information. |
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 Public Lecture: The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality
April 24, 2012, Chico, CA
Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg will speak on his latest book The End of Growth at this public event in the Colusa Hall Conference Center, CSU, Chico...
Further event information. |
Image credit: Raw sewage (left) gets turned into high-quality water for re-use (right) while the dark "mixed liquor" (middle) returns to the bioreactor. — Permeate Partners
Image credit: Pumping gas — whatatravisty/flickr
Image credit: US military vehicles — Morning Calm News/flickr
Image credit: Crossroads shadow — SFview/flickr
Image credit: Regional Transition gathering in Western Massachussetts — Transition US |
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