Let There Be (Incandescent) Light

David Henderson, who teaches Environmental Ethics at Western Carolina, has an interesting take on government programs that mandate energy efficiency, namely, bans on incandescent bulbs.

"Congress should regulate matters that require the force of law, such as banning mountaintop removal in coal mining and new coal-burning power plants. Leave people to change their own light bulbs. "

The whole piece is in the Washington Post.

image by thomasbrightbill

ENVIRONMENTALISM IS RECYCLED COMMUNISM AND NAZISM

Ouch.

Objectivist George Reisman's view of environmentalism:

"Environmentalism: The pursuit of individual self-interest causes global warming, acid rain, and ozone depletion. It must be replaced by self-sacrifice for the good of other species—our "fellow biota"—and for the good of the planet, under the auspices of international treaties and a nascent Global Socialist State: the UN. Most of the human race must be exterminated for the benefit of exploited species and the planet. "

Check out the whole blog post to get the full context.

Can we push the Earth too far?

Gaia Hypothesis (at least in my interpretation) seems to imply that the Earth is a resilient system and will maintain its homeostasis --though life might be uncomfortable for humans in the mean time, the planet will go on.

However, a recent article in Nature makes one think.

Earth is outside of Safe Operating Space.

"We are on the verge of pushing nature into a state of instability like nothing humanity has seen before, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

The study, which attempted for the first time to come up with real numbers for a set of conditions beyond which Earth may not be able to recover, found that we may have already crossed several tipping points."

Image from NASA Visible Earth

Kurzweil and the Future of "Nature"

"The Nature Of Humanity Is To Change Nature" Singularian Ray Kurzweil definitely has a unique perspective on technology and nature. Here is a link to a recent interview by the Guardian (reported by the IO9 blog):

RK notes: "The form of opposition from fundamentalist humanists, and fundamentalist naturalists – that we should make no change to nature [or] to human beings – is directly contrary to the nature of human beings, because we are the species that goes beyond our limitations..."

By 2040 you will be able to upload your brain...

Image by otzinoz

Objectivism and the Environment

Dr. Bill Chameides, Dean of Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, discusses the relationship between conservative political ideology and views on the environment and science. He also considers the legacy of Ayn Rand and Objectivism.

Read Dr. Chameides' post in the Green Grok.

A unique perspective on Rand and Objectivism is explained on Max Gladwell, a really slick blog that describes itself as "EcoLibertarian." Who is Max Gladwell? is worth a read.

How to Save Endangered Tigers: Kill Them?

This video story by John Stossel gives an excellent example of a free market environmentalist perspective. It even has an interview with PERC and Conservation International, two organizations we've already covered this year.





Photo from somenametoforget

Good Environmental Ethics Books...

This post is aimed more at my students, but I'm sure book suggestions will be of interest to other readers as well.

Another possiblility for book reports are biographies, memoirs, etc. of people active in the environment. For instance, Unbowed by Wangari Maathai.

Do environmental "stunts" hurt the movement?

Thought-provoking piece from the New Yorker...

Green Like Me

Living without a fridge, and other experiments in environmentalism.

by Elizabeth Kolbert

The latest publishing fad features ecology as an extreme life style; the focus is on wacky misadventure, not global cataclysm.

In 2006, Colin Beavan, the author of two works of popular history, was casting about for a book idea. Beavan was living in lower Manhattan, near N.Y.U., and that winter there was a weird heat wave that sent bevies of coeds out onto the streets in tank tops. He didn’t know much about global warming, but the sight of all those bare-armed girls in January got him thinking. Maybe his next project should be “about what’s important.”

Read the rest...

U.S. Chamber of Commerce seeks trial on global warming

This from the L.A.Times:

The nation's largest business lobby wants to put the science of global warming on trial. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, trying to ward off potentially sweeping federal emissions regulations, is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a rare public hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change. Chamber officials say it would be "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" -- complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule, essentially, on whether humans are warming the planet to dangerous effect. Read the complete story...

Image from _Beat_【ツ】

Words of Wisdom from the 'Stache

Very thoughtful op-ed from Thomas Friedman--especially for us interdisciplinary study types.

Connecting Nature’s Dots

Puberty on the Scale of a Planet

Here's an insightful piece from Andrew Revkin.

But lately I’ve come to see those recent dirty decades less as malfeasance (mind you, there have been plenty of dubious actors) and more as an inevitable phase, a transition as natural — and volatile — as puberty. Read the whole thing at Dot Earth.

