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January 25, 2012
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Whither the Windcatcher?. An interesting article in Conservation Magazine about an old passive ventilation technology that's getting some new attention due to its efficiency and zero-energy consumption, the windcatcher. |
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January 23, 2012
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Boom and Doom: great (if disturbing) article from New Scientist. And reprinted in the Transition Initiatives Daily. New Scientist published an interesting article this month about the “Limits to Growth” study from he 70’s. Their studies showed that the current boom will be followed by a collapse of the economy. The reason that the model crashed was because its hypothetical people did not respond quickly enough to avoid problems. And what do we see in reality: we are not responding quick enough to combat global warming. We are not responding quick enough to deal with the economic crisis. So I think the report’s researchers were right in their assessment of human behavior! The other interesting observation they made is that the only way to avoid a collapse is to limit growth. I could not agree more.
For the full article, please click on the above link. |
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January 20, 2012
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Why this is an amazing time to be alive. While I don't always find the articles in Transition Voice to be particularly compelling or inspiring, I must say this one really captures the vast possibilities of our time, and persuades us not to squander this unique historical opportunity to build something better. Inspiring. |
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January 14, 2012
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Shifting Society's Goals. Three new on-line resources, available from Mike Nickerson's website. Mike was one of the keynote speakers at our Resilience 2011 Festival, and considered by many to be one of the highlights...
A free ten part Mini-Course on Shifting Society's Goals, delivered one per week.
Occasional Updates on the work of this Sustainability Project/7th Generation Initiative. No more than one a month.
A Think Tank Discussion on Shifting Society's Goals.
More detail about what is offered:
When you fill in the form (click on the above link) you will receive (approximately) monthly updates about ongoing efforts to help society realize - and to act on the realization - that we've got to stabilize human activity within our planets limits.
In addition, two exciting new initiatives are now available:
1) The first offers you foundational material on cultural evolution, particularly as it applies to shifting toward sustainability. This material will help you to imagine creating a better world. We recommend it for Think Tank participants.
It's a free mini-course about:
- sustainability,
- economics for the coming era,
- social change, and
- the challenge of shifting society's goals.
For more information, please click on the above link. |
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January 11, 2012
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What do triple-digit oil prices mean for growth?. In 2009 Jeff Rubin, former chief economist for CIBC, published his excellent peak-oil book "Why Your World is About to Get a Lot Smaller." Since then, he's been spreading the word, and also keeping an eye cocked to oil prices and the global economy. Here's his latest posting on Transition Voice. |
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January 7, 2012
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Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted. Community really is the key. Most of the momentous social changes in the world were accomplished without social media, email, Twitter, or texting. Malcolm Gladwell makes the case that ongoing social change still happens when strong communities pull together in a common cause, regardless of how they intercommunicate. (PDF document) |
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January 6, 2012
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The Debate Over Climate Communication Heats Up. What else, besides fear, might galvanize the nascent climate movement? Earlier this year, in a widely read essay, University of Minnesota scientist Jon Foley advised that it was time to “stop bashing people over the head with climate science.” He didn’t say that the science should be ignored, only that other means of persuasion should be tried, given how polarized the climate debate has become.
An excellent article, posted on the Yale University forum on Climate Change and The Media. Be sure to read the responses! The article has spawned some interesting debate.
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January 6, 2012
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Making Life More Meaningful. It’s not competition and greed that makes the world go around – it’s cooperating and caring, writes Ed Mayo. Here's a great essay published in Resurgence on the role of cooperation and collaboration in the development of human society. |
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December 8, 2011
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Extreme Weather Map. In 2011 almost three thousand records for extreme weather events were shattered in the United States alone. Record-breaking extreme events occurred in all of the 50 states, and the frequency and intensity of some extreme events are likely to worsen with climate change.
This first-of-its-kind interactive map, published by the Natural Resources Defense Council, shows when and where these events took place. The events are broken down into seven types: record temperature, record rainfall, record snowfall, flooding, flooding, drought, wildfires and other extreme events (tornadoes, hurricanes, high winds, etc.) All of these types of events are expected to worsen significantly over the next 20 years. |
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December 4, 2011
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Brazilian project shows true power of solar technology. An interesting article in the Toronto Star, with a Guelph connection! A number of impoverished villages in Brazil’s Amazonia region will soon receive a life-changing Christmas present from Canada.
As you read this a shipping container full of 560 solar panels is en route to Brazil aboard the cargo ship MSC Santhya. The panels, worth nearly $1 million, were donated by Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. and manufactured out of the company’s new facility in Guelph.
Once these made-in-Ontario panels arrive in Brazil, they will be transported to a handful of villages and, come spring 2012, installed atop schools, hospitals, and water-pumping stations. The power they produce will be used directly, or stored in golf-cart batteries so the energy from the sun can be used at night.
Full text of the article is available through the above link. |
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October 21, 2011
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Urban Food Working Group Forest Gardening Workshop and Work Exchange. On September 17, 2001, our Urban Food Working Group held a highly successful forest gardening workshop at Ben Ceasar's farm in Beaver Valley. Here's a short report on how it went, together with a few pictures, submitted by UFWG coordinator Roxana Roshon. (PDF document)
For more information on the Transition Guelph Urban Food Working Group, click here. |
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October 17, 2011
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2011 Urban Romp and Bike Tour. Co-sponsored by the Transition Guelph Urban Food Working Group, Backyard Bounty and The Guelph-Wellington Food Roundtable, this year's urban food romp and bike tour was a success! Here's a report about it by UFWG coordinator Roxana Roshon. |
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October 16, 2011
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Halls Pond Solar Coop Presentation - From the QGM Oct 13/11. This is the PowerPoint presentation that Mike Labbe used at the quarterly general meeting on October 13 to explain the ins and outs of the Options for Green Energy investment opportunities in Guelph (Hall's Pond solar farm, Ignatius Farm roof mount installation). It's a rather large pptx file, approximately 36 meg. To download, right click on the link and select "Save As..." |
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September 22, 2011
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Analysis of Ontario political platforms by the Pembina Institute (PDF document). Published Sept. 20, 2011 by Tim Weis, Cherise Burda, Sachi Gibson, the Pembina Institute's detailed platform analysis compares the commitments the Ontario Liberal, NDP and Progressive Conservative parties have made on a range of sustainable energy priorities.
The analysis looks at where the parties stand on issues such as investing in renewable power generation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, creating incentives for energy conservation and expanding transit systems. The results identify clear leaders in building the province's clean energy economy.
I'm a bit dismayed at the lack of an evaluation of the Green Party platform, indicating anew the uphill battle the Greens face for acceptance as a viable party alternative. The document, nevertheless, does contain some useful information, presented in a non-partisan format. |
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September 22, 2011
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Let the Sun Shine In. Another provocative article from Transition Voice, by Lindsay Curren. Not everything in the "Voice" articles always resonates, and this post is no exception (as the spirited debate in the blog comments between Lindsay and "Reverse Engineer" indicates), but nonetheless, as always the article is thought-provoking and makes some excellent points about the vast differences in policy and attitude toward renewable energy on opposite sides of the pond. |
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September 22, 2011
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Those 1000+ Clean Energy Jobs are Good for Guelph. David Noble (2 Degrees C) wrote this timely article for the Guelph Mercury (originally titled "The bad news baby in the bathwater") on the possible impacts of the upcoming provincial election on employment in Guelph, and the city's growing reputation as "the place to invest" for green businesses.
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September 22, 2011
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How questioning economic growth left me feeling like a 'Pilgrim from the 25th Century'. Rob Hopkins' articles in the Transition Culture e-zine are always entertaining, thought-provoking and relevant. This one really hits home on the subject of the challenge we (i.e. the Transition movement) face in trying to get the decision-makers out there to understand that the economic growth model has a limited lifespan, and that we need to act now to develop a new model. And, he opens with an entertaining anecdote about one of the oddest and most bizarre bands from the 60s, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, and ties it in to the subject matter! |
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August 23, 2011
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An open letter to all Canadians, from the Honourable Jack Layton. Dated two days before his death. |
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August 16, 2011
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Transition Orientation Presentation (zip file). Here's our most recent transition orientation presentation, in zip file format. The file contains a folder which in turn contains the PowerPoint file, as well as the associated sound files (the sound files aren't completely necessary, more of a nice-to-have.)
There are copious notes on each slide, including all of the information necessary to give the slide its proper context, and instructions on when and how to click to trigger the slide animation at the correct times.
Feel free to download and modify it as you want, but please give us credit for any slides you use. This is a rather large file, about 21Meg, so depending on the speed of your connection it may take some time to download. (right click on the file name, and select "Save Target As...") |
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August 7, 2011
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WHO KILLED GROWTH? An Animated Explanation.... The video covers Richard Heinberg's startling (yet painfully obvious) diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits. |
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August 7, 2011
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Canadian Government Fires Environment Ministry Scientists and Meteorologists, Hires Oil Lobbyists. Another great expose of the lastest government shenanigans from Treehugger.com. The agenda is pretty clear, don't you think? |
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July 16, 2011
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A Deeper Shade of Green. A great article by 350.org founder Bill McKibben in National Geographic online. Somewhat long, but well worth the read. |
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July 6, 2011
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A New World Model Including Energy and Climate Change Data. Heavy on complicated graphs and charts (beyond me, for the most part), but worth perusing anyway. This updated systems model of global climate, resources, and energy extends the original World3 (“Limits to Growth”) model by inclusion of climate change and it's interaction with resources and energy. Outcomes are derived for total energy resources, human population, nutrition, consumption, economic activity and other parameters. Long-term outcomes are derived for a 1900 C.E. to 2100 C.E. time sequence, with human population decline.
