"How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?" Pope Francis, calling capitalism "a new tryanny." The Pope issues his first apostolic exhortation (the official platform of his papacy) in which he criticized the global economic system.
The revolution has begun, energy renewables are gaining ground. In this interview with Amory Lovins, by John Vidal, from the Guardian, some amazing facts. Since 2008, half the world's added electrical generating capacity has been renewable. Non hydro-electric renewables, chiefly wind and solar, were 49% of US and 69% of European capacity added last year.
Regardless of your political leanings, this is a must watch video. As well, you may be interested in this interview with Mark Kingswell on democracy and civility.
The difference between 'being' and 'becoming', happy.
January 28, 2014
I am currently working outside of Ottawa, and it has been bitterly cold the last 3 weeks, -27 degrees and with the wind chill as low as -37 degrees. Just finished two days of interviewing with my wonderful colleague, Rebecca Foon, and getting in and out of the car with the cold was a challenge to say the least. We were interviewing people from the Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative, remarkable group of dedicated Board members and volunteers.
ExxonMobil was the most profitable company in the US in 2012, according to Forbes 500. Ten years ago, it funded research to deny climate change, but now it’s integrating a hefty carbon tax into its financial plans. Tom Carnac, North American president of Carbon Disclosure Project, said that the five big oil companies seem to have determined that a carbon price is an inevitable part of their financial future.
A conference sponsored by a US military official convened experts in Washington DC and London warning that continued dependence on fossil fuels puts the world at risk of an unprecedented energy crunch that could inflame financial crisis and exacerbate dangerous climate change. In addition, the insurance sector is moving rapidly to changing what it insures given the increasing costs of flooding and severe weather events.
A colleague from Carleton University, Andrew Cohen, has just written a very novel analysis about the age of the selfie. Perhaps a cultural emphasis on the individual at the expense of the collective is key to ensuring we keep chasing the false gods of consumption for happiness?
A leading US biologist, Randy Schekman, who will receive his Nobel Prize in Stockholm on Tuesday, has just announced his lab will no longer submit journal articles to top tier journals. There is now so much emphasis in the academy on publishing 'impact factor', how many of us start the day by checking our 'factor'?