Monthly Archives: December 2012

The Alamo, breached

Everyone from schoolchildren to oil executives knows that burning fossil fuels pollutes the Earth.  We rationalize this dirty energy source over alternatives in myriad ways, but the simplest justification is also the most compelling: Fossil fuels are cheap. Cost considerations are the … Continue reading

Posted in Article, Commentary | 5 Comments

I got to choose the Christmas dinner prayer

  Blessed be you, harsh matter, barren soil, stubborn rock: you who yield only to violence, you who force us to work if we would eat. Blessed be you, periolous matter, violent sea, untameable passion: you who unless we fetter you will devour … Continue reading

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Global Weirding

The crippling drought that covers >50% of the U.S. right now is finally seeing some relief this week…in the form of a blizzard. I could enjoy the irony more if it weren’t making so many people miserable.  

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Climate Talk – Kristen 11/2/12

Kristen and I met a few years ago by way of our mutual affection for Catholic priest/Harvard icon/dirty joke enthusiast Phil King.  She and Phil are Harvard colleagues who together managed the White-Levy Program for Archeological Publications, and in accordance with that, Kristen works … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Talk | 4 Comments

Where’s it going?

Channeling a little Mike Rugnetta:  What if the purpose of life is to pass on information? When life began on Earth, we had only the most basic method of sharing information:  genes.  Later we increased our capacity for information sharing through the spoken … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Featured Posts | 1 Comment

Loosening the bolts

The Limits To Growth makes it pretty clear that resource shortages are going to be the driving force behind this century’s economic collapse and massive reduction in human population.  In today’s world of abundance, however, that’s a hard concept to … Continue reading

Posted in Article, Chart, Non-climate science | 1 Comment

Keystone XL pipeline action, President’s Day 2013

Next year, President Obama will decide whether to build the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which will carry 800,000 barrels a day of the dirtiest oil on earth for export.  I don’t doubt Obama’s heart is in the right place…says … Continue reading

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Windy New England

When I close my eyes and conjure an image of a wind turbine, typically it’s towering over a corn field somewhere in the expanses of the American Midwest.  Instead I should probably be picturing my own backyard, as New England has seen some … Continue reading

Posted in Article, Commentary | 5 Comments

Climate Talk – Jon and Jenni, 11/9/12

This is the first climate talk where Jeff essentially took the lead, contacting everyone and organizing a time and place for us to get together. It was kind of nice to have my hands off the reins for once, and … Continue reading

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People like me

As I’ve mentioned before, this site and its undertaking have been a pretty big leap of faith.  I don’t doubt the science of climate change or the scale of the crisis, but when your life veers so sharply away from … Continue reading

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