The end of growth is why we need to re-invent our banking and monetary systems. Both have collapsed and won’t survive. Each have been founded on a single untruth: infinite growth. The bank bailouts and money printing are simply delaying what everyone knows: our old systems are bankrupt.

But the Earth isn’t bankrupt and will continue to provide for us in a reasonable manner. We just need to create the new banking and monetary systems that reflect this reasonable, sustainable way of nature.

Heinberg’s first book on Peak oil, “The Party’s Over” written in 2005 was fantastic and “The End of Growth” looks like it could couple the Peak movement with the Occupy movement.

Source: Post Carbon Institute

Heinberg’s overarching message is that the current economic downturn is not temporary and that, because we have now reached fundamental, unalterable ecological limits, economic growth is gone for good…our entire economy is now fundamentally addicted to debt and to continued, indefinite growth. Oops.

Heinberg goes on to explain that because we’re reaching peak…well…peak everything, and because economic growth relies on natural resources and the Earth’s ability to process our wastes, this growth simply can’t continue. He says that our money has come to represent claims on goods and services that just don’t exist. Through debt and “fiat” currency, the amount of money in the world just gets bigger and bigger, while the Earth’s total stock of resources remains the same. Something has to give.

Unlike previous authors, going back to Thomas Malthus, then later Dennis and Donella Meadows, Herman Daly, and more recently, Tim Jackson and Gus Speth—to all of whom Heinberg gives their due—he’s not just saying that economic growth should stop or that it will stop. He’s saying that it in fact has stopped, whether we like it or not. Discussion in the popular media aside, this is not a choice. Physical laws dictate that all living things must stop growing at some point and, our adamant resistance notwithstanding, the human species has reached that point.

But haven’t we heard before how growth will stop because we’ve run out of resources? (Think The Population Bomb.) So far, it hasn’t happened. Innovation (say the business people), substitution (say the economists), and efficiency (say the scientists) have always allowed us to overcome any resource limitations and advance along the path of progress and growth—and they will continue to do so in the future. But Heinberg says, not this time. Today, innovation mostly just involves tweaking existing technologies. And some materials fundamental to economic growth—most notably fossil fuels—simply have no substitutes. And efficiency can be used to decouple energy use from economic growth only to a certain point.

Sustainability is another word for “immunity from government tyranny.” We cannot possibly be “free” of something we despise, if we are still entirely dependent on it.

Source: Land Destroyer Report

Believe it or not, growing your own food or visiting your local farmers market is more revolutionary and constructive than burning down your own city and killing security forces…

They need us, we don’t need them. That’s the big secret. We get our freedom back as soon as we take back our responsibilities for food, water, security, the monetary system, power, and manufacturing; that is independence. Independence is freedom, freedom is independence. We’ll never be free as long as we depend on the Fortune 500 for our survival.

Fixing these problems unfolding overseas starts with fixing the problems in our own backyards. Boycott the globalists, cut off their support, undermine their system, and they lose their ability to commit these atrocities. That will be a real revolution and it can start today. Not burning cities and masked rebels waving flags, but communities no longer dependent and fueling a corrupt system we all know must come to an end.

Where are farmer markets in Montreal? Jean-Talon is the city’s largest farmer’s market, but there are others.

The title is sarcastic.

New research has shown that when a cell phone is making or receiving a  call, it sends an emergency signal to the bees to evacuate the hive.

That’s why we have 50% fewer bees in the world since 1980, but I always like to see the positive in any situation

Source: Inhabitat

Research conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland has shown that the signal from cell phones not only confuses bees, but also may lead to their death. Over 83 experiments have yielded the same results. With virtually most of the population of the United States (and the rest of the world) owning cell phones, the impact has been greatly noticeable.

Led by researcher Daniel Favre, the alarming study found that bees reacted significantly to cell phones that were placed near or in hives in call-making mode. The bees sensed the signals transmitted when the phones rang, and emitted heavy buzzing noise during the calls.  The calls act as an instinctive warning to leave the hive, but the frequency confuses the bees, causing them to fly erratically. The study found that the bees’ buzzing noise increases ten times when a cell phone is ringing or making a call – aka when signals are being transmitted, but remained normal when not in use.

I was once in the camp that listed the following arguments for nuclear energy:

• It is the least evil energy source commercially available today.
• France gets 70% of its electricity from nuclear and they do a good job of keeping it safe.
• The 3 mile island accident in 1979 was completely contained and was due to human error.
• The Chernobyl disaster was due to a flawed reactor design combined with incompetence and sabotage.
• While the waste of nuclear is nasty and has enormous half-lives, new breeder reactors reduce it dramatically.

In light of the Japanese disaster, nuclear energy is clearly not worth the risk of irradiating the entire planet, our food supply and permanently damaging our DNA. Let’s help the Japanese people and put nuclear energy into the dust-bin of history with this up-coming benefit.