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June 30, 2011
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Max Keiser: IMF uses Greece's assets as collater . It's likely that our economic future will be a series of deepening recessions followed by periods of partial recovery, as oil (and the financial capital to which it is intimately linked) becomes more and more scarce. What's the probable trigger for the next collapse? Odds-on favourite is the worsening economic situation in Greece (despite inadequate coverage in the mainstream media). Here's why. |
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June 30, 2011
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Peak Oil is getting closer, but the world is still not ready. The end of cheap oil has got governments panicking to control prices rather than planning for a post-oil era, The Ecologist reports.
Was it a sign of desperation or show of strength?
In a surprising move, the major oil consuming countries, principally Europe and the US, agreed last week to release some of their emergency reserves of oil in an attempt to try and cut the high market price of oil.
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| June 25, 2011 |
Ontario Professional Planners Institute - Planning for Food Systems in Ontario. Healthy Communities and Planning for Food: Planning for Food Systems in Ontario. A policy paper and a call to action, issued June 24, 2011 by the OPPI.
This is a PDF document. |
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June 23, 2011
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Arithmetic, Population and Energy - a talk by Al Bartlett. Al Bartlett, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Colorado believes thsat the biggest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand exponential growth. In this simple and engaging four-part lecture, he explains how exponential functions work, and their implications for human growth in population, energy consumption, waste, the economy and other key areas. A great followup is this section of Chris Martenson's Crash Course (click here), which expands on these key concepts to explain how the converging crises of energy depletion, food security, climate, waste, ocean acidification, topsoil loss and many others behave.
Essential viewing! |
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June 22, 2011
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300 Years of Fossil Fuel Addiction in 300 Seconds. Fossil fuels have powered human growth and ingenuity for centuries. Now that we're reaching the end of cheap and abundant oil and coal supplies, we're in for an exciting ride. While there's a real risk that we'll fall off a cliff, there's still time to control our transition to a post-carbon future.
A great video, narrated by Richard Heinberg (author of The Party's Over, Peak Everything, and The Oil Depletion Protocol) |
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June 14, 2011
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A Literature Review on Wind Turbines in Ontario June 10, 2011. Time to confront the anti-wind fear campaign. The Sierra Club of Canada (SCoC) is strongly supportive of wind turbine infrastructure. I (Kip) have also done fairly extensive research into the concerns expressed regarding wind power generators, and there really is little to no reason for all the vehement opposition to these developments. Like the SCoC, I have passionate concerns for wildlife protection, the environment, and people. The information in this report is informative, and properly sourced. |
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June 9, 2011
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Will the Transition Movement be the Tea Party's Next Target?. I was attracted to the Transition movement from the outset because it was positive, collaborative, community based, and focused on creating a better world. But Michael Ruppert of CollapseNet recently published this sobering and somewhat frightening reminder that not everyone is going to see it that way, and that any time you go against the status quo you will inevitably draw detractors, some of whom may not be content to simply "debate" you, but may perhaps find more direct ways to express their opposition. |
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June 7, 2011
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Transition Towns, the REAL agenda... (WTF?). Here is the most wonderful potty nonsense from the US, a conspiracy theorist who in 47 seconds manages to link Transition to the Trilateral Commission, the CIA and the Council on Foreign Relations. Rob Hopkins tweeted this, and people enjoyed it so much I thought I’d post it here too!
Apparently the ‘agenda’ of Transition is “taking your land away from ya”. Damn! And I thought I was getting away with it!! I want ALL your land! All of it!!! Aaarrgghhh!!!! |
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June 1, 2011
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We're all peak oilers now. I'll say it before and I'll say it again... Transition Voice is a fantastic online e-zine! You can join up and get a daily digest of their top items, or check it out periodically yourself online, at http://transitionvoice.com.
Here's yet another great article about the growing acceptance in the mainstream of the finite nature of our planet, and how that sea-change is being both embraced and denied around the world, depending (of course!) how one is positioned to either benefit or suffer from that realization. As Upton Sinclair said, "It's difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends on him not understanding it." But that understanding is coming. It has to. |
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June 1, 2011
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Japan pensioners volunteer to tackle nuclear crisis. In a news item that is both heartbreaking and awe-inspiring, the BBC is reporting that a group of about 200 Japanese seniors have volunteered to tackle the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima power station. An excerpt from the report:
Volunteering to take the place of younger workers at the power station is not brave, [volunteer] Mr Yamada says, but logical.
Mr Yamada has been getting back in touch with old friends via e-mail and even messages on Twitter "I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live," he says.
"Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer."
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May 31, 2011
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Transition Voice: Weather will never be weird enough to end climate denial. Transition Voice is a great online e-zine, and I recommend getting a subscription, if you don't mind yet another daily item in your Inbox. It is worth it, as is demonstrated by this candid article by contributor Erik Curran.
"When it comes to climate change, denial is still the dominant response,” writes Paul Gilding in The Great Disruption. “We won’t change at scale until the crisis is full blown and undeniable, until the wind really kicks up speed. But then we will change.”
Trouble is, by then it's likely to be too little too late.
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May 30, 2011
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Worst ever carbon emissions leave climate on the brink. The Guardian, always a pretty forthright newspaper, has published this downright frightening article based on an unpublished document from the International Energy Agency, warning that the opportunity to control climate change through emissions controls may be all but past. Last year's emissions, despite the sputtering global economy, were the worst ever, pushing average CO2 concentrations well into the mid-390 PPM range. IEA spokesperson Fatih Birol is quoted as saying that disaster could yet be averted, if governments heed the warning. "If we have bold, decisive and urgent action, very soon, we still have a chance of succeeding," he said. But will it actually happen? Recent history is not encouraging.
And this, hard on the heels of some of the worst weather events in recorded history, and unprecedented crop failures around the world. I don't know about you, but this scares the crap out of me...
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May 24, 2011
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IEA: More Oil Needed Urgently – The Wall Street Journal. Well, duh! Sometimes I wonder what these guys do to earn their paycheques. In this latest missive from the International Energy Agency, they appear to have come to the sudden epiphany that... gee, the world needs more oil. Well bust my britches! Not bad for a bunch of people who have suppposedly been monitoring the world's energy situation for the past 20 years. |
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May 3, 2011
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Oil Crunch. Still more evidence. This is a 12-minute mini-documentary posted on the Catalyst website. It states that we will likely look back on 2011 as "the good old days" of affordable petroleum. |
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April 25, 2011
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Trends in Atmospheric CO2 Concentration. Some disturbing data from the Global Monitoring Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the changes in CO2 concentration, measured at the Mauna Loa atmospheric observatory.
Particularly worrisome is the data that shows that, far from being reduced, the RATE of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere has a actually gone up. Rate of increase from 2008 to 2009 was 1.89 ppm, while the increase from 2009 to 2010 was 2.43 ppm. Average concentration, as measured at the observatory, is now 391 ppm, which is 41 points higher than the maximum level recommended by the IPCC in the 2009 AR4 report. |
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April 25, 2011
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Energy Bulletin - April 23. Fatih Birol, chief economist and spokesperson for the International Energy Agency (IEA) is warning of a serious oil supply crunch by 2014, perhaps sooner, the latest in a series of stern warnings about peak oil from reputable sources. The IEA, as recently as 2008, was on record as stating that global supply would likely be able to meet demand up to the year 2030, so this is a significant turnaround in position. He also warns that NO government is currently prepared for what lies ahead. That certainly applies to Canada. |
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April 19, 2011
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Canadian Military Report : “Energy security and environmental change are factors with the highest potential impacts and the greatest uncertainty”. I really don't know how much more warning we are going to need before these issues are taken seriously at the most fundamental levels, by government, business, and the public. Climate Change and Peak Oil are by far the most serious and compelling issues facing society today. We need MASSIVE response at all levels. And we need it NOW... |
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April 18, 2011
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IMF warns oil growing scarce, more costly. How much more mainstream does the threat of peak oil have to get before our Canadian government - and media - will take notice? The latest organization to publish a report warning of a financial crisis and the end of economic growth triggered by oil scarcity is none other than the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization whose stated purpose is to "foster global growth and economic stability".
The latest IMF report warns that, "global oil markets have entered a period of increased scarcity" - IMF-speak for peak oil. It goes on to warn that global demand continues to increase, much of it in the far east, while supply has flatlined. The report continues, "...If the tension intensifies, whether from stronger demand, traditional supply disruptions, or setbacks to capacity growth, market clearing could force price spikes, as in 2007-2008... at current high levels, commodity price developments and prospects can have important global economic repercussions."
It concludes, "...consideration should be given to policies aimed at lowering the risk of oil scarcity, including through the development of sustainable alternative sources of energy."
Another article about this report can be found at: http://oilshockhorrorprobe.blogspot.com/2011/04/imf-warns-of-oil-scarcity-and-end-of.html.
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March 7, 2011
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"Confronting Change" films . Just before Christmas, Transition Finsbury Park held a "Confronting Change" symposium that featured Rob Hopkins and Polly Higgins, among others. The videos are now online at TransitionCulture.org and are well worth seeing. |
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February 28, 2011
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Ingredients of Transition: Peak Oil Resolutions. Local and regional authorities aren’t planning strategically for peak oil, and it is not a concern reflected in their policy making. They may not even understand it. Without a clear statement of concern about the issue, any further steps or actions on the issue will not have a foundation. Getting your local Council to officially recognise peak oil as a challenge can be a key step in its moving towards resilience, and to its engagement with the Transition process.
A great (and important) new article in Transition Culture.
