Astrid and I live modestly. We don’t own an automobile or a television. Our small apartment is warmed with thermal heating and powered by renewable electricity. We buy most of our food from the local farmers’ market. Our bicycles are our primary means of transportation. We strive to maintain a minimal ecological footprint and enjoy … Continue reading Pumpkin Seed Oil
Flight shame reloaded
One of my earliest posts back in October 2019 was about flight shame. I wrote it in the international departures terminal of Frankfurt Airport waiting for a flight to the United States. My return flight a week later was my last time on a plane. As data from Eurocontrol shows, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic … Continue reading Flight shame reloaded
Cathedrals or climate?
Two years tomorrow ago, a fire broke out in Notre-Dame de Paris causing the spire to collapse and severely damaging the UNESCO world heritage site. At the time, class conflict in France was playing out in violent street demonstrations as the gilets jaunes movement protested Emmanuel Macron’s economic reform policies. The destruction of Notre-Dame demonstrated … Continue reading Cathedrals or climate?
The dangers of Once-lerism
I missed a couple of blogging days last week because I was participating in a climate risk course sponsored by the Arqus European University Alliance. I mentioned the seminar in a previous post where I argued that currently living people in industrialized nations have a collective responsibility to take immediate and significant action for mitigating … Continue reading The dangers of Once-lerism
The Cat and climate change
One of my favorite books is The Cat in the Hat. I love how the Cat in the pursuit of “lots of good fun that is funny” releases Things 1 and 2 in the unnamed narrator’s house to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, the superego pet fish repeatedly urges the narrator and his sister Sally to toss … Continue reading The Cat and climate change
Fiji Water in Oregon
This photo of a family displaced by the wildfires raging in Oregon ran in the New York Times on September 11th. The irony of the Fiji water bottle in the middle of the image is striking. The fires in Oregon and California are out of control because of climate change. As California Governor Gavin Newsom … Continue reading Fiji Water in Oregon
359.640.000 tons of porn
Thinking about all that corn yesterday got me pondering another really big number. In an earlier post we noted that 3,7% of all CO2 emissions are caused by on-line video streaming (BTW a pre-corona statistic). We also mentioned that 27% of that streaming is porn and that this would be a topic for a future … Continue reading 359.640.000 tons of porn
