Plan B v3.0

I’ve been reading this book for a bit now. (You can download it in sections from the website and read it free online. nifty,huh?)

Anyway, one of the things I keep hearing bandied about politically these days is how the “Free Market” should be left to do it’s job. The wrench in that plan is that what we see as the “Free Market” is anything but free. This book takes on those facts and presents solutions. It is an excellent read and I highly recommend it to anyone who really wants to understand the state of our world.

_____________

As economic decisionmakers—whether consumers, corpo-
rate planners, government policymakers, or investment
bankers—we all depend on the market for information to guide
us. In order for markets to work and economic actors to make
sound decisions, the markets must give us good information,
including the full cost of the products we buy. But the market is
giving us bad information, and as a result we are making bad
decisions—so bad that they are threatening civilization.
The market is in many ways an incredible institution. It allo-
cates resources with an efficiency that no central planning body
can match and it easily balances supply and demand. The mar-
ket has some fundamental weaknesses, however. It does not
incorporate into prices the indirect costs ofproducing goods. It
does not value nature’s services properly. And it does not respect
the sustainable yield thresholds ofnatural systems. It also favors
the near term over the long term, showing little concern for
future generations.

One of the best examples of this massive market failure can
be seen in the United States, where the gasoline pump price in
mid-2007 was $3 per gallon. But this price reflects only the cost
of discovering the oil, pumping it to the surface, refining it into
gasoline, and delivering the gas to service stations. It overlooks
the costs of climate change as well as the costs of tax subsidies
to the oil industry (such as the oil depletion allowance), the bur-
geoning military costs of protecting access to oil in the politi-
cally unstable Middle East, and the health care costs for treating
respiratory illnesses from breathing polluted air.

Based on a study by the International Center for Technology
Assessment, these costs now total nearly $12 per gallon ofgaso-
line burned in the United States. If these were added to the $3
cost of the gasoline itself, motorists would pay $15 a gallon for
gas at the pump. In reality, burning gasoline is very costly, but
the market tells us it is cheap, thus grossly distorting the struc-
ture of the economy.
_______________________

And while I’m posting from this book, I’ll also include this passage, which is basically what the book is about. Solutions:

The overriding challenge for our generation is to build a new
economy—one that is powered largely by renewable sources of
energy, that has a much more diversified transport system, and
that reuses and recycles everything. We have the technology to
build this new economy, an economy that will allow us to sus-
tain economic progress. Can we build it fast enough to avoid a
breakdown of social systems?

 

Plants to improve indoor air quality

So last night the ladies of SuperCute! and Cody from Scurvy Dog came over and we did a little swag-crafting for the upcoming ICE festival. There might have been glue, and there might have been a few headaches afterwards. oops? Anyway, seemed like a really good time to post this article!

This picture comes from this great article over here:
http://awesome.goodmagazine.com

click the photo here to see it bigger, or the link to go to their site:

 

NoImpactMan needs your help!

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2008/05/i-need-help-fro.html

NoImpact Man needs your help! WOn’t you take just a few minutes to send an email? Look! You can just copy and paste… easy peasy =D
(thank you!!!!)

From Colin:
Next Friday, May 30, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York’s Eight Congressional District has kindly agreed to meet with me in his New York office. As one of his constituents, I intend to ask Representative Nadler to support an effective global warming mitigation policy that is based not on what is politically possible but on what is scientifically necessary.

More specifically, I intend to ask him to:

* Introduce, as soon as possible, a non-binding resolution to the House of Representatives asserting that we need a climate change mitigation policy with a goal of no more than 350 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide (read why here). Furthermore, the resolution should say that the United States must collaborate with the international community to achieve an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol that will achieve the 350 goal or better (depending on how the science progresses).
* Pledge to support the 1sky.org policy platform that also includes creating five million green jobs (through, for example, weatherizing our buildings and manufacturing solar panels and windmills), and placing a moratorium on the building of new coal power plants.
* Pass on to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter addressed jointly to her and Representative Nadler, in his position as Assistant Whip, asking them both to push for the introduction of new and the strengthening of currently pending climate change legislation to reflect the crucial 350 goal. This means, at the very least, aiming for an 80% reduction in climate emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 and a 25% reduction by 2020.

Now then, here’s how I was hoping you could help. My dream is to present Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi with between 350 and 3,500 (10 x 350) emails of support for these policy objectives.

Can you help? All it requires is a cut and paste job (see below).

Fellow bloggers: would you be willing to pass this request onto your readers?

Everyone: would you email this around and get your friends to pitch in?

Two bits of good news:

1. Representative Nadler has been an ardent supporter of environmental issues ranging from the thorough cleanup of the World Trade Center site to securing federal funding for state conservation and wildlife grants. He received a score of 95% for his voting record in the 1st session of the 110th Congress from the League of Conservation Voters.
2. Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping have provided me with five copies of their new DVD, What Would Jesus Buy (watch the trailer here). I’m going to give the DVDs to people who send in their emails of support (the 1st, the 35th, 100th, the 350th and the 1000th).

Here’s how to send in your email of support:

Simply cut and paste the below, making sure to substitute in your name, mailing address and email address, and send it to noimpactman+nadler+pelosi@gmail.com (it looks like a weird email address but, don’t worry, it will work).

Dear Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi–

Thank you for your hard work on behalf of the people of the United States. It is indisputable that the health, happiness and security of the American people depends upon the well-being of our planetary habitat. It is also indisputable that the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases is causing changes in our habitat that will adversely effect Americans on every level–from our health to our economy.