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February 18, 2011
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Wikileaks: Saudi Oil Reserves Overstated by 40%. A wikileaks report, quoted in the UK Guardian, indicates that the US consul general in Riyadh is convinced, after speaking to a Saudi oil expert, that estimates of the amount of oil remaining in Saudi oil fields may be exaggerated by as much as 40%. |
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February 15, 2011
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Onward Corporate Food Crusaders!. An alarming article from the Huntington Post by Eric Holt Gimenez that reveals a rather more sinister motive behind the corporate/governmental initiatives toward food security and hunger mitigation. |
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February 14, 2011
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An Interview with Michael Shuman: if we’re serious about localisation, “all of us have to go to Business School”…. Yikes. Business School? An interesting article in Transition Culture online e-zine. |
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February 13, 2011
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The End of Cheap Food?. Concern over dwindling global resources has gone mainstream. Here's a rather sobering article published in the MSN Money online e-zine. Note particularly the spike-for-spike correlation between the sugar price index chart and the oil price chart. |
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February 10, 2011
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US embassy cables: Saudi oil company oversold ability to increase production, embassy told. A Guardian article about a WikiLeaks posting that suggests (again) the Saudi oil reserves may be significantly less than previously claimed. There's an interesting bit in here that suggests future extraction technologies may raise the recoverable portion of an oil field to 70%, up from its current 50-55%. Well... we'll see. |
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February 6, 2011
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Gwynne Dyer: The Future of Food Riots. A sobering article by Gwynne Dyer (author of Climate Wars), as he examines the phenomenon of food riots and whether they are likely to become more prevalent in the future. The food supply will likely become tighter due to factors ranging from extreme weather and groundwater depletion to increased demand for meat. Climate change will strain the food supply even further, resulting in higher prices and increased pressure on governments to try to solve the problem. Dyer believes that more strife is likely in the future unless climate change can somehow be brought under control.
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February 2, 2011
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Passive House Design. In Snowy Whistler, a House with No Furnace! Canada's first Passivhaus points to the future of green building with wood. Second of three parts.
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February 1, 2011
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Donut Warm Your Heart. Ontario's Feed-In Tariff program to create incentives for renewable energy development is the most visible--and the most controversial--aspect of Ontario's Green Energy Act. Opponents of the GEA often cite the FIT program as a key cause of escalating energy prices.
In an eloquent and entertaining rebuttal, Paul Gipe, wind-power expert and renewable energy advocate, demonstrates that the cost of the FIT program to Ontario taxpayers is approximately the cost of one Tim Horton's donut per month.
See also the following article. |
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February 1, 2011
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Don't Blame Green. There's a lot of misinformation out there regarding hydro prices. Of course those that oppose Ontario's Green Energy Act will use anything to their advantage, but the reality is that they are in the process of dismantling one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in the world regarding renewable energy.
The adage of repeating something often enough until it comes true has never been more obvious than on this issue. Yes hydro rates have gone up. So has everything else. More importantly the Green Energy Act has had little or nothing to do with it. Tim Weis from Pembina does a great job explaining it. This is his rebuttal to an oped piece that was in the Hamilton Spectator. Pass this article along.
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| January 28, 2011 |
Transition Guelph's Presentation to the Food Security Roundtable Discussion - January 27, 2011. This is the text of a presentation we gave, representing Transition Guelph, to a food security roundtable discussion, co-sponsored by The Council of Canadians Guelph chapter and Frank Valeriote, Liberal MP for Guelph. Representatives were present from The Canadian Farmers Union, C-BAN, KAIROS, The University of Guelph, EFAO, Guelph-Wellington Local Food, FarmStart, Food Secure Canada, the CoC, and others. It was a lively discussion, with lots of good information. |
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January 15, 2011
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IEA Issues an Urgent Wakeup Call. The International Energy Agency has issued an urgent wakeup call to the governments of major oil-consuming and oil-producing nations on the urgent need to prepare for oil shocks in the near future. As oil edges closer to $100/barrel, the IEA has stated that oil prices are a significant threat to economic stability and that countries need to build resilience to oil price volatility in the near future. |
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December 8, 2010
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What labels can you trust?. Understanding labels and claims found on everyday products will help you make informed decisions to reduce your environmental footprint. These days there are a lot of labels out there that certify products as "environmentally friendly", "organic", "fair-trade", etc. Many represent legitimate standards and certifications, but there are always a few that are really little more than a fraudulent attempt to "greenwash" a product or service. The David Suzuki Foundation's "Queen of Green" Lindsay Coulter has compiled a list of the best certified eco-labels to look for on your path to becoming a sustainable shopper.
This PDF document will open in a separate window. |
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December 1, 2010
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James Hansen Says Governments are Lying on Climate Change. Well, I guess we already knew this, but it's quite something to hear a respected voice like James Hansen (director of the Goddard Space Research Center at NASA) say so publicly. Great blog posting from Ratcliffe On Trial (20 climate activists on trial in Great Britain for criminal trespass. They'd planned to shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Britain's third-largest coal-fired generating station, and one of the largest sources of GHG in the country.) |
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November 27, 2010
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www.surveymonkey.com/s/V5GYMLT. Our steering committee member Emanuele has posted a survey online, as part of her Masters research (as well as gathering some useful information for Transition Guelph) that is intended to track some key resilience indicators in the community. It should take about 10 minutes to complete.
In keeping with the Transition Guelph information privacy policy, the survey is anonymous and confidential. All responses will be kept private and the information thus gathered will not be shared with any third parties.
Please take a few moments to participate and help Emanuele out!
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November 5, 2010
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Transition Voice Online Magazine. A new "e-zine" is starting up. Transition Voice: is an online magazine for the Transition movement, a cultural wave of hundreds of thousands of people across the globe who are responding to peak oil and declining fossil fuels by helping their communities and families to prepare for a future where economies and culture will likely look very different than they do today. Transition planners hope for a life that will be cleaner, more local, and human-scale.
The articles seem to be well-balanced, informed, and thoughtful, without being overly doom-laden, as some peak oil/climate change publications tend to be. Well worth checking out regularly.
On a slightly more sombre note, the following article is both interesting and rather worrisome. Well worth reading, though:
http://transitionvoice.com/2010/11/bailouts-and-body-bags-us-military-plans-for-peak-oil/ |
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October 23, 2010
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Peak Oil Blues. We are a small but growing group of professionally trained psychotherapists who know the stress the dawning awareness of Peak Oil brings.
We invite our readers and colleagues to contribute to the growing body of knowledge regarding the unique social and emotional challenges we face in a post-petroleum age. We also want to warn our colleagues about the potentially damaging affects of what we call "psychological terrorism."
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October 22, 2010
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Dirty Oil Worries Take a Back Seat to US Oil Thirst. Sad, but hardly surprising. The US demand for oil will trump environmental concerns every time. We've seen it before, and we'll see it again. |
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October 6, 2010
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We have run out of oil we can afford to burn. Another thought-provoking article in the Globe and Mail by former CIBC Chief Economist-turned-Peak Oil Advocate Jeff Rubin |
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October 6, 2010
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Germany, Great Britain Brace for Peak Oil. More and more countries, and their respective governments, are waking up to the reality of peak oil, and subsequent game-changing oil decline. When will Canada? An article in the Globe and Mail by former CIBC Chief Economist and author of the Peak Oil awareness book, Why Your World is About to Get a Lot Smaller. |
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October 5, 2010
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Is Your Android Phone Fueling a War?. An article from Justmeans on the pervasiveness of conflict materials in our day-to-day products. It's not just conflict diamonds, but just about any strategic material used in computers, cell phones, cars, and many other common items. Worth knowing about. |
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October 4, 2010
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The Guelph-Wellington Food Roundtable - Food Charter. The Guelph-Wellington Food Roundtable is a group of representatives from several Guelph and vicinity organizations whose mandate is to promote greater food security for our community, particularly those most at risk. This is their Food Charter. |
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October 3, 2010
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Paul Hawken: Blessed Unrest, and WiserEarth. Paul Hawken's excellent speech at the 2009 Bioneers conference on the worlds largest movement, the hundreds of thousands of grassroots organizations that address social and environmental justice.
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September 22, 2010
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Living, simply: A life-changing roommate. One writer remembers her days with a life-changing roommate. A thoughtful article by performance artist Trey Anthony, reprinted from the Toronto Star. |
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September 21, 2010
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Systemic Risk Arising from a Financial System that Requires Growth in a World with Limited Oil Supply. An excellent article published on The Oil Drum website on the systemic implications of oil depletion and its probable long-term impacts on the global economy. The picture isn't pretty, but there are alternatives. Stay tuned for more postings about alternative economic structures, steady-state economies, zero-growth prosperity, and more. |
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August 25, 2010
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Peak Oil Alarm Raised By Secret Government Talks. It would seem that, at least in the UK, some politicians are waking up to the threat of Peak Oil, but in private. An article posted on TreeHugger.com. |
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August 22, 2010
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Brian Skerry reveals ocean's glory -- and horror. Brian Skerry, photojournalist for National Geographic talks about the beauty, and the horror, that he has seen in his 30 years photographing ocean life and ecosystems.
We're killing the oceans. And when we kill the oceans, we kill ourselves. This needs to stop. |
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August 22, 2010
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National Geographics "Greendex" for 2010. This is shameful, and rather humiliating. For the 3rd year running, Canada scores second from the bottom (ahead only of the United States) in our personal choices and consumer behaviour in terms of environmentally sustainable consumption and practices. We need to smarten up, and soon. |
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August 22, 2010
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Richard Sears: Planning for the end of oil. In the interests of impartiality, here's a TED talk by oil geologist Richard Sears. I personally think he paints a very overly-optimistic picture of the future, in which technology and human ingenuity will step in to develop wonderful new alternatives to fossil fuels. It'd better happen soon... |
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August 22, 2010
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Deepwater Horizon Spill: the costs. A blizzard of truly chilling information is presented in this "infographic" on the long term costs of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This fallout from this could last for decades, and its effects could be felt here in Canada, 3000 miles away. |
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August 22, 2010
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Indian State of Kerala Starts 10-Year Conversion to All-Organic Farming. Interesting article from Treehugger.com on the southern Indian state of Kerala, which has officially announced a new farming policy which aims to covert all agriculture in the state to organic methods over the next ten years. Well worth emulating. |
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August 22, 2010
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Deepwater Horizon blowout, part 2. More of a "human interest" story, this CBS video is the story of one survivor's rather harrowing escape, and what happened after he got off the burning rig.
