steve austin

This is a piece By Dr. Jason Hickel discussing the hypocrisy of an organization whose ethics state that “Anthropological researchers must do everything in their power to ensure that their research does not harm the safety of the people with whom they work” but yet one which holds an annual meeting that requires enormous amounts of fossil fuel use by attendees.

The author asks:  “In an age of dangerous climate change, is this morally justifiable?”

His answer is no.  The American Society of Landscape Architects should take heed.

Read the whole thing here.

 

By Mathieu Munsch – read the whole thing on Medium

Excerpt:

If the oil-driven machine must fail to avert the collapse of our ecosystems — as our knowledge of energy and climate change seems to suggest — then it is imperative that our actions start reflecting the extent of our concerns. If even those of us who made a name for ourselves for our climate change advocacy don’t take active measures to break our personal dependence on the oily hand that feeds us, then I fear that the seriousness of our message will forever fail to penetrate the wider social consciousness. Refusing to fly is a welcome gesture away from the normalised violence of polite society, but it will only make the destruction inherent to our systems a little less acute to allow us to continue our suicidal dance a little longer. Real transformative change will have to start being bolder than that, and propose pathways that are not just less harmful, but disconnected altogether from the fossil fuel economy as well as regenerative of both land and community.

…

A diversity of attempts at creating new models that don’t rely on fossil fuels will be needed to weather the storm that is coming. These models will reflect the diversity of places they are attempted in, as well as the diversity of the people who will dream them. Some — maybe most — of these attempts will fail, but just like processes of natural selection ensure that plants capable of producing large numbers of seeds can adapt to rapidly changing environments, a try-and-fail approach at creating many possible futures will ensure that some of the seeds we put into earth today will take root, flourish, and possibly even be replicated by others later on.

By Mathieu Munsch read the whole thing in bright-green.org

Excerpt:

A call to heroism

Making conscious efforts to take a deep dive into the existential crisis we find ourselves in can take you on a roller-coaster of psychological trauma. The realisation of the sheer inadequacy of the measures taken to prevent our Earth from spinning out of control in the coming years is enough for the most hardened among us to shut down and start thinking about escape. And who could really blame you for it? Why investing all these efforts in making a better future for ourselves when our rational mind knows too well that all of this is set to be trampled by the incompetence of those who really run the world? Well, all of that may be true, and I will not have the dishonesty to tell you otherwise.

But recognising hard truths will only lead on a path to depression if we lose sight of the fact that there is still a worthy battle to be fought. Meeting the incredibly strict deadline imposed by climate change will require nothing short of a dramatic shift in how we think the human experience, our measures of success and our idea of a life well lived. Holidays to far-away locations, luxurious possessions and ever so frequent splurges—the defining elements of ‘the good life’ as experienced by the 10 percent— are indefensible with a moral compass tuned in to the logic of climate change.

On the other hand, earth-regenerative acts, conscious sobriety, community rekindling and active opposition to destructive forces can provide us with what the old world and its promises constantly failed to provide: a life mission, a sense of belonging, and a great source of fulfilment. If we are to collectively survive this century, we will have to embrace our identity as agents of change; as protectors and stewards; as champions of a humanity tuned in to its better nature. The climate change era is already upon us, but let it not be an era solely marked by death and destruction. Let’s invest our whole hearts, soul and strength into an era of bravery, kindness and imagination.

So says the new Irish Minister for Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton as quoted by the Irish Times.

He added: “It will require a revolution in how we live. Every person, every community, every business, every home and every school will have to make changes in the way we live and work and learn. Nothing less will do if we are to make the changes that are needed to create a sustainable future for everyone.”

Leading climate scientist Kevin Anderson as quoted in the Herald Scotland:  Equity “is the absolutely pivotal central issue”, he says. “We are not going to solve climate change at a global level or indeed within a country like Scotland unless we address issues of inequality. That’s mostly because we’ve left it so late that poor people don’t have any emissions to squeeze out of.”

For instance, the 10 per cent of the population who are the highest global emitters create half of global emissions. “Imagine,” he says, “we had regulations that forced those top 10 per cent of emitters to the average European level, while the other 90 per cent do nothing – the reduction in global emissions would be one third.”

