March 08 2019 Just some randomness while I finish reading 'The Uninhabitable Earth', David Wallace-Wells recent book, an expansion on his 2017 New York Magazine article [1]. Quite an engaging read so far. Alex Smith of EcoShock radio interviewed Wallace-Wells [2] recently. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uninhabitable_Earth [2] https://www.ecoshock.org/2019/02/uninhabitable-earth-david-wallace-wells.html - - Meet Vaclav Smil - by Paul Voosen / Science Magazine - March 21, 2018 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/03/meet-vaclav-smil-man-who-has-quietly-shaped-how-world-thinks-about-energy I've read some of Smil's work [1] and while he is clearly a very bright guy he is SO dry, one has to wonder why Bill Gates is such a huge fan. Thinking on it more, I've concluded its the lack of conclusions; Smil generates tons of data but rarely seems to take the next step of tying it together into something larger. Data of course is exactly what proponents of all things techno-wondrous want -- feed that data in without preconceptions and see what comes out the other end. Nothing too terrible about that I suppose, though it's hard to imagine positive predictions; Smil's work tends to lend support to many of the more pessimistic forecasts for the planet and of course the current global industrial civilization. The more conspiracy minded might even wonder just what the Gate Foundation is up to in Africa [2], a continent that will almost certainly be one of the first to collapse due to fallout from over-population and global warming. [1] http://energyskeptic.com/category/expert-biophysical/vaclav-smil/ [2] https://www.umhs-sk.org/blog/why-bill-melinda-gates-foundation-has-so-many-public-health-critics/ - - As the World Burns - by Paul Street / Counterpunch - March 8, 2019 https://www.paulstreet.org/as-the-world-burns-hurtling-towards-an-unlivable-planet/ First time I've encountered the phrase "Capitalogenic Global Warming". I think Street's article captures the zeitgeist of these pivoting times, at least within the US, where we basically have an ad profits-driven media continuously distracting the populace while corrupt career politicians funnel the vast majority of what wealth that can still be squeezed out of our energy-fueled growth machine to the elites. Meanwhile the storm clouds gather as we edge towards and beyond various environmental tipping points into a not-so-bright, no-app-for-that [1] future. [1] http://noapp4that.org/ - - The Worlds We Live In - by John Michael Greer / Ecosophia - March 6, 2019 https://www.ecosophia.net/the-worlds-we-live-in/ An interesting essay only indirectly relating to our global predicaments, mainly enlightening (to me anyway) in that Mr. Greer reveals a bit about himself, namely that he's a Huxley College of the Environment [1] graduate, and apparently has Asperger syndrome [2]. Perhaps if I was a more regular reader of Greer's various blogs over the years I would have known this. I was definitely curious as to what his formal background was; other than references to being involved with the Appropriate Technology [3] movement in the 1970s and of course all things Druid, I don't recall much else mentioned in the "about the author" sections of his various books. As for the Asperger's, it perhaps explains some of the preachy shrillness he occasionally exudes. Power to him though; Asperger's has certainly not held him back and quite possibly afforded him some unique points of view of this world we live in. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huxley_College_of_the_Environment [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_technology - - * late addition * The Green (New) Deal is Hopium - by Time Warkins / Consciousness of Sheep - March 6, 2019 http://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2019/03/06/the-green-deal-is-hopium/ Warkin's essay is one of the most concise parsing I've read of the magical thinking that so dominates so-called Western progressive thought when it comes to attempts to fit climate change mitigation into the Growth and Progress paradigm. A particularly succinct observation: When we think about an energy revolution, we think only about swapping out the electricity that is currently generated using fossil carbon fuels. Even then, we treat the alternatives as if they are conjured into existence with no impact on the planet when, in fact, they are the product of fossil fuels -- they are not "renewables" in the sense of something that can be infinitely renewed; merely non-renewable technologies that happen to harvest renewable (for all practical purposes) flows of energy. I do take some issue with Warkin's black and white assessment of our predicament: - In order to prevent environmental collapse bringing about the death of more than six in every seven humans on the planet, we (all of us) simply have to stop using fossil carbon fuels today. - But if we stop using the fossil carbon fuels that currently provide the world with 85 percent of its power, our highly complex and interconnected oil-dependent economy will crash; resulting in a global famine that will kill more than six in every seven humans on the planet anyway. Though most assume that a steady draw-down of human population looks devastating, there are proposals[1,2] that are fairly humane and manageable. Keeping our existing nuclear power plants online could help soften to blow; building out rail systems and recycling cars may also help ease the pain of the economic contraction. Reintegrating humans and other animals to food production would too. To me, the biggest obstacle is getting the world to abandon allegiance to the religion of Growth and Progress. [1] https://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/our-vision-solve-overpopulation [2] http://www.skil.org/position_papers_folder/100timestoomany.html