Category Archives: Peak oil

The near-term maximum output (or “peak”) of conventional oil, or of “all liquids.”

EcoMind Thought Trap #3

EcoMind: changing the way we think, to create the world we want. Frances Moore Lappé. New York: Nation Books, 2011. In EcoMind, Frances Moore Lappé sets out seven “thought traps” which she seeks to defeat and replace with better ways … Continue reading

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EcoMind Thought Trap #1

EcoMind: changing the way we think, to create the world we want. Frances Moore Lappé. New York: Nation Books, 2011. In EcoMind, Frances Moore Lappé (most notably of Diet for a Small Planet fame, written in 1971) sets out seven … Continue reading

Posted in Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth, Peak oil | 1 Comment

Move Over, Meat: A More Wasteful Use of Corn

Vegetarians used to be able to say that most corn grown in the U. S. went for livestock. According to the USDA, that won’t be true this year. Something which is even more wasteful, even more mind-boggling in its stupidity, … Continue reading

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Interview: Why the environmental issue is important for vegans

Last January 21, the KPOV show “All Things Vegan” aired an interview of me in which we discussed a number of issues, the most important of which is why the environmental issue is important for vegans. The following clip gives … Continue reading

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Is a Steady State Economy Possible?

  Gail Tverberg, whose blog “Our Finite World” is one of my favorites (along with Juan Cole’s “Informed Comment”), recently wrote a blog titled “There is No Steady State Economy (except at a very basic level).” She contends that while … Continue reading

Posted in Ecological Economics, Limits to Growth, Peak oil | 2 Comments

Limits to Growth — A Vegetarian Issue

Peak oil — the maximum point of oil production — is of tremendous importance to the future of vegetarianism. A lot of vegetarians, though, have not even heard of peak oil, and it is hard to explain it to them. … Continue reading

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They’re Rioting in Africa

Our industrialized, resource-intensive agricultural system is once again contributing to food instability.  Food prices spiked along with oil prices in 2008, and there were food riots all over the globe, from Mexico to Africa to India. In the past few … Continue reading

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Democracy, Dictatorship, and Peak Oil

The U. S. mid-term elections of 2010 are now history. Democracy has once again ignored the problems of climate change and peak oil. Has democracy failed — and if so, is there an alternative?

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The Crash Course

You can watch Chris Martenson’s free DVD, The Crash Course, online, and I often give away copies of it for free (which Martenson authorizes and encourages). It is the easiest and most painless way for me to explain why I’m … Continue reading

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The Ecological Footprint of Information

Declaring e-books to be the future of publishing may be a bit premature. What are the energy requirements of a paper book? They probably aren’t that much. Medieval monks and Gutenberg churned them out, at a much slower rate, long … Continue reading

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