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August 22, 2010
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BP Buys Scientists' silence for $250 / hr.. More evidence that you can buy anything, for a price. |
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August 22, 2010
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The Story of Cosmetics. Another great video from Annie Leonard, the woman behind "The Story of Stuff" video. |
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August 22, 2010
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The Great Turning Film. Good to know that Chris Landry and Kristen Chamberlin's project is still on the go, and will be released soon... |
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August 22, 2010
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How the Tar Sands Threaten Canada's Economic Fate. An interesting article in The Tyee on the perils of putting all of our eggs into one tarry basket, thus effectively tying our dollar to the price of crude; or, as the article calls it "Dutch Disease." |
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July 7, 2010
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GMO Monsanto vs Percy Schmeiser. It's pretty clear that the US (and Canada) are ruled by Wall Street and the oil companies, but there's a third closely related member of this unholy trinity that presents an even more sinister threat... Monsanto, and its criminal allies in Washington DC and Ottawa.
They intend not only to steal our wealth, but also our ability to feed ourselves without TOTAL dependence on their "products."
Genetically modified organisms have NOTHING to do with higher yields or disease resistance. They're a trojan horse designed to turn farmers (and the rest of us) into 21st century serfs.
The hero in this video is Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser.
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June 11, 2010
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Deepwater spill could be a game-changer for oil. Sweeping new regulations on offshore drilling in the wake of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could mean reductions in global production by as much as a 500,000 to 700,000 barrels per day by 2015, necessitating a thorough, and costly, rethink of our dependence on fossil fuels. An article posted in the Globe and Mail business section on June 10. |
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June 4, 2010
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Derek Sivers TED talk: How to start a movement. Yet another great (and amusing) TED talk. |
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| June 4, 2010 |
Stop the Harper Government Reducing Environmental Regulations if you like what BP has done to the Gulf of Mexico, you'll love what is in store for the Beaufort Sea. Please read... |
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June 4, 2010
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City of Hamilton - Planning & Economic Development: Climate Change. A discussion paper on Hamilton's greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation strategies and citizen input. It would appear that the "big smoke" is taking the issue seriously, at least as far as having an open forum for discussion. |
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June 4, 2010
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Brian Skerry: Ocean's Glory and Horror. Another excellent TED talk on the status of the world's oceans. |
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June 4, 2010
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Richard Sears: Planning for the End of Oil. An excellent TED talk (but then, they're all pretty darn good) by Richard Sears. Well worth watching. |
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June 4, 2010
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Greendex: Consumer Choice and Environment - A Worldwide Tracking Survey. This is pretty shameful. In terms of personal choices that benefit the environment and promote sustainability, Canada ranks second from the bottom, with only the US lower. |
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June 3, 2010
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Energy Pricing Key to Sustainability of Canada's Big Cities. Article in Design Product News online. |
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May 27, 2010
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Rome to Become First Post-Carbon City. Interesting article in EarthTimes. |
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May 14, 2010
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How big is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?. A google map of southern Ontario (with Guelph at the center) with an overlay of the current size of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A real eye-opener. Greenpeace video on youtube.
To sign the Avaaz petition to stop offshore drilling, click here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_offshore_drilling_2/?vl |
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| May 5, 2010 |
Trade Justice Network releases secret draft copy of Canada-European Trade Agreement. Larry Brown, national secretary-treasurer of the National Union of Public and General Employees, Ottawa and the newly-formed Trade Justice Network released a secret draft text of the proposed Canada-European Union Economic and Trade Agreement - the most significant bilateral trade negotiation since the North American Free Trade Agreement, which contains some alarming proposals that could seriously affect the viability and resilience of our local food system, in particular the rights of our local farmers to save seeds. |
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May 4, 2010
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A great video on Food Security. A very nice, compact little video on the Canadian food system (about 2:40 minutes long) from EatRealEatLocal.ca (which is sponsored by Hellmanns.) |
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May 4, 2010
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What If EIA Annual Energy Outlook Were Written by an Honest Person?. Why The EIA Should Be Statutorily Barred From Making Predictions. An article on getreallist.com by Chris Nelder.
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May 4, 2010
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Is the IEA World Energy Outlook Politically Distorted?. Panic and Penitence: The Evolution of the IEA. An article on getreallist.com by Chris Nelder. |
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May 4, 2010
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"Peak Demand," Yes, But Not the Nice Kind. Why There Will Be No Recovery. An article on getreallist.com by Chris Nelder.
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May 4, 2010
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Officials Wake Up to Peak Oil, Part 1. The End of Peak Oil Denial. UK Task Force on Peak Oil states: Shortages by 2015. |
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May 4, 2010
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Officials Wake Up to Peak Oil, Part 2. And it's about time. Governments are Worried about Peak Oil – But Not Enough to Tell You the Truth. An article on getreallist.com. |
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| April 8, 2010 |
Ontario Announces Historic Renewable Energy Investments. Nearly 2,500 megawatts of new renewable energy contracts position Ontario as a global green energy leader. A press release from the Green Energy Alliance. |
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March 27, 2010
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Near-Term Systemic Implications of a Peak in Global Oil Production: An Outline Review. This may be the grimmest document yet. Written by David Korowicz of Feasta and the Risk/Resilience Network and published by Feasta (The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability), in it he builds a compelling argument that "there is a high probability that our integrated and globalised civilisation is on the cusp of a fast and near-term collapse."
You may agree, you may disagree, you may hope like hell it's not true. In any case, it's worth reading, but be forewarned. It's not a pretty picture. |
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March 27, 2010
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Report on UK Government Peak Oil Summit. From Rob Hopkins on the first UK govt meeting about Peak Oil that he attended a few days ago (Rob Hopkins is the co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network)
On Monday Peter Lipman and I represented Transition Network at an event which could potentially be the day people look back to as the day when UK government finally starting to ‘get’ peak oil. Fascinating and frustrating in equal measure, the event, “Policy Response to potential future oil supply constraints”, was billed as “a half-day workshop hosted by the Energy Institute in partnership with the Department of Energy and Climate Change, under Chatham House Rules”. For those who don’t know what Chatham House rules are, it means that the contents of what was said can be discussed, but none of it can be attributed to anyone. Although the event was meant to be private, it was leaked and reported in the Guardian that morning. Jeremy Leggett was quoted in the piece as describing the importance of the meeting thus: “Government has gone from the BP position – ‘40 years of supply left, the price mechanism works, no need to worry’ – to ‘crikey’”. So, here is an account compiled from my notes of what went on behind closed doors, bearing those Chatham House rules in mind, meaning that I can’t attribute some of the comments that follow.
Now, if we can just get the Harper and his crones to follow suit... |
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| March 24, 2010 |
Institute for Energy Research Admits It Was Behind Anti-Wind Study. It's stuff like this that just makes me want to curl up into a fetal position and stay there.
Danish journalists have confirmed that the so-called "Institute for Energy Research" (a right-wing think tank funded by the U.S. coal and oil industries) commissioned and paid for the anti-wind energy study released last year by a Danish think tank that claimed Denmark exaggerates the amount of wind energy it produces (it doesn’t), questioned whether wind energy reduces carbon emissions (it does), and asserted that the U.S. should choose coal over wind because it’s cheaper (it’s not when you count the true costs of coal). |
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March 19, 2010
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What is Transition Town law?. A very interesting perspective from Environmental Law Society here in BC - and very positive about the transition movement too!
