sastyk | October 9, 2010The first day of the ASPO conference involved a lot of smaller sessions, most of which I missed because I was speaking or at the press conference and congressional briefing. The congressional briefing was a wild success - absolutely packed. The press conference was smaller (we were competing with the IMF and several other events) but the press follow up has been pretty good. Since what I care most about is ASPO's ability to extend the message out to the overwhelming majority of people who have no idea that their life is going to change, this was useful and interesting.
Day two (Friday)…
sastyk | October 8, 2010John reporting from the ASPO conference.
I may have been trained as scientist, but when it came down to choosing among three competing and valuable breakout sessions in the same time slot, I choose "Peak Oil: Scenario Planning: Preparing for the Days Ahead" with John Michael Greer, André Angelantoni and Dick Vodra instead of the far more techie "The Outlook for Net Exports of Oil, Natural Gas and Coal". Similar choices had to be made with the next two sets of breakout sessions with "Message, Media and Outreach" winning out over "Analysis from The Oil Drum" and "Peak Oil: Investing Beyond…
sastyk | October 8, 2010Like how classily your blogiste introduced her co-bloggers before they put up their first posts? How gracefully I've managed to make everything work? Yeah, me neither.
I must plead sleep deprivation and exhaustion - since I arrived in Washington at 3am on Thursday morning, I've not had time to touch my computer - I've been going at a dead run. Or I was running until I started drinking wine on an empty stomach in the early evening, after which it probably wouldn't have been a great idea to either run or type. I'm sorry. Bad blogiste!
Anyway, let me belatedly both thank and welcome my three…
sastyk | October 7, 2010Can a movement with the truth on its side abandon dry numbers for truthiness?
by guest blogger Molly Davis
**Hi guys! Sorry, this isn't much of an intro, but I hope you like the blog!**
Today's ASPO-USA conference in Washington, DC, is by far populated with people who support the idea that oil and gas supplies (or at least our ability to access them without serious environmental impacts) are peaking and that the results will prove both economically and socially disruptive.
But among this group, almost all of the messaging experts say the movement's narrative has failed to influence…
sastyk | October 7, 2010Greetings, I'm John Bell, one of the people helping Sharon live-blog the ASPO conference in Washington D.C. Sharon has asked us to introduce ourselves and tell her readers why we are attending the conference. I am writing this as I travel to Washington D.C. on the train.
First, I have help start Transition Westchester, a currently unofficial Transition hub for Westchester County, NY. Westchester County comprises the immediate northern suburbs of New York City. Currently, Transition Westchester is trying to inform the people of the region of the issues of peak oil, climate change and the…
sastyk | October 6, 2010ASPO managed a real coup, getting an editorial in _The Hill_ (The Congressional Website) two days before our Congressional Briefing and Press Conference on Thursday. We're doing everything we can to bring the words "peak oil" into the public eye.
This is a great opportunity for you to make sure that your congressperson and their staffers know that you want them to pay attention to peak oil. First of all, you can and should comment at _The Hill_ : http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-a-environment/122627-runn…. The more comments that say something like "I'm concerned about peak…
sastyk | October 5, 2010This post ran a year and half ago at The Oil Drum, but I thought it was worth re-running, as I begin my new Adapting in Place class (still two spots if anyone wants them - email jewishfarmer@gmail.com - and no, it isn't too late!). How do you even get started thinking about how to prepare for a lower energy and less stable climate future?
Beginnings
The first question to ask is whether we should take in-place Adaptation seriously at all. Shouldn't we, ideally, try and choose the best possible place to deal with the coming crisis? Some analysts suggest we will have to have vast population…
sastyk | October 4, 2010I'm about to leave town. Oh, and I'm about to start my Adapting in Place Class. And I'm about to begin my new liveblogging project. And I have to clean the barn, vaccinate the goats, band two goats and get my life ready to run with only one adult. And do a lot of laundry. Oh, and I'm the only member of the ASPO board of directors anyone can reach right now (everyone else is in varying stages of transport), so I'm in charge, scary as that is. Gah!
Some notes: First, blog will not be quiet this week, but will be very busy! John, Molly and Shannon and possibly a couple of others, plus me,…
sastyk | October 4, 2010
It is pouring down rain - Tropical Storm Nicole is dumping 5 inches on us - and the dogs are barking out of control. I can't see a thing in the storm, but I suddenly realize what they must be barking at - I forgot to put Blackberry in the barn.
Blackberry, you see, is our pet rooster. He's so gentle than my children carry him around. Isaiah, who has a special rapport with animals snuggles him under his arm. In the winter, the children tried to teach him to ski down the plow piles. In the summer, they come running when Blackberry roams into the road, which for some reason, he does daily…
sastyk | October 4, 2010The always-brilliant "Peak Oil Hausfrau" Christine Patton has a wonderful piece addressing the calm and reasoned Roman response to the recent "Foreign Barbarian Invasions: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management" report.
