ASPO Conference
sastyk | August 2, 2011Well, the astrophysicist and I finally managed to write something together. More than a year and a half ago when I moved to Scienceblogs I promised that Eric would be my sometime- collaborator. I promise I did not realize was a total lie. You see, the way we've managed over the years to raise four kids, run a farm and work several jobs is that we trade off responsibilities - when I'm working in front of the computer, he's with the kids or working the farm. When he's at work teaching, I'm home doing the same. Yes, we do have evenings together after the kids go to bed, but what we found is…
sastyk | October 10, 2010Final report from John on the ASPO Conference
I am back on the train to New York, reviewing what occurred in the last three days. Thinking over what I learned in the talks given on an autopsy of the Gulf Oil spill brings to mind the ones given in the "Message, Media and Outreach" section.
There was no question that in the speaker's minds that the Gulf accident was the result of a series of almost inexplicable mistakes by the crew on the rig. There was a profound lack of communication between various levels of command both on the rig and above. As the errors were discussed, the realization…
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, 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 | 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…