Monday, May 17. 2010
Skateboarding in the Empty Pools of California's Recession
Monday, May 10. 2010
Our Carbon Emissions Were Down in 2009
And they were down by a pretty significant amount. In fact, as the Energy Information Administration says, "in 2009, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the United States saw their largest absolute and percentage decline (405 million metric tons or 7.0 percent) since the start of EIA’s comprehensive record of annual energy data that begins in 1949."
So why did this happen? The three major factors were a big drop in per capita GDP, a drop in the energy intensity of the economy (how much energy we use per unit of GDP), and a drop in the carbon intensity of the energy we use (how much carbon we emit per unit of energy used).
The one-line explanation is that the economic collapse, combined with relatively high prices for coal and petroleum, made people cut back on energy consumption and switch away from the dirtiest sources. Emissions from coal were down 12 percent and emissions from petroleum were down 5.3 percent.
Renewables, especially wind power, helped a little bit. The explosion in wind power since 2000 "was responsible for about 39 million metric tons of avoided emissions in 2009." That's nearly 10 percent of the total drop.
And, you know, your decision to bike to work instead of driving certainly contributed too.
Via Fast Company
Personal comment:
It's one more proof for me that the "more and more" profit the liberal economy is always pushing for is obviously one of the major cause in the increase of energy uses (production of a large percentage of useless goods) and therefore in the increase of gas emissions.
It's obvious, yes, but it's always usefull to underline it.
Friday, January 29. 2010
World Social Forum - Day 4: "We've Reached the Age of Limits"
by Stephen Messenger, Porto Alegre, Brazil on 01.28.10
Photos: Stephen Messenger
After several days of meetings outlining the various threats posed by the current geopolitical and economic status quo, day four of the World Social Forum was largely dedicated to discussing the necessary solutions. Capitalism and the consumer culture it promotes were again the targets of criticism--and reiterated to be at the center of the looming crises of the 21st century. Climate change, growing disparities between rich and poor, and a laundry-list of social injustices were said to all be 'symptoms' of an unsustainable economic model which needs to be addressed to effect any real change--and a need for radical change in human behavior.
Current Trends Show Limits
In a meeting this morning to address the challenges of a "Sustainable Era," political economist Dowbor Ladislaus discussed the future projected by current trends in resource consumptions. One of his major concerns was with skyrocketing birthrates, articulating a need for population control to quell increasingly unsustainable cultural preferences. "Everyone wants to consume more meat, which means more methane and heat. We have to rethink it," he said.
Meanwhile, various speakers met to discuss how a new approach to governance could help ease the trends outlined by Ladislaus, with a new economic model based on sustainability. Getting more people involved and concerned for the environment is the key to moving towards a "post-capitalist horizon," said Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Souza.
Every challenge to the current political hegemony will depend on a broad consensus. It is necessary to focus on democracy; A more advanced democracy, participatory democracy, a democracy Community.
Boaventura de Souza addresses an audience at the Forum.
Amit Sengupta of India's People's Health Movement took the urgency of creating more involvement a step further:
It is not enough to defeat capitalism and build a new hegemony. We must also protect humanity from extinction. Perhaps the human species can not survive capitalism. If we want to save the world, people who form the vast majority of the world, should be emancipated and allowed to achieve their minimum aspirations.
Governments Need to Change
Later on in the afternoon, former Brazilian Environmental Minister and current Senator Marina Silva continued the themes of reforming the way humanity is governed when she spoke before an audience of roughly 500 in Porto Alegre.
The current model of civilization is in crisis. We can no longer patch it. The economic model also shows the phenomenon of exhaustion. And the environmental crisis is exemplified by the current climate change.
Silva was accompanied by Oded Grajew, who founded the first
Former Brazilian Environmental Minister, Marina Silva.
Quality of Life Could Be Sustainable
According to Silva, the vast majority of people in the world are not interested in the economic prosperity that drives the wealthy few, but are rather seeking a sustainable quality of life. Sadly though, she said, that minority is capable of reaping cultural and environmental devastation in its pursuit.
