All Blog Posts (445)

A couple of weeks ago I came across several related articles all at once, and all telling me that post-high school education is beginning its own period of transition.  First, New York Magazine's article The University Has No Clothes, telling us that the notion that a college degree is essentially worthless has  become one of the year's most fashionable ideas.  Then there was the…

This Blog Post is in regards to the Class I will be teaching through the Whatcom Folk School, beginning June 6th.  More info about the class here.

Primary Text for class:

The Essence of Permaculture E-Book by David…

Last Saturday we were expecting a showing of the film "The Economics of Happiness" at the Pickford Cinema. Unfortunately the film didn't show up to the theater, but fortunately they had an older film on hand - "Affluenza." 



Affluenza is a 1 hour PBS documentary that was made by KCTS in Seattle about 12 to 14 years ago, exploring the high social and environmental costs of materialism and over-consumption.   From the Website, …

Great question. A fanning mill is a winnowing machine. Winnowing is the step of cleaning the grain to separate the considerable chaff, dust, weed seeds and whatnot from what you want to eat. Winnowing is done after the thresher knocks the grains loose from the head. The most basic technology for winnowing is the shallow baskets that can be seen in traditional Chinese paintings of pretty girls tossing the rice harvest up and down in a breeze. This gets old, I'm just here to tell…

“One of the characteristics of a robust, enduring and mature civilization is the capacity to consider the longer term, aim for desirable but achievable futures, but have fall-back strategies and insurance policies to deal with surprise and uncertainty.”

So says Mr. David Holmgren in an essay on the web site  http://www.futurescenarios.org  .

This statement sums up exactly what I’m trying to do: figure out what kind of fall-back…

Seventeen Rules for a Sustainable Community - “If the members of a local community want their community to cohere, to flourish, and to last, these are some things they would do” -Wendell Berry   …

I'm looking forward to the film showing on Saturday, 3pm.  The Economics of Happiness . More info at the bottom of this page.   

There's a lot of thinking going on these days about what really makes us happy, and what's really important in life.  Some articles I've come across...

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Apologies in advance for the wonkish nature of this post.  I hope some will find it interesting...

Flashback to 5 years ago, the following comment on The Oil Drum was a bit of a revelation to me:

"The world economy was saved last year by the increasing World coal production. According to BP, World total energy production grew 2.4% in 2005, but oil only 1.0%. Coal production increased 5.0%, most of it in China (growth 10%, volume well over 30% of the…

I previously proposed making a thorough examination of our economic future.  I suggested starting out by estimating whether a farmer could provide all of his essentials on a do-it-yourself basis .  That means he would grow his own food and also obtain water, shelter, clothing, and energy for cooking and heating on his own.  This would be much as the pioneers did when living in near isolation.

Some may think it unrealistic or undesirable to start by examining a do-it-yourself economy.…

Energy Descent Action Plan Team

Planning Group Meeting, Monday April 18, 2011

Synopsis Minutes

Location: at Travis’s house.

Attendees:  J.C. Walker, Jr. (new member), David MacLeod, Monica Sjursen, Kyler Royce (new member), Travis Linds, Linda Fels, Francis Ayley, Tris Shirley (Facilitator)

 …

Interesting news lately on the 'Peak Oil' front.  Tom Whipple has been writing a column called "The Peak Oil Crisis" for several years now.  His latest article looks at how peak oil is "Killing Off the Recovery."  A good article, but most notable is his reporting that the International Monetary Fund has finally acknowledged peak oil (without calling it that): "in a…

 Last time, I suggested that production beyond the amount required for subsistence ultimately determines our post-transition standard of living.  To understand how this might work, consider the following three scenarios:

First, the least encouraging possibility.  Without all the non-renewable energy we consume now, productivity falls dramatically.  If individual productivity falls enough that a hard working, skilled person engaged in subsistence agriculture can’t supply themselves…

A sign of 'Peak Everything', a sign of the Apocalypse, and a Sign of Hope...and I heard it all on NPR's Morning Edition

A Sign of 'Peak Everything':

Philadelphia Orchestra to File Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

As energy and other resources become harder to get and much more expensive, everything suffers. The age of energy abundance became the 'age of exuberance' as it reached its climax, and we over-extended ourselves with everything. The…

Previously, I observed that not knowing what level of consumption to expect in the post-transition era is risky business.  It would be very comforting to know that we can sustain ourselves without huge doses of fossil fuel energy. 

Unfortunately, predicting the future is risky business too.  Some have argued that our past has often been shaped by events that were never anticipated.  I agree and see no reason why the future should be any different.  The best we can do is to explore…

Nourishing Stinging Nettle (Urtica sp.)- Once juiced, blended, dried & crushed, or cooked they lose their "sting" and are the temperate climates first spring wild…

I ran across an interesting slogan a while ago.  “Powering down for a brighter future.”   I thought it was an excellent line – succinct, engaging, and optimistic.  But I started to wonder what the slogan really means.  In the Post-transition context, just why should anybody believe in a brighter future?  What, exactly, will be brighter?  How much brighter and in what ways?

I wouldn’t expect a slogan to supply all the details, but I haven’t found the answers anywhere else either.  This…

Joanne Poyourow (I still have to double check my spelling when I write her name), of Transition US and Transition LA has written an important article on Economic Contraction. She writes, "As the economy we now know crumbles, the far-reaching repercussions will sculpt every aspect of our future. In my opinion, any long-term plan -- Transition EDAPs included -- must anticipate that it will unfold amidst a world of…