Earth’s Limits: Why Growth Won’t Return, By Richard Heinberg
But there are seldom-acknowledged factors external to financial and monetary systems that are effectively choking off efforts to restart growth. These factors, whose impacts are worsening over time, were briefly alluded to in the Introduction; here we will unpack them in more detail, discussing limits to oil and other energy sources, as well as to food, water, and minerals. We will also explore the increasing cost of industrial accidents and environmental disasters—and why, in the wide wake of global climate change, those costs are likely to escalate to the point that disaster avoidance and recovery will constitute a major portion of future government and private spending. Along the way, we will examine how markets respond to resource scarcity (it’s not a clear-cut matter of incrementally rising prices).
An Interview With Michael Shuman: If We’re Serious About Localisation, All of Us Have To Go To Business School
I think localisation really is two pieces – one is ownership and the other is proximity. The particular spread of local food ideas has given a lot of weight to the proximity issue – that is, that the distance between farm to table should be a short one – but I think it’s given short thrift to the ownership issues, and I consider it just as essential that localisation involve local ownership of every node of a shortened journey that a good or service travels to get to the end user.
Food Crisis 2011: The Global Food Shortage Has Already Begun
ORIGINAL BLOGPOST Will 2011 be the year that we point to as the beginning of the great global food crisis? Food prices are soaring, supplies are very tight and already we have seen some very intense food protests flare up around the globe this year. When people...Catastrophic Weather Events Are Becoming The New Normal, By Bill McKibben
For two decades now we’ve been ignoring the impassioned pleas of scientists that our burning of fossil fuels was a bad idea. And now we’re paying a heavy price.
The Era of Cheap Food May Be Drawing To A Close
ORIGINAL ARTICLE U.S. grain prices should stay unrelentingly high this year, according to a Reuters poll, the latest sign that the era of cheap food has come to an end. U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat prices — which surged by as much has 50 percent last year and...What Lies Behind Egypt’s Problems? How Do They Affect Others? By Gail Tverberg
ORIGINAL ARTICLE We have all been reading about Egypt in the newspapers, and wonder what is behind their problems. Let me offer a few insights. At least part of Egypt’s problem is the fact that in the past the government has threatened to reduce food subsidies. Now...Oil And Food Prices, By Jason Bradford
ORIGINAL ARTICLE Several years ago National Geographic magazine published an article on oil that included a stunning photo of mature steer and the barrels of oil needed to grow an animal to that size. I recently went looking for that picture, found it, and post it...Steep Oil Prices, Food Shortages Will Likely Spark Deadly Riots This Year, By Michael Klare and Tom Engelhardt
From now on, rising prices, powerful storms, severe droughts and floods, and other unexpected events are likely to play havoc with the fabric of global society.