Environmental activism

14 Comments

Comment by Heaven on March 27, 2008 at 9:44am

Ah! I would if I knew how to define it. In fact, I don't think I've ever actually seen a hippie. From what I hear "hippies" are mythological creatures that used to roam southern California in the 1960's...

Comment by Heaven on March 27, 2008 at 10:14am

...you have more than one recipe for marijuana brownies
(come on people, join in!)

Comment by A3OT on March 27, 2008 at 11:18am

If the elementary rules of economics were true ... and locally produced goods would be cheaper than goods from afar right?
Comparative advantage

Comment by Mary Schmidt on March 27, 2008 at 11:24am

As I told Mr. McKibben after the talk, I think we're all doomed anyway, but I'm going down fighting.

Check out his new web site at www.350.org.

"350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

We’re planning an international campaign to unite the world around the number 350, and we need your help."

P.S. Shop local at every opportunity - it's a small thing, but it's a start. Part of the good news McKibben noted is that Farmers Markets are growing faster than Wal-Mart.

Comment by statler and waldorf on March 27, 2008 at 11:44am

We can shop local and buy hybrid cars until we're blue in the face, but it is true we're all doomed unless humans stop reproducing. Which will never happen. But yeah, better to go down fighting than to just give up.

Comment by Heaven on March 27, 2008 at 12:05pm

I don't know about the extent to which I believe our demise is inevitable. I once struggled with "clinical" depression. I believe that most psychological sadists (including alcoholics) can verify the destructive cycle that is self-fulfilling prophesy. But some point, you just have to begin balancing your checkbook and repaying your debt. Not looking at the negative balance doesn't just make money appear. As countless recoveries from unemployment has shown me, good stewardship eventually builds wealth. I wish we could just shake up our economy to stop incentivizing highway expansion over transit, and scratching its head dumbly about the fuel crisis ...and other self-destructive ways of social thinking.

Comment by Don Pizzolato on March 27, 2008 at 12:22pm

Kelly and I went, expecting Mr.McKibben to talk about his book. What we got instead was an hour and a half environmental activist revival meeting interspersed with overeager paid "volunteers" begging us to sign something or other for this or that cause. Annoying.

The talk was entertaining and Mr. McKibben engaging. But this jag hi is on to reduce CO2 emissions 80% by 2050 is, to put it politely, lunacy. Denmark has been at the vanguard of alternative energy production for three decades. Right now I believe they generate a whopping 15% of their energy from renewable resources, primarily wind. Not saying that it is not a worthy goal, but almost impossible barring some major 9/11 type environmental catastrophe clearly linked to warming.

Comment by Tricross on March 27, 2008 at 12:51pm

Unfortunately environmentalism has been tagged as apolitical issue when in fact, as Al Gore says regarding global warming, it is a moral issue. It is our responsibility to be good stewards of our resources.

Comment by Dr Dan on March 27, 2008 at 1:49pm

many moons ago while I was a student at Anderson School of Management, a seminar class was taught by a man who would get angry whenever someone used the word "hippie" saying that only people from the Haight.Ashbury district in SF are truely hippies, all others are wanna-bes trying to get laid

Comment by brendisimo on March 27, 2008 at 6:06pm

I'm sorry I missed Bill McKibben's talk. I read Deep Economy last summer and was inspired. What about a large Albuquerque Farm in the valley that could feed our whole city! Tons of local produce that would end up being more affordable than buying from halfway across the world. The sun-cal land would have been perfect...oh well.
oh yeah, you know you're a hippie when your blog is filled with pipe dreams...

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