She referenced the impact of past imperialism--noting that there were 5 million natives in Brazil in 1500, but five centuries later, there are only 700 thousand.
We must change the policy, change the planet and always with an ethical commitment, forging an alliance between the generations. Everything we do now will surely pass on to future generations. We reached the age of limits. We must begin the march towards transformation.
Check out coverage of Day 5 at the World Social Forum tomorrow.
More on the World Social Forum 2010
World Social Forum - Day 1: "Another World is Possible"
World Social Forum - Day 2: "Rich Nations, Clean Your Mess!"
World Social Forum - Day 3: "Earth Can't Sustain Capitalism"
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Via TreeHugger
Friday, June 12. 2009
Sustainable consumption: The context of low product
Architect Michael Herrman’s Nomadic Prayer Space,
one of the projects he uses to explore “the architecture
of displacement” in his new book, Hypercontextuality
(Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, 2008)
This month I’ve published a feature article on Core77 (the industrial design online magazine), on the topic of sustainable consumption. The article has lots of images and starts like this…
“Will “no product” become the new brand? John Hockenberry provocatively suggests that given the global economic crisis, “no product” is now plausible. But how plausible given our society organized around economic growth? I’m talking here about consumerism as both the primary purpose of growth, and its principal driver—the high product context.
Reliance on continuous growth makes the economy unstable (it must grow or it collapses) as well as unsustainable (it strives for infinite growth on finite planetary resources). Tim Jackson provides a very accessible overview of this situation in his great new report, “Prosperity without Growth?,” in which he also proposes an alternative—a steady state economy. Enter the “low product” context. Enter the Nomadic Prayer Space, knitfitti and the floating swimming pool. Before getting to the examples and the implications for design of a steady state economy, let’s explore “growth” a bit more.”
read the full article on Core77. I know you readers here aren’t big into commenting, but if you have an opinion please leave a comment there.
New post here next week.
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Via Design Activism
Personal comment:
Une ressource et une réflexion relative à "la croissance infinie" dans un monde au "ressources finies" ...
Friday, March 06. 2009
Broker's blog
En passant, un drôle de blog: Brokers with hands on their faces blog, qui en dit long sur l'état de crise (permanente). Ça vit jusqu'à quel âge en moyenne un brooker?
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Personal comment:
Encore un drôle de blog qui prouve l'intérêt de ces passions incongrues postées sur le réseau.
Friday, February 06. 2009
Negative Chicago
A couple of days hence, NURBN's proposal for an artificial lake — an aqueous inversion of Jakob Tigges' Tempelhof Mountain, really — in Berlin reminded us of one expensive hole on Chicago's lakefront, the one dug for the construction of the Chicago Spire. Because of the economic downturn and the developer's secrecy about a date for the resumption of major work on the building, some have wondered if the hole will remain unfilled, in which case, count another one in a growing list of cancelled prestige projects. No doubt many will see this gaping abyss as a delicious commentary on the excesses of this decade.
But what to do with the hole? Blair Kamin, the Chicago Tribune's architecture critic, has the obvious but probably best idea. Last year, he wrote:
Might the hole, 76 feet deep by 110 feet wide, be filled with water and become the world's deepest swimming pool? Perhaps demonic sports federation directors would threaten to send losers in Olympic swimming races there, forcing them to backstroke in circles for the rest of their lives.
How about subterranean skydiving?
Negative Manhattan
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Via Pruned
fabric | rblg
This blog is the survey website of fabric | ch - studio for architecture, interaction and research.
We curate and reblog articles, researches, writings, exhibitions and projects that we notice and find interesting during our everyday practice and readings.
Most articles concern the intertwined fields of architecture, territory, art, interaction design, thinking and science. From time to time, we also publish documentation about our own work and research, immersed among these related resources and inspirations.
This website is used by fabric | ch as archive, references and resources. It is shared with all those interested in the same topics as we are, in the hope that they will also find valuable references and content in it.
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