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Sustainable Pacific Grove presents the following articles and links as part of our effort to supply
material that will expand understanding of what it means to live in a sustainable fashion.
NEW:
Here is a part of a chapter from a book that discusses the limits of growth that are part of our life on the earth.
In this case sustainability is presented based on the results of applying the computer model developed
over 35 years ago for the Club of Rome. That model has done a good job of predicting pretty much what
has happened since.
Look at sustainablility and the limits of growth.
NEW:
What really makes a building green? It is more than its physical nature,
it can also be its use.
Check this one out here.
We cant wait for others to do it. Here is a list, for us to start with,
from Jim Hightower, taken from his
Hightower Lowdown newsletter.
Presented here is a draft
Transition Plan for Monterey County.
The draft is intended as a basis for discussion with sustainability groups within Monterey County.
It is hoped that, through community discussion, we can come to agreement about our goals and
how to achieve them during the upcoming transition time.
The unforgettable commencement address by Paul Hawken to the Class of
2009, University of Portland, May 3, 2009. This is
one of the clearest and strongest statements of what is happening to
our earth right now.
Fifty Million Farmers
This paper that talks looks at the rising fuel costs ( peak oil and gas ) and
"the impacts of the related impending crisis upon agriculture and our national food system".
A most informative paper.
It was presented at the Twenty-Sixth Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, October 2006, Stockbridge,
Massachusetts by Richard Heinberg, is a
journalist, educator, editor, lecturer, musician, and a Core Faculty member of
New College of California, where he teaches a program on
"Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community."
NEW:
Here is an example of a small firm that is really thinking about
sustainability. It supplies ideas for what can be done.
"The main purpose of
Transition Industries
is to serve as an example and
demonstration model of ways to create small-scale light manufacturing and
other "industrial" type endeavors at the neighborhood level that don't get
caught in the trap of continuing support for either Industrialism or growth
for the sake of growth."
"We are also producing different kinds of goods. Now that we are
paying the environmental costs of what we use, natural resources are
expensive. So making short-lived, disposable goods no longer makes
economic sense."
Here's the link to the short article, where the above quote came from, describing a model of
Life in a land without growth.
This appeared in " New Scientist", Oct 15, 2008.
NEW:
There is a California State law, AB 811, that offers a way to fund energy efficiency improvements and distributed generation for the owner of real property in a city. The city creates a district that will sell low interest bonds to generate the money. The owner applies to the city to be a part of the program, on acceptance receives the loan, installs the improvements, and pays off the loan in 20 years thru an addition to the yearly tax bill.
Here is more information.
In this op-ed,
The Climate for Change,
Al Gore lays out a plan for getting the United States off it oil addiction in 10 years.
( You may have to sign up, it is free, for access to the New York Times archives.)
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Op-Ed Contributor
The Climate for Change
By AL GORE
Published: November 9, 2008
David W. Orr is a Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at the University of Vermont.
The article presented here states in very stark terms the risk that humankind is taking.
Here is a quote from early in the article;
"I know of no good reason for anyone to be optimistic about the human future, but I know lots of reasons to be hopeful. How can one be optimistic, for example, about global warming?
First, it isn’t a “warming,” but rather a total destabilization of the planet brought on by the behavior of one species: us. Whoever called this “warming” must have worked for the advertising industry or the Siberian Bureau of Economic Development. "
See the whole article and an invited reply ( following the article ).
from
These Revolutionary Times
We don't have to be violent about it. But we must be as single-minded and insistent as someone yelling "Fire!" when there is, in fact, a fire. That's not radical, that's prudent and morally required.
It's so much easier to hope for a miracle. But our best hope lies in embracing revolution — to, in John Adams' words, "start some new thinking that will surprise the world."
Here's a short "to-do" list:
• Reduce the industrialized world's carbon footprint 80 percent by 2050.
• Prevent the projected 3 billion increase in human population over the next 30 years and actually reduce population by 2110 without famine, disease or war while preserving human dignity.
• Revise the scientific method so that it better balances the goal of discovery with moral considerations and precaution.
• Switch our economy to sustainable energy: solar, wind, hydro.
• Make that economy one in which happiness and success do not require increased consumption.
It's time to accept the creative limits and boundaries that gave us sun-powered Earth in the first place. It's time to change our minds and our lives.
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Taken from "The Land Report", page 12, Summer 2008, The Land Institute, Salina KS, from "These revolutionary times" by Bill Vitek, who teaches philosophy at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y. To see the whole article go to
Land Report.
NEW:
Transportation in PG
This article outlines some of the issues for Pacific Grove as we consider changes in our
transportation options in PG.
Green Contest
Written by Sharon Lloyd of Pacific Grove ( a member of SPG ), this article shows
the type of thinking that
will make a difference, if we all start to approach our lives this way.
Read Sharon's thoughts.
Exponential Growth
Simon Ratcliffe is a good thinker. Here he shows the absurdity of continuing the current
exponential growth rates of just about everything. It is simply mathematically impossible
with finite planetary resources. This inescapable fact leads to some interesting conclusions
about localisation and simplicity.
The Ratcliffe article is
Living in a state of exponential delusion.
Amory Lovins at Stanford, 2007
Amory Lovins is the fifth and final MAP/Ming Visiting Professor. As co-founder of
Rocky Mountain Institute, Mr. Lovins brings a longstanding commitment to energy efficiency
and the relentless pursuit of environmentally sound energy habits and design standards.
Mr Lovins generously opened his academic program to the broader community, resulting
in a series of public lectures that offered greater awareness of energy-efficient practices
to all.
The five lectures can be viewed at the website below. (Each is about 90 minutes long.
At the site you may also download a pod-cast of each
lecture and-or the slides from each lecture, as PDF files. )
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid231.php
This lecture series was sponsored by Mineral Acquisition Partners Inc. (MAP) as part of its commitment to fostering sustainable energy education.
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