On May 30, Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man will visit Representative Nadler to express to him support for a number of climate change mitigation policies that are much stronger than those currently passing through Congress. Please consider this a letter of support for the measures Colin Beavan will be advocating.

Specifically, I support Colin Beavan in requesting that Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi both, together or separately:

* Introduce, as soon as possible, a non-binding resolution to the House of Representatives asserting that we need a climate change mitigation policy that accords not with what is politically possible but what is scientifically necessary–a goal of no more than 350 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide (read why here). Furthermore, this resolution should assert that the United States must collaborate with the international community to achieve an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol that will achieve the 350 goal or better (depending on how the science progresses).
* Pledge to support the 1sky.org policy platform that also includes creating five million green jobs (through, for example, weatherizing our buildings and manufacturing solar panels and windmills) and placing a moratorium on the building of new coal power plants.
* Push for the introduction of new and the strengthening of currently pending climate change legislation to reflect the crucial 350 goal. This means, at the very least, aiming for an 80% reduction in climate emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 and a 25% reduction by 2020.

Yours sincerely,

 

Happy Shrimp

An article about innovation in sustainability and how Europe seems to be leading the way. Posting this because of a conversation I was having with friends about how travelling to other cities around the world makes you really realize how behind we are here in some areas.

http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/05/15/europe-leading-the-way-in-sustainable-innovation/

Enviu, together with 8 other innovation labs from Spain, Denmark, Poland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands is soon to be launching the NEXT Europe Alliance. The launch is set for the upcoming iFest, the business inspiration fest in Spain where there will be, “ideas and energy to solve the issues of the near future.”

sidebar: Happy Shrimp. GENIUS.

 

The New Mafia

This article in Vanity Fair is quite long, but it is a good read on the tactics that a certain corporate giant is taking to ensure they control the world’s food supply. This company and it’s tactics make cinema’s most cold-blooded bad guys seem like common street hustlers.

Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear
Monsanto already dominates America’s food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation’s tactics–ruthless legal battles against small farmers–is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.

______________

I’m always torn about posting articles like that. On the one hand, I think it’s really important to get the word out about what is happenning in our world (and that idea often wins, but not always), but on the other hand, those articles are scary and sad and often leave me feeling like I can’t ever do enough.

Then I read something like this:
about a woman who turned a barren patch of NYC land into a lush paradise

and it renews my faith that one person really CAN make a difference. And that makes me want to try even harder.

 

quoting NoImpactMan

add him to your blogroll, really. good stuff!
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2008/05/try.html
________________________

We need a peaceful revolution in thinking and living.
The problem is that the revolutionaries are otherwise engaged. They’re delivering Fedex packages, waiting tables, driving taxis, entering data and countless other tasks–including, yes, writing books and blogs–for 12 hours a day.
They’re working their butts off to afford the gas and the car payments and the Christmas presents. They’re worried about whether their kids are safe, whether they’ll be able to afford the mortgage, how they’ll pay if they break a leg.

So when the news comes on and some newscaster starts droning on about the climate, they care, yes. And they think we ought to take care of it. Just as soon as we take care of the health care system and the economy and national security.

It’s not that we don’t care. It’s that we’re more scared of today than we are of tomorrow.

The way modern life is set up in these United States, so many of us feel like we could fall off the tightrope at any moment and there’s no safety net. What happens to an American who loses a job and gets sick? Without some sense of security, how can we risk taking our eyes off our daily tightrope long enough to worry about the problems of the future?

It’s not selfishness. It’s not apathy. It’s not mindlessness.
It’s busyness.
We’re too busy to think.

**********
But however we define the problem, the question stays the same:
How can we help?

 

Herbivores, biodegradeable zippers and Athens, oh my!

Yes, this post will be random, you’ve been warned.

First! This weekend, SuperCute! will be truckin’ it up to Athens for the Craftstravaganzaa!!!

Then, we’ll be rushing back home for Youngblood’s Grand Opening Party!!

In sustainable sewing news, I ran across these the other day. So far, they appear to only be in Europe, but I’m still hunting.

First: Zippers made from recycled plastics.

Second: Biodegradeable Zippers! (break down in your compost bin, wow)

So.Cool.

And while I’m linking, here’s a great article that pretty much sums up why I’m mostly vegetarian, and how I feel about people who make fun of me for it: http://www.slate.com/id/2190872
excerpt:
“Please don’t try to convince us that being vegetarian is somehow wrong. … If you want to have an amiable tête-à-tête about vegetarianism, that’s great. But if you insist on being the aggressive blowhard who takes meatlessness as a personal insult and rails about what fools we all are, you’re only going to persuade me that you’re a dickhead.”

oh look, here’s a cute kitten picture!

 

Back to the Land

A series of talks on YouTube by the UK’s TheSoilAssociation.

The rest of the series is in the sidebar of this video, and partially explains why I am so obsessed with getting a viable garden planted and running within the next year.

 

I’ve been blogged at EarthyFinds

The awesome Hyla Waldron over at the EarthyFinds blog interviewed me a little while ago for an eco-friendly feature! Now it’s up, yay! Go check out the rest of her blog, she reviews some really great products, and I just love her tagline: “one reader at a time”.

EarthyFinds writeup

Thank you Hyla!

 

Notes from Inman Park

Remember these guys?

Well, Sunday it rained at the festival, and while we were wondering if it would ever stop, this girl came in and bought some skirts from me. She turned my day right around when she said our homeade shopping bags were so cool she thought she might cry. It just felt so good to know that the effort we put in was appreciated and that other people understood what we were trying to accomplish.
Then, just like that, the sun came out and the rest of the day was awesome.
——-
(There might also have been cupcakes and beer, but that’s a whole other post. )