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March 19, 2010
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Clean Coal. Mmmm! Smell that April-fresh scent! |
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March 19, 2010
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About Biochar. Ever wondered just what "biochar" is? Wonder no more. |
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March 17, 2010
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Where Has the Oil Gone?. An interesting article published in the Environmental News Network. Oil geologists have reworked the Hubbert Peak model to make it more applicable on a global scale (called the multicycle Hubbert model). They project the peak to occur some time in 2014. |
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March 12, 2010
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Warm dry winter may lead to difficult summer, top climatologist says. Up to now we've been pretty lucky in Canada, in that the effects of global warming here have, for the most part, been in the category of "invonveniences." That may be changing. |
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| March 9, 2010 |
Review of the documentary Collapse. Roger Ebert's review of the Chris Smith's documentary on former police officer and renegade journalist Michael Ruppert, "Collapse", reprinted from the Chicago Sun-Times. The film's website can be found here: www.collapsemovie.com |
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| March 9, 2010 |
New Zealand Agriculture and Feeding the World. An interesting article on global food security and New Zealand's role in it, first published in Otago Daily News and reprinted on the www.foodforethought.net website. |
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March 5, 2010
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Food Security and Peak Oil. The transcript of a talk given by Jason Bradford at the Eugene, Oregon City Hall on February 17, 2010. Reprinted in theoildrum.com. |
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February 25, 2010
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Bloom Energy innovative fuel cell design. A very interesting 60 Minutes item about a revolutionary fuel cell design that is catching the attention of a few large corporations, such as Ebay and Google. The Bloom Energy website is: http://bloomenergy.com/ |
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February 11, 2010
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A Draft Copy of Transition Guelph's "Resilient Guelph 2030" Vision Document. This document contains a vision of Guelph in the year 2030, having "made the transition" to a more resilient, localized, sustainable community. It represents the collective input of many Transition Guelph members. It remains a work-in-progress. |
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| February 11, 2010 |
A Short Transition Orientation Powerpoint Presentation. This presentation is one that we often use in outreach activities to present a very brief overview of the issues driving the need for transition, and the Transition Town model as a response to those issues. It contains some 16 slides, and can be downloaded, modified and used as needed (please give us appropriate credit if you wish to use it yourself!) It is up-to-date as of February, 2010. File is about 1.7 Meg. To download a copy to your local machine, Shift+Click on the link. |
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January 18, 2010
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The Prisoner's Dilemma - A Parable. Maybe this explains the pickle we're in... |
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January 18, 2010
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Thorium: Clean Nuclear?. I stumbled upon this website after chatting with a friend about alternative energies. Very interesting stuff. The thorium nuclear energy lobby claims that liquid thorium-fluoride and other similar reactor technologies have little of the deficits of uranium-based nuclear energy (highly toxic and long-lived fission products, dangerous radiation requiring massive containments, and so on) and is stable, self-sustaining and cheaper than coal. They also claim that the U.S. chose uranium fission over thorium largely because uranium fission produces plutonium as a byproduct, which could then be weaponized. Have a look, and see what you think. You might want to start with the article (midway down the page) in Wired magazine for an overview. |
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January 11, 2010
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Kicking the oil habit. Sooner or later, plentiful oil will be a thing of the past. Transition Towns are starting now to prepare for the future. A great article about Transition Town Peterborough (and a cool pic of Fred!) in the United Church Observer. |
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January 9, 2010
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Government is 'dangerously deluded' on GM. THE Government is ‘dangerously deluded’ if it believes genetically modified crops will solve the world’s food security issues, members of the breakaway Oxford Real Farming Conference warned, as reported in this January 8 article in the Farmer's Guardian. |
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December 30, 2009
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Let Us Buy Local. James Howard Kunstler was quoted recently as saying that "Globalization is on the ropes." As the movement to buy local and reject the enormous social, economic and environmental penalties of a globalized market gains momentum, there is a growing backlash amongst those who own a large stake in the global marketplace. Media spin casting doubt on the environmental efficacy of buying local is beginning to appear in various publications. This article, recently published in JustMeans, takes a good hard look at those claims. |
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December 19, 2009
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A Copenhagen Christmas Present from Naresh Giangrande. A Copenhagen Christmas Present: December 15th 2009. Copenhagen. Written by one of the co-founders of the Transition Town movement and published on the Transition Culture website. |
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| December 16, 2009 |
Our "Wall of Shame".... Companies that invest in Tar Sands development. |
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December 16, 2009
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The Fossil of the Day Awards. And yes, we're one of 'em. |
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December 16, 2009
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Suddenly, the world hates Canada. An article in MacLeans. |
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December 16, 2009
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Who are the Yes Men and why did they punk Canada at Copenhagen. Toronto Star article on the recent Yes Men hoax that caused some well-deserved embarrassment among the Canadian delegates to Copenhagen. |
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December 16, 2009
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Canada's Climate Shame. A deeply humiliating Mail and Guardian article by the ever-forthright George Monbiot. |
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December 16, 2009
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Tories pondered weaker emission targets for oil and gas. The Conservative government has considered abandoning some of the greenhouse gas reduction goals set out in its 2007 green plan and allowing weaker targets for the oil and gas sector, documents obtained by CBC News suggest. |
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December 15, 2009
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Hoax slices through Canadian spin. An elaborate hoax by the Yes Men activist group has deeply embarassed the Canadian delegation to Copenhagen by forcing them to announce that, no, Canada is not planning deep emissions cuts and committing $13 billion to help poorer nations combat the ravages of climate change. (As if our delegates needed any help embarrassing themselves, and us...) |
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December 5, 2009
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The Story of Cap and Trade. From the makers of "The Story of Stuff", another excellent video. The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the "devils in the details" in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from whats really required to tackle the climate crisis. If youve heard about Cap & Trade, but arent sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you. |
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December 5, 2009
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Ethanol Expert David Blume Interviewed on KPTV Portland (youtube video). An excellent 5-minute interview with ethanol advocate David Blume. For more information, see his website (link is further down the page, posted on October 25, 2009) |
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November 27, 2009
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Resilience Thinking: An article for the latest issue of Resurgence. The latest edition of Resurgence is timed to coincide with the Copenhagen talks, and looks at resilience as a key aspect of the climate change debates. Here is an article written for it by Transition founder Rob Hopkins:
Resilience Thinking. Why ‘resilience thinking’ is a crucial missing piece of the climate-change jigsaw and why resilience is a more useful concept than sustainability.
Resilience: “the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganise while undergoing change, so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks.”
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November 24, 2009
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You Are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring. You may already have seen this, as it appears to be circulating the Internet at high speed (which in itself is encouraging), nevertheless this inspiring commencement address by Paul Hawken to the class of 2009 at the University of Portland, Oregon, presented May 3, 2009 is well worth a read. |
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November 20, 2009
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Transition Orientation Powerpoint Presentation. This is the powerpoint presentation we are using to introduce people to the issues of Peak Oil and Climate Change, the Transition Town Movement, and Transition Guelph. It was first shown at our orientation meeting Thursday, November 19. NOTE: This file is quite large, about 15 Meg.
And here are the talking notes for the presentation (MS Word document) |
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November 19, 2009
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TVO Interview with Jeff Rubin. Jeff Rubin was chief economist with the CIBC until he resigned to promote his book, "Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller". In it, he predicts that record high oil prices will mean the end of globalization. |
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November 17, 2009
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The one thing depleting faster than oil is the credibility of those measuring it. The challenge of feeding billions of people as fuel supplies fall is staggering. And yet leaders' heads remain stuck in the sand. Another hard-hitting article in The Guardian by the always-forthright George Monbiot. |
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November 16, 2009
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Toxic Technology: Five Gadgets to Avoid, and Why. Here's an interesting little article posted on the green.msn.ca website that told me a few things I didn't know about common household electronics (for example: plasma TVs consume so much electricity that the EU has actually introduced legislation to ban them). Worth a read (and the posted comments are almost as interesting, in a morbid sort of way). |
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November 13, 2009
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Searching For A Miracle. There's really nothing new in this document by Peak Oil guru Richard Heinberg, nevertheless it is one of the most comprehensive reports on our energy future yet published. It's a sober, clear-eyed analysis of all of our energy options, the pluses and minuses of each, and it draws the inevitable conclusion that there is really no alternative, if we want a sustainable future, to making drastic cuts to our energy consumption. At 83 pages this is a rather long document, but it should be required reading for anyone who is concerned for our collective future in a post-carbon world. With a forward by Jerry Mander. |
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November 12, 2009
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Looming oil crunch played down: IEA whistleblower. A whistleblower at the International Energy Agency has accused the organization of deliberately underplaying the seriousness of a looming oil shortage. A sobering article on the precariousness of our current energy supply, published on the CBC website November 10th. |
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November 2, 2009
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The Plan C Activist Toolkit, by Pat Murphy. Faced with three daunting, interrelated challenges—catastrophic climate changes from the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, an imminent peak and decline in global fossil fuel production, and accelerating inequity from unequal global resource use—there are only so many options we have to choose from in order to preserve our planet. Plan A is to keep doing what we're doing. It's becoming increasingly obvious that that's not a viable long-term option. Plan B, the techno-fix option, has proven to be more of a marketing tool than a real solution. But there's another option, one that dares us to be visionary, and to imagine a world in which we work individually and within our communities to start moving towards a healthier, more satisfying, Low-Energy (Low-E) society.
It’s called PLAN C...
This PDF document is a companion-piece to Pat Murphy's excellent book Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change and an indispensible guide for creating community resilience and sustainability. (About 1.6 Meg) |
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October 25, 2009
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Alcohol Can Be a Gas. "Ethanol is not a viable bio-fuel." "We would have to turn all of our arable land over to ethanol production, leaving none for food." "Ethanol is not efficient enough." Have we been swallowing a line of big-oil, pro-petroleum propropaganda? Permaculturalist David Blume says we have, and he makes a strong case. Check out this website, and join us for screenings of his video (times and dates TBA. Check the Upcoming Events page for details.) |
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October 22, 2009
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Action is the focus of climate change event. Great article posted in the Guelph Mercury about the Guelph Climate Festival, Saturday, October 24, by Nicole O'Reilly. |
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| October 22, 2009 |
The Season of Discontent, by Mark Winne. Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty explores the state of food insecurity in America in this fast-paced article. Feeding the hungry is now estimated to be an astounding $100-billion-a-year enterprise. This money fills stomachs, but fails at providing empowerment. Aren’t there better ways to end poverty? To learn more, please read this important article, reprinted from www.foodforethought.net. |
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October 12, 2009
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Short story by Jeanette Winterson. In December world leaders will gather in Copenhagen to try to reach a global deal to tackle climate change. To support the launch of the 10:10 campaign to reduce carbon emissions, the Review asked some of our greatest artists, authors and poets to produce new work in response to the crisis. Published in The Guardian, Saturday 26 September 2009. |
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October 11, 2009
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Warning over global oil 'decline'. There is a "significant risk" that global production of conventional oil could "peak" and decline by 2020, a report has warned. The UK Energy Research Centre study says there is a consensus that the era of cheap oil is at an end. But it warns that most governments, including the UK's, exhibit little concern about oil depletion.
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September 18, 2009
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Would You Know How to Survive After the Oil Crash? An article in alternet.org by Tara Lohan, posted September 17, 2009. Could you get by without your car, food from outside your community, your job? There's a bunch of folks who want to show you how. |
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| September 13, 2009 |
An Easily Understandable Explanation of the Derivatives Market. So why did the economy tank so spectacularly in 2008? And why did the government toss almost a trillion dollars of no-strings-attached money at the financial markets to prop them back up? Follow Heidi and her drink-now-pay-later bar, and find out. |
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August 10, 2009
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Something Bigger Than Life is Trying to Work Through Us. A sobering and rather unsettling article from Tom Atlee on the Co-Intelligence Institute website, on the coming peak-oil and climate change crises. |
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August 3, 2009
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The Citizen's Handbook. Practical assistance for those who want to make a difference; a Vancouver citizen's action website. A great link originally posted on the forum by a member. |
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August 3, 2009
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The Problem of Denial, by William R. Catton, Jr. Professor Emeritus - Sociology Washington State University
ABSTRACT: Abundant evidence suggests industrial civilization must be "downsized" to curb damage to the ecosphere by the "technosphere." Trends behind this prospect include prodigious population growth, urbanization, cultural dependence upon ravenous use of fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources, consequent air pollution, and global climate change. Despite prolonged Cold War distraction and entrenched faith that technology could always enlarge carrying capacity, these trends were well publicized. But there remain eminent writers who persist in denying that human carrying capacity (Earth's maximum sustainable human load) has now been or ever will be exceeded. Denials of ecological limits resemble anosognosia (inability of stroke patients to recognize their paralysis). Some denial literature resembles their confabulations (elaborately unreal stories concocted as rationalizations). Denial by opponents of human ecology seems to be a way of coping with an insufferable contradiction between past convictions and present circumstances, a defense against intolerable anomalous information.