So says Goldman Sachs.  This will be due to oil companies inability to finance new exploration due to climate change concerns.  Prices will be driven much higher as a result.  That will dramatically impact the global economy, perhaps sparking a depression.

The main point for urban planners and landscape architects is that we must be transitioning now to the low energy world that is coming.  We can no longer be complacent in the face of overwhelming evidence that the world will be utterly different by mid-century regardless of whether we voluntarily address climate change or not.

More evidence that we must end the fossil fuel era soon.

Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis, The Washington Post Published, Wednesday, October 31, 2018

The world’s oceans have been soaking up far more excess heat in recent decades than scientists realized, suggesting that Earth could be set to warm even faster than predicted in the years ahead…read the rest here

Meyer Hillman is a smart man.  He’s 86 years old and is speaking the truth about the catastrophes we are facing.  He also has some wise words about the ways that humans can find joy on the post fossil fuel age. (Hint:  think simple things.)

Recently, he penned an op-ed that details the three choices facing humanity relative to fossil fuels:  1.  Stop all use immediately.  2.  Minimize use as much as possible and hope for the best. 3.  Do nothing and hope the future can figure it all out.

He’s not optimistic that we will choose 1 or 2.  Of choosing option 3 he says, “Future generations will judge us on what we choose to do in full knowledge – accessories before the fact – of the devastating consequences of continuing with our energy-profligate lifestyles.”

It is here where I disagree with the honorable and gentle man.  For I do not believe there is such thing as “the judgment of history.”

Aside from historians, I don’t think most people think of things that way.  We are  forward looking animals.  We simply accept the past as something inevitable that has happened.  Ultimately, we only care about the future

That is why there is no use saying that the future will judge us harshly for destroying the climate, and quite possible the entire livable ecosystem.   I do not think that future people will.  Should humans not become extinct, they wont care about us any more than the average person today judges anything from the past.  They will focus only on the future possibilities out of what they’ve inherited.

While we rightfully condemn the actions of their societies, we don’t impugn the Germans or Japanese of today for the atrocities of their grandparents.  We don’t rightfully judge ourselves for the sins of our American great-great-grandparents for their treatment of indigenous and enslaved people.  We move on.

They won’t be screaming at us like Charetlon Heston’s character at the end of the planet of the apes: “They blew it up! God, damn you! Damn you all to hell!!!”

If we are to do what needs to be done it can only be because it is the right thing to do – fearing the “judgment of history” means nothing.

By Dr Alison Green and Molly Scott Cato MEP.  From The Guardian:

We the undersigned represent diverse academic disciplines, and the views expressed here are those of the signatories and not their organisations. While our academic perspectives and expertise may differ, we are united on one point: we will not tolerate the failure of this or any other government to take robust and emergency action in respect of the worsening ecological crisis. The science is clear, the facts are incontrovertible, and it is unconscionable to us that our children and grandchildren should have to bear the terrifying brunt of an unprecedented disaster of our own making.

We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, with about 200 species becoming extinct each day. Humans cannot continue to violate the fundamental laws of nature or of science with impunity. If we continue on our current path, the future for our species is bleak.

Our government is complicit in ignoring the precautionary principle, and in failing to acknowledge that infinite economic growth on a planet with finite resources is non-viable. Instead, the government irresponsibly promotes rampant consumerism and free-market fundamentalism, and allows greenhouse gas emissions to rise. Earth Overshoot Day (the date when humans have used up more resources from nature than the planet can renew in the entire year) falls ever earlier each year (1 August in 2018).

When a government wilfully abrogates its responsibility to protect its citizens from harm and to secure the future for generations to come, it has failed in its most essential duty of stewardship. The “social contract” has been broken, and it is therefore not only our right, but our moral duty to bypass the government’s inaction and flagrant dereliction of duty, and to rebel to defend life itself.

We therefore declare our support for Extinction Rebellion, launching on 31 October 2018. We fully stand behind the demands for the government to tell the hard truth to its citizens. We call for a Citizens’ Assembly to work with scientists on the basis of the extant evidence and in accordance with the precautionary principle, to urgently develop a credible plan for rapid total decarbonisation of the economy.

(vist the original for a list of signatories)