Proponents of the so-called "barbarian invasion" theory today warned of the "potentially disastrous" effects of hundreds of thousands of Visigoths, Huns, and Vandals plundering the imperial capital, including death, despoilment and dismemberment of the populace, and destruction of the city's ancient architecture and temples.
Senator Titus Claudius scoffed at the authors of…
sastyk | October 3, 2010I think the first time I really seriously reconsidered the American ubiquity of the dryer was when I was in college, and a friend of mine made a list of ten things she considered hysterically funny about Americans. Number 3, after paying more money for milk with the fat pulled out and something about our worldview, was that we consider it perfectly normal to buy an enormous box at great expense to do precisely what the air will do for you anyway. Put that way, and with her performance of "American justifying why they need a dryer," it was pretty humorous.
It isn't like I even had one much…
sastyk | October 2, 2010Just a reminder, my last Adapting-In-Place class for the forseeable future begins on Tuesday - here's the syllabus if you are interested in joining us.
Week 1 - How to evaluate what you have. We're going to concentrate on figuring out what the major concerns are for your place and your community. We'll talk about your region and its climate, culture and resources, your house itself, your community and neighborhood - the challenges you forsee and maybe ones you haven't thought about yet, and your personal circumstances - how much money, time and energy you have to deal with it. How does…
sastyk | September 30, 2010Like everyone in the rich world, I carry bottles of water with me everywhere I go. Were someone from the past to spot me, they'd be stunned by the sight of all the people, clearly headed on long treks into the uninhabited jungle, carrying water lest they die of dehydration. Because, after all, in historical terms, at least in the US, one carries a canteen or other source of water while camping or otherwise engaged in a trek to uncertain, undeveloped lands. In populated areas, folks 30 or 40 years ago, would have told a thirsty person - "wait until we get to the water fountain."
You remember…
sastyk | September 30, 2010I know there has been a lot of ASPO posting right now - what can I say except it is consuming my entire existence, so it creeps into your blog posts too ;-). The fun part will come when the conference liveblogging begins and all that great information starts flowing!
But this is pretty awesome. A kind and wonderful donor has offered to subsidize three spots for people who would otherwise be unable to attend the conference. She'll pay for registration for three people - you do have to handle your own transport and find someplace to crash, but that seems achievable! You can hear all these…
sastyk | September 28, 2010Various Updates:
First of all, Aaron Newton and I will be offering the Adapting-in-Place class again for the very last time for at least six months, and maybe longer. So if you've ever thought of taking the class, now is the time!
Adapting in Place is my favorite class - it covers everything from what's inside the walls of your home to appropriate technologies to family issues to money to security. It is the whole picture of how we are going to go forward into a lower-energy, warmer, less wealthy future. The idea is for you to come out with a plan that is uniquely suited to your realities…
sastyk | September 27, 2010Every so often someone comes up to me with fiery eyes and raring for a battle and says "I don't believe in Peak Oil" or "I don't believe in Climate Change." When this happens, I think they expect me to argue with them, and I do. But isn't the argument they expect - my standard response, correct almost 100% of the time is not to make the case for peak oil or climate change, but to argue "Yes, you do, in fact, believe in them."
Telling other people what they believe is a chancy business, but I feel reasonably confident in doing so, because when someone says they don't believe in peak oil or…
sastyk | September 27, 2010You've probably already seen Stephen Colbert's farmworker testimony, but just in case you haven't, it is awesome.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The human-fruit hybrids seem like a good idea to me.
Sharon
sastyk | September 24, 2010I probably should have waited a little longer to steal this from Greenpa, until it was colder, but I couldn't.
sastyk | September 23, 2010This is a repeat, but it is at least three years old, and I haven't done a fiber arts piece in a while, so I thought I'd get us chatting. The cooler weather certainly makes me want to knit!
The title here is somewhat tongue in cheek, of course, but I do think that we knitters and crocheters, spinners and weavers have something useful to contribute to a lower-impact future - warm fingers and toes, homemade reusable cloth bags, beautiful clothing - all made from local or recycled or otherwise sustainable materials. So I thought a discussion of how to knit (and all the other useful fiber arts)…
sastyk | September 23, 2010A couple of years ago, George Monbiot wrote a column in the Guardian arguing with me. He was responding to an essay that I'd written arguing that there was no good evaluation of the potential climate impacts of a rapid build-out of renewable energies, and that it was possible that given the short time frame, that even if we were to actually get the political and social will to do so, we might cross critical tipping points in our attempt to save ourselves. Monbiot argued that this was indeed a real possibility, but that we had to try it anyway, since the stakes were so high. I responded…