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June 30, 2009
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Imagine: Prosperity without growth. Another great article from rabble.ca by Murray Dobbin, published June 29. |
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June 29, 2009
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Ontario suspends nuclear power plans. A new announcement marks a huge shift in policy for the McGuinty government, which had planned to spend $26-billion expanding and refurbishing its fleet of reactors.
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June 28, 2009
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Autoban: A German Town Goes Car-Free. A June 26 article published in The Independent about a German town that has banned automobiles from the downtown and rebuilt its transportation infrastructure around public transit, walkable design and transportation sharing. |
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June 26, 2009
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Definancialization, Deglobalisation, Relocalization. Depending on how you think about it, the idea of "Transition" can be exciting, collegial, and creative - or challenging, difficult and fraught with large-scale realities that are the result of past refusals to see the consequences of our "ordinary" lives. Some of you may have read Dmitry Orlov's "Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects" which will make you familiar with his hard-hitting style of analyzing the convergence of our various financial and ecological dilemmas.
Here's the transcript of a hard-hitting, frank talk by Dimitry Orlov, first presented at the New Emergency Conference, All Hallows College, Dublin, June 10-12, 2009. |
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June 25, 2009
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The race is on to create a new world of energy. An article from the Guardian about the new technological imperative to create new energy sources and efficiencies, while there is still time. Let's hope there is. |
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June 17, 2009
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www.100000onthehill.com/. 100,000 on The Hill is a peaceful demonstration and public plea for strong climate policy. This gathering of Canadians in person and spirit aims to show our government that Canadians support proactive, internationally acceptable climate policy.
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June 8, 2009
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Transition Presentation for Manitoulin Island. This is the PowerPoint slide-show (adapted from the Sandpoint Unleashing presentation) we used when presenting an overview of Transition Initiatives to a great group of about 50 very aware, informed and active participants on Manitoulin Island. We got people from all over the island, from Espanola, and from as far away as Sudbury. It was very inspiring, and an all around great evening. NOTE: This file is about 25 Meg.
NOTE: This file has been taken down, because we were running out of room on the server. If you would like to request a copy, please email info@transitionguelph.org. |
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June 8, 2009
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Chris Martenson's Crash Course on the economy, energy and the future. Perhaps the most comprehensive and balanced analysis of where we are and where we are headed. REQUIRED VIEWING.
Note: the Crash Course is divided into 20 separate video segments, each between 3 and 20 minutes in length. The entire course will take about 3 hours and 23 minutes to watch, start to finish. Yes, it's long, but it's also important (i.e. vital) information that needs to be seen in order to understand our path forward through the coming crises. Please watch, and share with your friends and family. |
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June 7, 2009
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Global Energy Resources: The Peak Oil View. A video lecture by Professor Kjell Aleklett, ASPO researcher, of the University of Uppsala. Posted on the University of Aberdeen website. |
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June 4, 2009
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The City that Ended Hunger. a fascinating and inspiring story of a city in Brazil that revolutionized its food distribution system to end barriers to affordable, nutritious food. An excellent read! |
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June 2, 2009
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An Inconvenient Talk: Dave Hughes’s guide to the end of the fossil fuel age. A feature article on peak oil in the Walrus magazine on by Chris Turner (author of Geography of Hope) and Dave Hughes. |
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June 2, 2009
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The recession: First, there was expensive oil. If indeed oil, and not subprime mortgages, lies at the heart of our current economic malaise, we may be sicker than we know. An article in The Globe and Mail by Jeff Rubin, former CIBC economist and author of the peak oil primer, "Why Your World is About to Get a Lot Smaller."
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| May 21, 2009 |
Pending Nuclear developments in Ontario. what you can do to stop $26 billion+ in poor investments. An excellent and very informative document forwarded to us by one of our members, complete with lots of websites and email links to our MPPs. Please read and take action! |
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May 20, 2009
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Earthship Homes 101 (part 1). Part 2: Earthship Homes 101 (part 2) . Imagine building a home that produces all its own energy, most of the food you consume, requires no furnace even in a cold northern climate and still have a comfortable shirtsleeve temperature inside. That's the promise of the Earthship design that uses passive solar heating and makes use of natural and recycled materials, thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization and renewable energy & integrated water systems to make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.
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May 20, 2009
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Green, Accessible, Secure: Ontario Green Energy Lobbying day of Action. The Council of Canadians is sponsoring a lobbying day of action May 20 to ensure that the Ontario Legislature gets the message that we want our green energy to be "Green, Accessible, and Secure". |
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May 20, 2009
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Hope for a Change: Renewable Energy trailer. Great trailer for a great video. |
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May 17, 2009
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Water Disaster - The Truth About Bottled Water. This is a short, but excellent PowerPoint slideshow about the impact of bottled water on health and the environment. Very visually impactful! Share it with your friends who still think it's cool to walk around with a bottle of Dasani in their hand. (2 meg file) |
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May 16, 2009
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Ontario Gives Green Energy Act the Green Light: A first for North America. Members of the Green Energy Act Alliance, a coalition of leading environmental groups, industry associations, farmers and labour groups, were at Queen's Park to congratulate the Liberals and NDP on the adoption of the Green Energy and Economy Act May 14. The Act aims to improve conservation programs, promote investment in renewable energy projects through North America's first feed-in tariff program, and create green jobs. Introduced in November 2008, the Act is the cornerstone of the government's plan to put Ontario on a path towards reducing Ontario's greenhouse gas emissions, while becoming a leader in the emerging global renewable energy sector. |
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May 16, 2009
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Global Economy? Who Needs It!: Sandpoint Idaho and the Transition Town Movement. Sandpoint, Idaho has become the first Transition Town in North America to create a strategic plan for self-reliance and sufficiency, a plan to disengage from the global economic system that's causing all the trouble. |
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| May 14, 2009 |
Ontario: Greenpeace and Renewable Energy Industry Call for Energy Revolution. Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) released a new report today detailing a revolutionary green energy scenario for Canada that could cut this country’s greenhouse gas emissions dramatically by 2020.
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May 14, 2009
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Global Oil Production Has Peaked. There's mounting evidence that global oil production may already have peaked and is now in decline, beating the predictions of the IEA by at least three years. If true, that's not good news. |
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April 30, 2009
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Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Green Energy Act. A vast majority of Ontario residents support the government's proposed Green Energy Act, according to a public opinion poll released April 26th by a coalition of environmental groups, farmers, labour unions, and industry associations. Eighty-seven per cent of respondents said they support the proposed Green Energy Act. The poll shows support is widespread across the province, with the highest support in Northern Ontario (93%), Toronto (89%), and the GTA/905 (88%).
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April 30, 2009
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New Revolution in Wind Power. As soaring oil prices and greenhouse gas emissions fuel the search for cheaper and cleaner sources of energy, a Japanese aerospace manufacturer may have found the right stuff for a solution. It’s a windmill you can call your very own. Yokohama-based aerospace manufacturer, Nippi Corporation, has developed a revolutionary 20 kW wind turbine power generation system that's turning heads everywhere. |
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April 24, 2009
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Sea Levels Are Rising: It's Time to Decide Which Coastal Cities Are Worth Saving. Ice cubes the size of American states are melting into the ocean; we face frightening scenarios and tough choices for coastal habitation. An article posted on alternet.org. |
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April 21, 2009
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Nuclear Power - Hope or Hoax? A nine-part Youtube video (this link is to Part One). January 16, 2008, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility addresses a large crowd of concerned Alberta citizens.
Tar sands operations are drawing an increasing amount of our domestic allotment of conventional fossil fuels (especially natural gas, commonly used for heating fuel in our extreme winter conditions) to create fuels and feedstock for export. As Alberta's natural gas production has apparently peaked, the industry is looking to develop large scale, alternative energy sources for ongoing extraction of low-quality bitumen from the sands of northern Alberta.
Nuclear Power: Hope or Hoax? ... presented by the Sierra Club of Canada, Prairie Chapter and the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. Video productions services were provided by Rainbow Bridge Communications Company.