Source: MPG

April 11th is the one-month anniversary of the devastating earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-plant disaster in Japan. On this night at the Sala Rossa, Japanese musical artists Emi Honda, Maya Kuroki and Yuki Isami have organized a fundraising event to aid evacuees and the recovery of the area. More than 250,000 people had to evacuate their homes, and many of them lost everything from their lives. The rebuilding of damaged towns and fields is expected to be an ongoing effort for years. So many countries are already trying to help them and sending a lot of donations. All Japanese people are deeply grateful for the world’s support.

The aim of this event is to raise money for the recovery of northeastern Japan and to reconsider the role of nuclear energy in modern society, given its proven disastrous potential. The leaking Fukushima Daichii reactors are a few of 431 nuclear energy reactors in 29 countries. There are 18 in Canada alone (IAEA, Nuclear Technology Review 2010). Are we prepared to face the consequences when events such as this occur? There are many potential angles to this topic, many relating to the lifestyles we choose. We are sincerely hoping this event will serve as a forum for such discussion and all viewpoints are welcome.

Lineup for “REACTOR”

music performance:

? Tamamushi /Maya Kuroki(Dynamo Coleoptera) +Tomomi Morimoto+Alexis Farand+Martin Gauthier
http://mayakuroki.com/en/oeuvres.php

? Elfin Saddle
http://www.elfinsaddle.com/

? Yuki Isami + Reiko Yamada(composer) + Keiko Devaux
http://www.yukiisami.com/

? Aya Aikawa
http://ayaaikawa.weebly.com/

? Taikonauts
http://www.myspace.com/taikonautsdrummers

? Monday Night Choir / 20+ members multi-language singing group lead by Dina Cindric

other content:

? Talk/ Discussion with Sebastian Weissenberger (Institute of sciences of the environment, UQAM) and Pierre Jasmin (President, Les Artistes pour la paix). Interview by Geeta Nadkarni/ former CBC journalist

? Short film WURLD by Elfin Saddle
http://www.elfinsaddle.com/power/leaf/film/

? Raffle tickets / Gifts from local eco-friendly businesses
Constellation Records (record label)
Alfalfa (organic grocery store in Jean-Talon market)
Phonopolis (used record store on rue Bernard)

? “Ideas for Life” : Art & Craft & Baking sale and display

This event is Pay What You Can (suggested $10), or $20/person donation and receive a raffle ticket.

All profits will be donated to Red Cross Japan to help evacuees and the general recovery of the area.

Monday, April 11 at 6:30pm - April 12 at 12:00am
Location
La Sala Rossa
4848 Boulevard Saint-Laurent

Source: The New York Times

Climate change and the larger issue of environmental sustainability are another challenge, Ms. Coyle argues, in which the balance between our actions today and our responsibilities to the future is out of whack. One does not have to look far to find evidence of depleting fishing stocks, accelerated extinctions of species, water shortages and atmospheric changes to realize that we are using up natural resources at a rapid rate.

What will this depletion, which is fed by current consumption, mean for future generations? Ms. Coyle writes that we “do want more in order to be happier — but how much more is feasible without destroying the natural and social environment, and how much more is fair to the people who will come after us?”

Borrowing from the future this way shows our inability, or refusal, to assume responsibility for the impact of today’s choices on tomorrow’s prospects, Ms. Coyle says.

Three elements — measurement, values and institutions — are needed to bring about a better balance between the present and future, she writes.

In the area of measurement, she says we must adopt broader, longer-term measures of economic well-being than G.D.P. Such metrics would account for health, education, the environment, employment, purchasing power and other conditions. They might also measure the stocks of the world’s resources — from fish in the ocean to human capital — in addition to the annual flows of national income calculated in G.D.P.

The revolution in Egypt will probably repeat itself in a half dozen other countries in the near future. And while the usual suspects will be blamed (ruthless leaders, corrupt politicians, social media, people’s desire for freedom), the true cause of these revolts will be due to an unsustainable economy based on excessive debt that produced a lack of jobs, and massive food and energy inflation.

The case of Egypt should be studied well because it will repeat itself everywhere – not just in the 3rd world – until countries come back into balance and find a sustainable way to live.

Source: OpEdNews.com

No wonder then that the chief fear of Western intelligence agencies and corporate risk consultants is not that mass resistance might fail to generate vibrant and viable democracies, but simply the prospect of a regional “contagion” that could destabilize “Saudi oil fields.” Such conventional analyses, of course, entirely miss the point: The American Empire, and the global political economy it has spawned, is unravelling — not because of some far-flung external danger, but under the weight of its own internal contradictions. It is unsustainable  — already in overshoot of the earth’s natural systems, exhausting its own resource base, alienating the vast majority of the human and planetary population.

The solution in Tunisia, in Egypt, in the entire Middle East, and beyond, does not lay merely in aspirations for democracy. Hope can only spring from a fundamental re-evaluation of the entire structure of our civilization in its current form. If we do not use the opportunities presented by these crises to push for fundamental structural change, then the “contagion” will engulf us all.

Research credit: Carolyn Baker

This I have known in my gut.

A professor argues that in order to get sustainability, we will have to submit to a “new world order”. I agree that at the heart of sustainability is awareness for the health of the global ecosystem and everyone in it. That could be considered a “new world order”. However, the grandiose idea of one world government dictating the actions of everyone on the planet is a dream I call “green fascism”.

