Early mornings with leviathan

November 30, 2006 – 10:00 am

(This letter was published in the Chapel Hill News, 22 November 2006.)

Just before dawn, I awakened for no apparent reason, leapt out of bed, opened the back door and wandered down to the water’s edge.

Everyone else was still slumbering in a dream state, I supposed. Darkness overspread Eastwood Lake and the homes surrounding it. There was one light visible across the lake in the home of Bud Parsons. As I looked around I suddenly noticed something strange and completely unexpected, something more incredible than anything I had ever seen before. In my living room and in Bud’s house, an elephant-size humanimal was easy to see.

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Earthaven follow-up

November 27, 2006 – 11:56 am

Joel Achenbach, the author of the Washington Post article about Earthaven, has written a bit more about reactions to the article at his blog site. He notes that the Earthaven article is part of a series of articles that explore our cultural values.

Last week Achenbach also participated in an online conversation with readers. Many of the participants contributed thoughtful comments and questions. A few just said, “Bah, humbug!” It seems to me the supportive comments and questions demonstrated that readers had spent some time really considering the issues raised by Achenbach’s article, whereas the dismissive comments struck me as superficial, automatic defensive reflexes.

But overall I’m pleased that such conversations occur. It’s important that we have this conversation and this consideration of energy consumption and, in general, how we currently live in unsustainable ways.

 

 

Links to …

Joel Achenbach’s blog

Achenbach’s conversation with Post readers

Washington Post article about Earthaven


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Reactions to Earthaven

November 20, 2006 – 8:07 pm

Yesterday’s Sunday Washington Post newspaper (and web site) features an article about Earthaven, a small, energy conscious, environmentally responsible intentional community in western North Carolina.

I found the article to be surprisingly thoughtful and mostly respectful. Writer Joel Achenbach explores the attitudes and interests of people who are willing to try to live “Another Way“.

It’s been interesting to see how readers respond to it. Comments at the Washington Post range from sincere appreciation to sneering scorn.

A blogger at ScienceBlogs.com expresses concern that the article may cause as many problems as it highlights.

What do you think?


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Infinite growth cannot be supported

October 23, 2006 – 4:17 pm

(This letter was published in the Chapel Hill News, 22 October 2006.)

Let us take a moment to appreciate our neighbor, Winston L. Kirby, for the Oct. 11 letter to the editor, “Growth mentality seems unalterable.” Thankfully, what seems to be real is occasionally an illusion.

Such is the case with regard to the growth of the seemingly unalterable and endlessly expanding global economy. On a small planet with limited resources, our children will tell us, the requirements of reality simply make clear that the current scale and rate of economic globalization will soon become patently unsustainable.

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Watching the clock

October 17, 2006 – 5:54 pm

This morning the estimated human population of the United States reached 300 million.

We’ve been watching the planetary population clock for years. In some ways 300 million humans is just one more number, one more statistic, one more blip on a screen that has a lot of troubling information to display.

In one way this offers us an opportunity, however, and we’re glad for that. This is an opportunity for popular media to focus attention on human population and its consequences for the quality of human life.

Our growing human population now affects our entire planet, our entire global ecology, all of the ecosystems that keep us alive and healthy. Unfortunately the quality of life that many of those 300 million Americans enjoy now cannot be sustained much longer.

This is an opportunity for us to think about the quality of life we want for our children and our grandchildren. This is an opportunity for us to think hard about the consequences of the decisions we make now. What do we need to do now, today, to ensure the quality of life we want for our children? What do we need to do today to ensure the quality of life we want for our grandchildren in days to come?

Alex de Sherbinin, at Earth & Sky, comments:

One of the things that I think needs to be addressed and thought about, in the context of America turning the clock to 300 million, is our global impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, energy, materials usage, a whole range of things.

I’m hoping that what we can do as a society is … see these as opportunities to come up with novel solutions such as more fuel efficient transport systems. We’re a nation that prides itself on innovation.

Thanks for taking the time to think about this. Let’s keep thinking, shall we? Let’s keep thinking about the ways we can ensure a decent quality of life for our children and grandchildren.


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Health of Apex residents, economy, go hand-in-hand

October 6, 2006 – 11:04 am

Last night a fire erupted at a chemical storage facility in central North Carolina. Thousands of people evacuated the bedroom community of Apex as a cloud of extremely dangerous toxic gas spread. Rain dampened the fire and stopped the gas cloud, but now the chemicals will liquefy and drain into groundwater and stormwater run-off systems.

Several people are being treated for respiratory distress, but so far no people have died. The immediate danger may pass quickly, but what long term effects will result from poisons draining into the ecosystem of a booming suburb?

It’s a sad and scary example of the letter we published recently: Our economy affects the health of our home.

The chemical storage site is operated by a company ironically named The Environmental Quality Company.

It’s located on Investment Boulevard.

Let’s take a moment to consider this: The Environmental Quality Company…on Investment Boulevard.

Does this incident represent our investment in environmental quality?

Does this represent our investment in the quality of our lives?


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Health of economy, Earth go hand-in-hand

September 20, 2006 – 10:46 am

(This letter was published in the Chapel Hill News, 20 September 2006.)

In newspapers worldwide, seven days a week, we find the presentation of the wealth of the world economy by means of an array of economic indicators. We can see that economic globalization is carefully tracked and watched over.

The interlocking national economies of the world economy are also significant to us because economic systems are impressive, distinctly human inventions. The global economy is not a part of the natural world per se, nor does it operate like the economy of nature, but rather is an artificially designed, human construction.

Can you think of anything on the surface of Earth that could be even more important than the success of the economy? There are some things that come immediately to my mind: the integrity of the living Earth, the preservation of its biodiversity, and adequately functioning ecosystems. There can be no such thing as successful economic globalization if there is not a healthy planet from which it can derive resources and services.

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How to slow the population clock

September 13, 2006 – 10:48 am

From the Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2006:

For decades now, demographers and economists have warned that the number of people on earth is growing too fast to be “sustainable.” But for many, this story is somewhat old, perhaps alarmist.

“We have sort of a cornucopia fantasy,” says Russell Hopfenberg, a consulting faculty member at Duke University in Durham, N.C. “People say, ‘Not to worry. Technology will solve the problem.’ ”

Mr. Hopfenberg isn’t so sure. “Don’t get lulled into complacency,” he says.

Read the rest of this article at the Christian Science Monitor web site…


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Summary of the 2006 Chapel Hill Earth Day Population Summit

September 5, 2006 – 4:19 pm

The evening’s speakers included Russell Hopfenberg and Jack Alpert.

Russell (Russ) Hopfenberg, adjunct Duke professor and author of two peer-reviewed papers about human population and food supply, presented a summary and a synthesis of his papers. Carrying capacity is often viewed as a limit to a population. It also “acts like a magnet”, he notes, subtly and persistently drawing population to that limit. Thus increases in annual food production tend to increase tomorrow’s human population, not necessarily to better nourish today’s population.

Jack Alpert, founder of the Stanford Knowledge Information Laboratory, described the concept of time blindness. Alpert notes that we make decisions based on previous experience. Unfortunately we may not notice when the future will be utterly unlike our past, and the resulting decisions may be disastrous.

A web version of Hopfenberg’s presentation is in progress now.

Please visit Alpert’s web site for more information about time blindness and decision-making.


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Time to recognize resources limited

August 13, 2006 – 4:01 pm

(This letter was published in the Chapel Hill News, 13 August 2006)

Thanks to the teachings of science, our children regularly report to us that Earth is round and finite in space-time. Easy enough.

Then, why is it that grown-ups with responsibilities for ensuring a good future for the young deny one of these facts?

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