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April 21, 2009
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Green lobby and nuclear groups clash over role of renewable energy. Greenpeace dismisses EDF for protecting its 'vested nuclear interests' by undermining the future of renewable fuels. An article from the March 16th issue of The Guardian. |
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April 21, 2009
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The End is Near (Yay!). A great article in the New York Times about Sandpoint Idaho (America's first official Transition Town) and their "Great Unleashing" event. The press is paying attention at last! |
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April 21, 2009
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First Lady's first garden. Homegrown veggies are possible even in the city, but start small and keep things as simple as you can. An article from the April 18th Toronto Star. |
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April 21, 2009
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'Carrot City' exhibit highlights innovation and growth in urban agriculture. April 14th story in the Guelph Mercury about Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture. |
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April 21, 2009
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Growing together: Community gardens are about much more than food. April 18th article in the Guelph Mercury about the welcome upsurge in the popularity of urban community vegetable gardens. |
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April 21, 2009
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Trash as Potential Energy Source. Cool article forwarded to us by a TG member on the various emerging technologies to derive energy from the stuff we throw away. One really interesting point in the article is the possibility of processing organic waste into aviation fuel. Currently there is no substitute for petroleum-derived avgas or kerosene, meaning the aviation industry is entirely dependent on oil. |
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April 20, 2009
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Transition Guelph Presentation to the CDES Committee. This is the PowerPoint presentation we used to introduce Transition Guelph to the Community Development and Environmental Services Committee at City Hall, April 20. The presentation had to be a maximum of 10 minutes in length, so we crammed a lot of material into a very short time! Thanks to Lise Burcher, committee chair, and June Hofland, Ward 3 councilor, we were also able to offer proposals on how the city can facilitate the work of Transition Guelph, and develop synergies around the Guelph Strategic Plan and the Community Energy Plan. For our talking notes as a PDF document, click here. Please note, the PowerPoint presentation is about 2.1 Meg. |
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April 19, 2009
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www.foodforthought.net. This is a very informative website that deals with emerging and evolving food systems throughout the world. Well worth checking out periodically. |
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April 19, 2009
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Pure rubbish: The Christopher Booker Prize! On February 9, George Monbiot launched the "Christopher Booker Annual Prize for Climate Change Bullshit". The award will go to whoever manages, in the course of 2009, to cram as many misrepresentations, distortions and falsehoods into a single article, statement, lecture, film or interview about climate change. This work must be available online. You score a point for every mistake, though one point will be deducted for every retraction or correction published by the author or the original outlet within a reasonable length of time.
Make your own list! Who will be this year's winner? Did you pick right? Oh, the suspense is killing me!
For more details, and a picture of the beautiful trophy - made entirely from recycled materials - click the above link!
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April 19, 2009
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Cross Your Fingers and Carry On. Why does the government refuse to make contingency plans for Peak Oil? An excellent (though maddening) article by the always-thought-provoking George Monbiot, published in the April 14th, 2009 issue of The Guardian. In the words of Monbiot's tag line: "Tell people something they already know and they'll thank you for it. Tell them something they don't know and they'll hate you for it." |
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April 8, 2009
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The Straight Poop on the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Bill HR 875/S425 before Congress. Okay, this may not be a great piece of legislation; the Organic Consumers Association of America doesn't endorse it, for several reasons. But the claims that this bill will outlaw back yard gardens and criminalize seed banking and organic farming are wildly exaggerated. This bill is not sponsored by Monsanto, nor is Rep. Rosa DeLauro's husband, Stanley Greenberg, a Monsanto executive. This article in Snopes separates fact from hysteria. |
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April 5, 2009
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Clare Nova Scotia renewable energy initiative. Clare Nova Scotia was in much the same straits as Gussing, Austria in the early 90s (see next document): economically depressed, with high unemployment. In a daring move, the Clare town council went to Gussing and twinned with that city, adopting their sustainability strategy. This is their story. PDF document |
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April 5, 2009
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Gussing Center for Renewable Energy. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the city of Gussing, Austria was a severely economically depressed region. The Gussing city council decided to spend their money on developing a green economy and green energy for the city. It is now one of the model green communities of Europe, economically successful and a showcase for sustainability. PDF document. |
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April 3, 2009
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Brian Swimme on the end of the Cenozoic Era. Ecological crisis, mass extinction, humans, and planetary transformation. Author, mathematical cosmologist and director of the Center for the Story of the Universe Brian Swimme talks about the need for a new planetary economy in this short youtube video (~ 4 minutes). Bear in mind as he talks that "economy" derives from the same root as "ecology". Both come from the Greek "ecos", meaning home. Earth as ecos. |
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April 2, 2009
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8 Ways to Join the Local Food Movement. A great article from Yes! magazine: How to turn a lawn into lunch, swap preserves, glean, boost your food security, live the good life.
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April 2, 2009
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Enbridge gears up for green gas era. Enbridge Gas Distribution is launching an initiative to exploit bio-gas from landfills, sewage treatment plants, and "digesters" that convert animal manure and other organics into "bio-methane." Given that fossil fuel methane (i.e. "natural gas") is subject to peak and decline just like any other non-renewable resource, we certainly need to be looking at renewable alternatives now, while there is still a little time left.
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April 1, 2009
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A Farm for the Future. Excellent video documentary from the BBC about Peak Oil that focuses on farming. Presenter and co-producer Rebecca Hosking explores the importance of oil in farming and the potential impact of peak oil. The film has a passionate narrative centred on Rebecca’s small family farm in South West England; can she make her farm fit for the future?
Colin Campbell and Richard Heinberg contribute, permaculture, forest gardens, gardening vs. farming, biofuels, biodiversity, industrial farming and no-till farming are all covered. It seems certain that present methods cannot go on feeding Britain as they are highly dependent on fossil-fuel. The film concentrates on the necessity to find a new way to feed the nation. About 50 minutes in length.
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April 1, 2009
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Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller. A short article in the National Post about former CIBC economist Jeff Rubin's forthcoming book on Peak Oil, and the effects it will have on society and the economy. |
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March 31, 2009
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WWF Earth Hour Results page. It would appear that this year's Earth Hour event was an unprecedented success! Nearly 4000 cities participated globally, four times the WWF's target. In Canada, an estimated 81% of households and 2500 businesses took part, resulting in demand drops across the grid of between 5 and 15 percent. All across the world, people voted for action on climate change with their light switches. The call is growing. |
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March 24, 2009
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The Energy Bulletin. Lots of good information on energy issues from many sources, updated daily. Warning: some of it is rather scary. |
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March 14, 2009
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IEA Says Oil Capacity Crunch Looms. A very brief article on the ASPO website says that the International Energy Agency fears a significant supply shock by the end of 2013 if no new investments in development are forthcoming. A very different picture than that painted by Jorma Ollila (next article). |
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March 14, 2009
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Mr. Jorma Ollila, the Chairman of the Board of Royal Dutch Shell. Wow. This is a little surreal, if I may be allowed a brief editorial comment. This an abridged, edited and verified transcript of an interview of Mr. Jorma Ollila, the Chairman of the Board of Royal Dutch Shell, plc. Mr. Ollila was interviewed in English by Mr. Juhana Rossi, staff writer for Helsingin Sanomat. The interview took place in The Hague on March 4th, 2009.
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March 12, 2009
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Global Economic Growth is Dead! Hope is in our new green local economy. A great article written by Transition Town Peterborough's Fred Irwin on the need for transition to local economies based on green, sustainable jobs and local initiatives. Published as an editorial in Peterborough's WIRE MEGAZine. |
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March 10, 2009
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Jennifer Gray: Transition Comes To America. A great interview with the woman who brought the transition movement to the U.S. About 28 minutes long. |
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March 9, 2009
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PowerUp Canada. Canadians for climate leadership website. Global warming is getting worse and more quickly than most scientists had warned. Many countries are working hard at solutions and building new economies along the way. But Canada has some of the weakest national government policies in the world – weaker than China and India. (Climate Change Performance Index 2008)
Join up to send a message to Ottawa.
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March 5, 2009
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Tabor Tilth: Permaculture in the City. Connie Van Dyke’s inspirational urban garden in Portland, Oregon. A shorter version can be found on Youtube here. |
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March 5, 2009
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Permaculture Principles at Work: Starhawk videos. An introduction to permaculture principles, featuring the work of Erik Ohlsen of Permaculture Artisans and Earth Activist Training. A shorter version can be found on Youtube, here.
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| March 4, 2009 |
Huge Peaceful Demonstration Against Coal-Power in Washington. A victory over coal: this is how movements work. |
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March 3, 2009
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How It All Ends. Despite the scary title, this is an entertaining and (somewhat) lighthearted video that looks at the decisions facing us in our response to climate change. It's presented as a clear choice of easily definable alternatives, and arrives at a clear-cut conclusion. We have to act. About 10 minutes long. |
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March 2, 2009
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Local food: success is 100% possible. This is a guest post from Tim, a city planner from sunny Moncton, NB. Tim has spent some time looking into the viability of local, small scale agriculture, and has come up with some results that give us every reason to be optimistic regarding our ability to feed ourselves through our individual and neighborhood-scale efforts, even as the systems of large-scale, industrial agriculture and food delivery unravel due to a combination of high input costs, epic droughts brought on by accelerating climate change, and a shortage of credit caused by the financial collapse. The remaining challenge is start doing it quickly enough: this summer, that is. |
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March 1, 2009
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HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION - Radical Change Taking Root. Since the early 80's the Dervaes family has slowly transformed their ordinary city lot into a self sufficient urban homestead. View an eco-pioneers life on an urban homestead as this family shares their homegrown revolution, being the change they wish to see by living the solution. This is a great video, and an inspirational look at what can be done to produce our own food in an urban environment. Well worth checking out! |
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February 27, 2009
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Rex Weyler: Peak oil means sooner or later we'll wake up to a new normal. Rex Weyler is a journalist and a member of the Vancouver Peak Oil citizen planning group. This article appeared in Straight.com, a Vancouver social action e-zine. There are links to several other articles on peak oil at the bottom of the page.
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February 27, 2009
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Raise the price of gas before the next crunch. The Guelph Mercury's article on the impending oil crunch, caused by the recent drop in price. As a result, oil companies are shelving exploration projects, which is going to mean that when demand increases again, and oil production cannot meet the demand, there may be a significant shortage, which can trigger soaring food prices, social unrest, and geopolitical conflict.