If we can live sustainably (and that’s a big “if”), local communities will trump global governments every day of the week. This is because unique local environments that have unique local challenges require unique local solutions that a world government can’t provide for.

Via: The Green Market

The current economic hardships serve as a catalyst for change. According to William E. Halal, professor emeritus of science, technology and innovation at George Washington University, “the normal level of social resistance and political stalemate is likely to oppose change. Thus, it may take an occasional environmental collapse, global wars and terrorism, or yet unknown calamities to force the move to global consciousness…Even with the turmoil that is sure to follow, this will mark the serious beginning of a unified global intelligence – a fine web of conscious thought directing life on the planet.” [1]…

“We need a unified one world order to replace the collectivity of nation states at the international level. The Euro-American model which now dominates the world systematically disables people, destroys the earth and creates dependency on wage labour.” [8]

“In this model, politics loses its left-versus-right conflict and moves instead towards a fundamental concern for the health of the ecosystem…Democracy remains a need within this model, at both local and global levels, but as one part of the whole system. “Participation” becomes more than people’s physical presence and deepens to contain a cultural and spiritual dimension…To implement these concepts, we start with bringing the community together and look at the land resources available. We decide how we want the community to evolve and decide who has control of the resources.” [9]

Likewise, the following statement from the Canadian federal government to the United Nations contains a similar thread — a sustainable world order based on complete world management. “Canada believes the establishment of an international financial and economic system that is conducive to sustainable development must be a cornerstone of efforts to implement Agenda 21. Canada strongly supports efforts to reform international organizations to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the promotion of global sustainable development.” [10]

Westmount and Montreal will recognize Earth hour where electricity is symbolically turned off for one hour. This event, which started in Syndney in 2007, is spreading around the world.

That’s nice, but how about us putting our heads together to design a street light that doesn’t need to burn 1,000 watts all hours of the night? Earth hour is just a small salve on the wound of living a life that is painfully unsustainable to those who have a “Green” awareness.

I suppose awareness is the first step towards making a change. However, the economic realities coming will force people to become “Green” and “sustainable” simply becuase it’s a much less expensive way to live. Awareness won’t be a part of most people’s motivations for this change. And so the band plays on…

For the record and if you interested in contributing to this symbol, the time to turn off your lights and TVs is: 8:30 p.m. on March 2.

An excellent view of the challenges we face from a man who has been a comic and inspirational force. For those who choose not to read the full article, here is a summary of trends he sees:

1. Hope will fuel a mini “euphoria” for the first few months of the Obama Presidency, then reality will set in. He expects the Dow Industrial Stock Average to end up at 4000 sometime in 2009.
2. Thousands of companies will fail and millions of jobs will be lost. Downsizing will occur at all levels of society: government, business and family.
3. A new “servant class” will be created as domestic workers will start moving in with their employers.
4. A massive return to home gardening: “Gardening is the new Golf”
5. Oil and gas prices will rise and there may be spot shortages
6. The U.S. dollar will be 40% of it’s current value by the end of 2009
7. An end of robust globalism – the world is round after all, Tom Friedman.
   

Via: Clusterfuck Nation

There are two realities “out there” now competing for verification among those who think about national affairs and make things happen. The dominant one (let’s call it the Status Quo) is that our problems of finance and economy will self-correct and allow the project of a “consumer” economy to resume in “growth” mode. This view includes the idea that technology will rescue us from our fossil fuel predicament — through “innovation,” through the discovery of new techno rescue remedy fuels, and via “drill, baby, drill” policy. This view assumes an orderly transition through the current “rough patch” into a vibrant re-energized era of “green” Happy Motoring and resumed Blue Light Special shopping.

The minority reality (let’s call it The Long Emergency) says that it is necessary to make radically new arrangements for daily life and rather soon. It says that a campaign to sustain the unsustainable will amount to a tragic squandering of our dwindling resources. It says that the “consumer” era of economics is over, that suburbia will lose its value, that the automobile will be a diminishing presence in daily life, that the major systems we’ve come to rely on will founder, and that the transition between where we are now and where we are going is apt to be tumultuous.

My own view is obviously the one called The Long Emergency.

Since the change it proposes is so severe, it naturally generates exactly the kind of cognitive dissonance that paradoxically reinforces the Status Quo view, especially the deep wishes associated with saving all the familiar, comfortable trappings of life as we have known it. The dialectic between the two realities can’t be sorted out between the stupid and the bright, or even the altruistic and the selfish. The various tech industries are full of MIT-certified, high-achiever Status Quo techno-triumphalists who are convinced that electric cars or diesel-flavored algae excreta will save suburbia, the three thousand mile Caesar salad, and the theme park vacation. The environmental movement, especially at the elite levels found in places like Aspen, is full of Harvard graduates who believe that all the drive-in espresso stations in America can be run on a combination of solar and wind power. I quarrel with these people incessantly. It seems especially tragic to me that some of the brightest people I meet are bent on mounting the tragic campaign to sustain the unsustainable in one way or another. But I have long maintained that life is essentially tragic in the sense that history won’t care if we succeed or fail at carrying on the project of civilization.

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