charlesjustice’s Recent Comments

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  transit, rail and cycling

  Great points racc.
    It comes down to the issue of equity. 6 billion people and 1 billion automobiles.  We know that doubling or tripling the number of automobiles is not feasible.  There's a lot of people out there who will never have a car.  We're part of the privileged minority who get the cars.  But taxing one type of car and subsidizing another type is just a big scam.   All cars should be taxed and the money used to subsidize transit and rail.

     Most people in North America drive and don't want to see the writing on the wall.  we shouldn't be supporting subsidizing the privileged.If we don't have the guts to show the world how to be sustainable than let's just give up right now.On A new way to waste energy posted 1 year, 8 months ago 8 Responses

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  shorter work week

  You might want to check out the "Work Less Party" in Canada.  You can find them on the net at www.worklessparty.org.  Conrad Schmidt the party's leader has written a book called,  "Workers of the World Relax".  It's humerous and convincing at the same time.  

       I think the idea of a shorter work week is a natural for environmentalists.  It's simple, it's attractive, and it's a positive way to look at overconsumption and overproduction. You can only go so far with critiques, and they end up turning people off when some might be more amenable to a positive message.

     Also worth rereading is JK Galbraith's  "The Affluent Society".On Shorter work week bleg posted 1 year, 9 months ago 7 Responses

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  common sense predictions

    Everything is connected.  economists make their predictions by disconnecting human activity from the eco-sphere.  That's why they come up with these overly rosy predictions of continued economic growth.  

     Let's inject a little common sense into this picture.  At the present rate of fishing, there will be nothing left within fifty years.  That means a lot of people are going to go hungry.  

      But what about fish farms? The problem is that those fish have to be fed too.  Either you get the feed from wild fish or from agriculture.  If we run out of fish then the first option is out.  If we grow the feed then we are competing for land use with food for humans.

      But global warming will lead to bigger more extended droughts which means more land, especially in the tropics is going to turn from productive farmland into desert.  Canada and Russia may be able to increase food production because they are far enough north.  But what happens to all the people in the tropics?  The refugee problem will cause wars and political instability.  Think Sudan and Rwanda on a global scale.  

      There was one economist who did see the connections -  Malthus.  He didn't take into account technological change so he has been proven wrong for the last two hundred years.    Technology has prolonged human life and created untold efficiencies,  leading to economic growth and higher standards of living.

     The question is, can technology keep producing this miracle of increasing productivity?  The common sense answer is no. We cannot keep extracting resources unsustainably and damaging the environment without some kind of payback down the road.  

      We don't know when that day will come.  Global warming appears to be showing us that it may be sooner than we think. Common sense tells us when we don't have any fish in the sea or enough crops to eat that all the computing power in the world isn't going to make any difference to the outcome.  On Economists cannot predict the future posted 1 year, 10 months ago 69 Responses

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  Tar Sands Wins Hands Down.

  stopgreenpath:  The only purpose your purism accomplishes is to delay doing anything about global warming.  It's ridiculous to compare the environmental damage from wind and solar farms with the damage caused by extracting tar sands.  Obviously, any construction project will disturb the local ecology but it's a question of scale.  The amount of forest that will be destroyed by tar sands extraction is an area equivalent to the state of Florida.  Nothing ese we do comes close.

  Mr Sam Wells:  Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada has signed away Canada's right to an independent energy policy.  The Security and Prosperity Partnership with the United States commits Canada to a fivefold increase in dirty oil production from the tar sands.  Was it a coincidence that Canada acted as an American lap-dog during the Bali negotiations?  Canada can neither significantly reduce its GHG emissions nor slow down tar sands extraction without threatening U.S. energy security.  And we all know what happens to countries who are even perceived as threatening U.S. energy security, don't we.On BP joins 'biggest global warming crime ever seen' posted 1 year, 10 months ago 11 Responses

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  story of stuff

  Annie, I really enjoyed your video "story of Stuff"  This is exactly what we need.  Something that explains a very complicated problem through a simple story.  I have told everyone I can think of to see your video.  One person I talked to who saw it said that it summarizes, in all of twenty minutes, what you could learn about how the environment is linked to the economy in three years doing an undergraduate degree
      Part of the reason that we are still heading off the cliff is that the situation is global and  so complicated that people can't see the forest for the trees.  We need more things like your video that connect all the dots.

      It's a huge collective effort to inform people of what is wrong and what needs to be done.  It is analogous to the nineteenth century anti-slavery movement.  The most influential work in that campaign was Louisa May Alcott's book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin".  It's all about telling the truth in a simple story.  Keep up the good work Annie. On Shop till you drop? There's a better way posted 1 year, 10 months ago 10 Responses