Lots of evidence from social science research makes it clear that we live much more by habit than by rational decisions about most things we do and say. We live in complex social, political, and economic systems that not only overlap but influence our lives in more ways than just about anyone could list. Our … More Priorities: Living Well vs. Predatory Extraction
It was 100ᴼ Fahrenheit in Santa Fe over the weekend. Okay, no big deal compared to Phoenix at, what was it? 114ᴼF? Of course, the waters around the tip of the Florida Peninsula this week hit near hot-tub levels of around 97ᴼ F. I could cite many other examples from all over the world, of … More Everything Everywhere Coming at Us from All Directions
These days we hear a great deal about the sustainability or unsustainability of intentionally endless economic growth on a finite planet. Some argue for “green growth,” and claim that we can somehow ‘decouple’ economic growth and environmental damage so that growth can continue as a key component of business-as-usual. While that view has considerable support … More Clash of Values or Will to Power? Commerce Confronts Catastrophe
I guess ‘atmospheric rivers’ have been a thing with climate researchers for a while now. Despite closely following the news in climate science for a couple of decades, I had not heard of them. Then, suddenly California was hit by a series of severe storms that they are calling an “atmospheric river.” The L.A. Times … More Wait, What? Atmospheric Rivers and Us.
Well, that depends. I know of nobody who considers the climate emergency a cheery optimistic prospect to look forward to. On the other hand, some get their buzz from the strangest things—the pain and suffering of others, the death of some creature who did them no harm, the wasted lives of victims of mass incarceration. … More Is the Climate Emergency a Buzzkill?
The necessity of rapidly reducing fossil fuel production and use is now a given in the constellation of societal actions necessary to achieve anything near the rather naïve institutional targets for global average temperatures not to exceed 2.0 or 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Some still hope that we can achieve these levels by … More Fossil Fuel Production, the Corporate Economy, and Consumer Culture
How to manage a societal crisis: that is the question. Or, is it a question at all? Why is it so difficult for a society of ostensibly free people to work together to make life better? To be accurate, we humans are in quite a pickle these days. With looming climate chaos before us, we … More Tyranny vs Leadership: Authoritarian Exploitation or Mutual Aid for Survival
When investment banks talk of the known reserves of oil and gas that may be left in the ground if climate policy ever were to sequester them, they call them potentially “stranded assets.” The investment banks that finance exploitation, drilling, fracking, and pipelines, see all forms of petroleum only as financial values once inserted into … More Stranded Assets and Planetary Liabilities
Can we get there from here? That is an open question. It all depends on what we do, and if we do. So far, we have done almost nothing in comparison with what we must do to retain a livable world into the Anthropocene. Overwhelming evidence on global warming and its effects destabilizing the key … More Getting Real: How to Constrain Climate Chaos for a Livable World
The majority of Americans understand that global warming is real and that it is mostly human-caused. They understand that most scientists think that global warming is happening, but only about one in six are aware that the consensus is very strong among climate scientists. Nevertheless, about six in ten are at least “somewhat worried” about … More A Failure to Communicate…or Lead
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 