Hopeful realism today is about assessing our planetary emergency, focusing on observable facts, and finding hope in the search for optimal solutions to the global predicament we face. Most News is Bad News, and It is Worse Than Ever Current carbon emissions have surged to greater rates than ever. The headline for the New York … More The Beat Goes On: But It Is Getting Extremely Loud
Just today, I ran across a New York Times article describing the latest, and possibly one of the least dangerous of the many efforts at geoengineering proposed in this era of illusions about the actual nature of climate change and human life on planet Earth. A little over two weeks ago, an article appeared in … More The Illusion Prevails. Why?
“Yes, sometimes we need to take a moment, shed a tear, and then double down on our commitment to building a cleaner, fairer world for all. The recent #USElection results may have left many of us rattled, though perhaps not surprised.“ ~ Mamta Borgoyary, Executive Director, She Changes Climate I have tried to maintain a … More Does Realism Trump Hope?
I vaguely remember when I first encountered sociology and wondered, ‘what’s that about.’ I had taken an ‘aptitude test’ during my first year in college. It indicated that my highest strengths were in ‘science’ and ‘social.’ My first thought was, “What’s ‘social?” When I explored the social sciences, especially sociology and psychology, I encountered a … More The Empire Is Not Us
On a recent road trip of nearly two thousand miles up the Pacific coast of Mexico, I encountered more ‘big rigs’ than ever before. On many parts of the carretera, there were many more trucks than cars. And many more pulled two trailers than I had noticed in the past. Think NAFTA. It reminded me … More Too Many Trucks: Consequences of Modern Culture
I am often puzzled by various ‘environmentalists.’ (I put the semi-quote marks around the word, since there are many types and variations among folks who either go by the designation or are called that by others.) All the various professionals, activists, academics, and even politicians (well politicians more than any others) go about their work … More There are No Do-Overs Now.
The obvious can be very difficult for people to see. That is because people are self-correcting systems. They are self-corrective against disturbance, and if the obvious is not of a kind that they can easily assimilate without internal disturbance, their self-corrective mechanisms work to sidetrack it, to hide it, even to the extent of shutting … More Madness or Method: We Know What to Do, But Not How to Do It
Well, here we go again. The twenty-eighth United Nations “Conference of the Parties” (COP28) began last week in Dubai, the oil-rich city in the nation of the United Arab Emirates, led, believe it or not, by Sultan al Jaber, first CEO to ever serve as COP President. Dr. al Jaber directs Adnoc, the national oil … More Twenty-Eight Conversations Late: Words Without Deeds
My thoughts here were stimulated by a ‘Letter from the Director’ by Beth Sawin, Director of the Multisolving Institute, which I read last month. In that letter, she rightfully struggled over the ‘bad news’ that six of the nine key planetary boundaries between Earth System health and systemic danger had by then been breached. That, … More To Do or To UN-do: Is That the Question?
I read an article on Medium.com the other day “proclaiming that we have waited too long and the tipping point beyond which we can no longer stop the progression of climate chaos has passed. The author, “indi.ca,” is a good writer and he made a compelling case for the severity of the climate/ecological emergency that … More What if It Really IS Too Late?
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 