Earth Days Movie

I'm always a little wary of "environmental" movies, but this one looks promising from the trailer. MNN has an interview with director Robert Stone. (Update on this one: Earth Day is now available online on the PBS main site and PBS American Experience website as well. It is very well done and gives great insight in to the U.S. environmental movement and is applicable to today as well.)

Seattle's Love/Hate Relationship with Blackberries

I caught a great story on NPR recently about Seattle's dilemma with invasive blackberries. Seems Seattleites (yes, thats what they are called--I looked it up) love to pick the blackberries, but the sprawling, thorny bushes are also big invasive problem that have to be controlled. Here's a good story from the Seattle Times: Black velvet bliss — and major thorn: blackberry a double-edged fruit The NPR story is archived as well. Who knew a class C noxious weed could taste so good?

Future Terminators May Be Vegetarian

Oh, some headlines are so good I wish I could take credit for them. The singularity is closer than we think?

Seems as if a company has received fundiong to do R&D on military robots that will be able to power themselves by eating "biomass." Here's the story on Ecorazzi... Wired covered it as well... Their headline is equally catchy: Company Denies its Robots Feed on the Dead.

As Greenland Thaws, Many See $$$

In the earlier days of the climate change debate, it was sometimes argued that Greenland's glaciers were actually growing. Well, it looks like it's pretty widely accepted now that they are shrinking. As a matter of fact, agricultural and mining interests already have their eyes on some of the new land that is opening up, according to this series from the BBC...

Bill Gates Patents a Device Aimed at Halting Hurricanes

Can someone say "hubris"?

"Five patent applications for technology that aims to control the weather bear the signature of a man who knows how to think big: Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The applications made public by the U.S. Patent Office last week describe floating devices that could reduce the strength of hurricanes by drawing warm water from the ocean’s surface and channeling it down to the depths through a long tube. A second tube would reverse the process and bring deep, cold water up to the surface..."

90 Billion People, 1 Planet?

This post from Andrew Revkin over at Dot Earth (one of my favorite blogs) gives a great example of the "doomsayer" Paul Ehrlich-type population point of view vs. the Paul Simon-type "cornucopian" view. Even has a video clip from each...

I try to be an optimist, but I can't get away from what Garrett Hardin said about Simon and his cornucopian world-view: "Simon really should have taken an elementary math course before he said anything about the consequences of the human population."

"In hindsight, we screwed up,"

N.C. Farmers Battle Herbicide-Resistant Weeds

"The Palmer amaranth can withstand withering heat and lengthy droughts, produces thousands of hardy seeds and possesses a root system that sucks nutrients away from crops. If left alone, it would take over a corn or soybean field in one year. Now, a strain has developed a resistance to glyphosate, among the most effective and widely used herbicides, commonly known as Roundup." Click here for the rest of the article...

Everything I need to know I learned from Star Wars

Love this quote from E.O. Wilson. I've heard him say something like it, but never the Star Wars analogy:

"Our civilization is mirrored in “Star Wars.” Our emotions are still Stone Age, our institutions are medieval and our technical ability is godlike. When you put those three together you have a very dangerous situation."

The full interview is at Bloomerg.com.

Pope's Call for Financial Ethics includes Environmental Ethics

From the AP:

"At the same time, [Pope Benedict XVI] demanded that industrialized nations reduce their energy consumption, both to better care for the environment — "God's gift to everyone" — and to let the poorer have access to energy resources.

'One of the greatest challenges facing the economy is to achieve the most efficient use — not abuse — of natural resources, based on a realization that the notion of 'efficiency' is not value-free,' he wrote."

Genes, Memes and "Temes"

Whoa! This one will make you think. Are humans just machines that help memes replicate themselves? Blackmore discusses how ideas replicate themselves from brain to brain, and that the next stage of "replicator" on earth (the first being genes, the second, memes) is the "teme," which is spreading itself via technology. And they are making great use of human brains to do it. (Does she always match her hair to her outfit?)

Satanic Blob Creature Menaces North Carolina

That has to be the best headline in the ongoing saga of the Raleigh sewer blob (It's from the UK's Register).

This story from News 14 Carolina is probably the best so far as to what it might actually be and how the video came about.

It's noteworthy that with all the big local, national and international news stories this week, that the sewer blob topped may news sites "most viewed" story lists. Maybe it's proof of biophilia--our innate connection to living things, or maybe we just like wierd stuff...

E.O Wilson on "Wilson's Law"

Dr. Wilson talks about his rather simple but brilliant idea on how we can preseve biodiversity for future generations. Only E.O could call it "Wilson's Law" and still seem modest.