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February 22, 2009
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Eating the Suburbs: Gardening for the End of the Oil Age. A clear-eyed, rational presentation of peak-oil, and the possibilities for communities to respond. It doesn’t sugar-coat the issue, but nor does it focus on doom and gloom. It does offer a viable, and even hopeful, alternative to oil addiction. Recommended. |
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February 22, 2009
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Transition Cities Conference. Youtube video of the November 2008 conference on Transition Cities held in Nottingham, November 28, 2008. Features many interviews with participants, including Rob Hopkins. Well worth a look, since Guelph definitiely falls into the "city" category. Quite inspiring! |
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February 22, 2009
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What Is Permaculture? A really good overview of Permaculture from the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute. |
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February 22, 2009
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"Now my farm will help teach the world to live without oil," says woman who banished plastic bags from her town. Great article from the London Daily Mail! |
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| February 21, 2009 |
Call For Submissions. Issue: Briarpatch unplugged, or, How I learned to stop destroying the planet and love the global recession Publication: Briarpatch Magazine http://www.briarpatchmagazine.com. |
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| February 21, 2009 |
Recent Press Coverage of the Transition Movement. Recently, especially in Great Britain but also elsewhere around the globe, the Transition Town movement has been getting some significant press coverage. Here's a sampling. |
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February 20, 2009
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Chelsea Green February 2009 Newsletter. Several great articles on Farmer Self-Defense, Low-Light Berries, Composting, creating fertile soil, small-scale grain raising, and much more! Great information. |
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February 16, 2009
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Toronto Star feature article on Peak Oil. It appears the the media "conspiracy of silence" around Peak Oil is breaking down at last, and not a moment too soon. |
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February 12, 2009
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Peak Moment: The Transition Movement comes to America. Global Public Media is a public broadcasting service for a "post-carbon world". This is an audio streaming interview with Jennifer Gray, one of the UK pioneers of the Transition initiative, and colleague of Rob Hopkins. |
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February 11, 2009
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Vermont Peak Oil Network. Excellent web resources by our hosts for transition training in March, Relocalize Vermont. |
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February 11, 2009
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Relocalizing Vermont Blog. This is the Carl Etnier's blog, one of the organizers of Transition Town Montpelier Vermont, hosts of the transition training workshops in March. |
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February 10, 2009
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Plan Well or Perish. An excellent and very blunt interview with Richard Balfour, director of the Metro Vancouver Planning Coalition, about the urgent need to take decisive action to prepare for oil depletion now. The article deals specifically with B.C. issues, but the theme and information presented are universal. |
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| February 9, 2009 |
If Pigs Could Fly. Another humourous and bang-on-the-money essay by Transition Town Peterborough "Honorary Friend" Munroe Scott. Short, and very much to the point! |
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February 9, 2009
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Severn Suzuki at the 1992 UN Earth Summit. Severn Cullis-Suzuki, daughter of David Suzuki, was only 12 years old when she gave this impassioned speech to the U.N. Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro in 1992, which earned her a standing ovation from many deeply moved delegates. It's well worth watching. (About 8 minutes long.) |
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February 7, 2009
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The Growing Schools Garden. "Every young person (0-19) should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.”
This vision statement from the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto is the inspiration for this unique Growing Schools Garden. This link was forwarded to us by a member of the Education Working group and it's quite wonderful, and very inspirational. Have a look. Includes a great video! |
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January 29, 2009
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The Present of Presence. A sobering article in Conscious Choice ezine by David Pinchbeck on the current economic crisis. In it he warns that the situation is far worse than most of us are aware, and will continue to deepen over the next few years. He predicts a sharp inflationary spike in the price of basic goods, the possibility that the U.S. government may have to declare bankruptcy by the summer, and the possibility of ensuing food shortages. He recommends that communities respond by pulling together, growing more of their own food locally, and supporting other local self-sufficiency initiatives. It's a sobering read, to say the least, but important nonetheless. |
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January 29, 2009
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CBC Documentary: Doomsday Called Off. In the interests of impartiality, I am posting a link to Google Videos for a little-known CBC documentary that casts some doubt on the claim that global warming is caused by human industrial activity. It's an interesting perspective, and does raise some valid points, but we do need to be clear on one thing: The scientists at the center of this documentary, Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas, both work for the George C. Marshall Institute, which a right-wing think tank that gets a large percentage of its funding from big business interests, funneled through the Republican Party. In the past, the George C. Marshall Institute has lobbied congress (with the intention of delaying or halting regulation) to create the impression that tobacco is not carcinogenic, that second-hand smoke is not a health risk, and that CFCs don't deplete the ozone layer. Nowadays, of course, only an idiot would try to back those claims. I don't think either of these scientists qualify as unbiased. Video is about 45 minutes long. |
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January 29, 2009
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Living now, naturally and sustainably via relocalizing. “It is not a sign of good health to be well-adjusted to a sick society.” -- J. Krishnamurti. An interesting article by Dave Ewoldt, and published on culturechange.org on the need to relocalize, not just for its benefits to society, but also to ourselves as individuals. |
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January 24, 2009
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Path To Freedom - One Step at a Time... A Living Revolution. One of our members forwarded this, an urban homesteading resource site, and one of the best and most comprehensive I have ever seen. Very inspiring, and very worth checking out! And here's a link to their youtube page: www.youtube.com/user/dervaes. Great video! |
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January 21, 2009
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Bear in the Market: A Transition Tale. A humourous and insightful article by Munroe Scott that was passed around by Fred Irwin of Transition Town Peterborough. Fred went on to say, "The current global bear may not come out for a good long time, so we had better start to take matters into our own hands and build a stronger, more balanced local green economy that is more resilient to bears. That's a little different way to look at our mission!" Thanks Fred, and thanks, Monroe, for permission to post!
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January 17, 2009
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How You Can Start a Farm in Heart of the City. Sick of flavorless, genetically modified, pesticide-drenched frankenvegetables? It's time to start growing food in your back yard. A great article!
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January 14, 2009
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TRANSITION TOWNS: An Interview with Rob Hopkins, posted on youtube. Required viewing. This video is long (almost an hour) but jam-packed with information, inspiration and great ideas! Well worth the time it takes to watch. There are plenty of other excellent Rob Hopkins videos on youtube as well! |
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January 14, 2009
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The Story of Stuff. This is a pretty popular video on the net, so you may have seen it before. If not, it's a great introduction to the hidden connections between the stuff we buy and a huge number of environmental and social issues, and it calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. If you haven't seen it, do so; if you have, show it to a friend! |
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| January 12, 2009 |
Town of Burnaby Report to City Council on Peak Oil. Although this document was published at the beginning of 2006, it is still a good introduction to peak oil, the impending depletion of global oil supplies, and the urgent need to build community resilience. |
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January 5, 2009
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I've Accepted Peak Oil. Now What? "Community as the Antidote for Internal and External Collapse and the role Transition Towns Play in Administering the Medicine." A eloquent, insightful and beautifully written essay by writer and activist Katie Liljedahl. Highly recommended! |
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January 5, 2009
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Banketeering : A thought-provoking article on the state of the Canadian banking system, by Dave Patterson. This article was written before the financial collapse of Q4 2008. It's remarkably prescient. |
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January 4, 2009
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Skills for the Age of Sustainability: An Unprecedented Time of Opportunity, by Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D, originally printed in Tachi Kiuchi's Tokyo newsletter, The Bridge, May 2002. |
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January 3, 2009
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relocalize.net/crisis_shopping. I just posted relocalize.net on the More Resources page, but I came across a good item in the site about recommendations for crisis shopping: i.e. stuff to buy and how to go about it, in case there's a crisis (of any sort). It's worth a read. |
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| December 28, 2008 |
Official Transition Town Criteria. This document, taken from transitiontowns.org, presents the criteria required to become an "official" transition town |
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December 25, 2008
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Sandpoint Unleashing, an excellent PowerPoint presentation first shown at the Sandpoint, Colorado transition launch. NOTE: This file has been taken down, because we were running out of room on the server. If you would like to request a copy, please email info@transitionguelph.org. |
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December 24, 2008
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Curtailment And Community, an excellent essay by Megan Quinn Bachman, first presented as the closing remarks, at the International Conference on Peak Oil and Climate Change, Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 30-June 1, 2008, and reprinted in the Dundas, Ontario Transition Group website. Megan Quinn Bachman is the outreach director of Community Solution, a non-profit based in Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA which provides knowledge and practices to support low-energy lifestyles, with a primary focus on reducing energy consumption in the household sectors of food, transportation and housing. |
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December 15, 2008
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Wake Up, Freak Out, Then Get a Grip. Perhaps the best animated video on the urgency to act on climate change I have ever seen. Share it with people who need to know! (link opens in a separate window) |
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December 13, 2008
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The Transition Initiatives Primer (PDF document). |
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December 13, 2008
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The Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan (PDF document). |
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| December 12, 2008 |
More evidence that it's up to local action, at least with this government : U.N. Climate Talks: Canada Chosen as “Colossal Fossil” |
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December 2, 2008
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December 1 meeting PowerPoint Presentation (modified from: TransitionNetwork.org). |
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| November 28, 2008 |
More things prone to surprise collapse, warns nef. (from: New Economics Foundation). |
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| November 25, 2008 |
One Last Shot: The latest science suggests that preventing runaway climate change means total decarbonisation. (from: The Guardian) |
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| November 24, 2008 |
Eight of the World's Worst Ecological Disasters (from: Sympatico/MSN) |
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| November 12, 2008 |
World Energy Outlook Report 2008 Press Release Summary (from: International Energy Agency) |
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November 12, 2008
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The Bottom Line: NOT SUSTAINABLE!! World Energy Outlook Report 2008. (from: International Energy Agency) (page will open in a separate window) |
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| November 9, 2008 |
Open Letter from Al Gore to New President Obama. (from: The New York Times) |
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| November 6, 2008 |
The IEA World Energy Outlook Annual Report is coming here! (see links above) |
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| October 29, 2008 |
Canadian Citizens create an initiative to get the Liberals, Bloc and NDP to form a coalition government (from: Council of Canadians Guelph Chapter) |
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October 29, 2008
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Climate Safety Report (PDF document) (from: ClimateSafety.org). |
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| October 25, 2008 |
A Crisis Of Conscience: Global Financial Collapse and the Poverty Crisis. (from: Oxfam Action Against Poverty) |
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LGBTTIQQ Positive Space