Rancher Paul Schwennesen in the riparian forest along the San Pedro River, which abuts his land. Schwennesen is shifting to native grasses and water-thrifty crops to save water for the river. Photo by Sandra Postel “I don’t know what...
On the surface, things appear normal. The status quo of life in America circa 2016 isn’t to everyone’s liking, but at least the system is still working after a fashion. The price of oil is going up a bit:...
On May 13 the American news media reported that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had recruited U.S. Republican Congressman Kevin Cramer of North Dakota—a major oil drilling state—to help him draft his energy policy. Cramer has said he...
Modern industrial-scale agriculture has proven incompatible with the structure and function of natural systems. To reverse the abusive practices that are undermining the long-term health of the land, humans, and non-human species, a new agricultural paradigm that mimics rather...
A recent vacation afforded me the opportunity to read The Oracle of Oil, Mason Inman’s excellent new biography of Marion King Hubbert. I strongly recommend it. But, rather than writing a standard book review (which might cover much of...
Does California have too much water? Seriously. Because our actions are sending peculiar messages. Even the State Water Board has backed off on conservation targets for some water agencies. It’s true, rains have replenished much of Northern California’s reservoirs...
Minnesota Congressman Martin Olav Sabo died earlier this week, after retiring from Congress in 2006. Rep. Sabo was lead sponsor of legislation called the Income-Equity Act, which he championed for almost a decade. Sabo’s Act would have eliminated the...
The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Mitigation and Food Security, by Eric Toensmeier (Chelsea Green) Among systems thinkers there is already a fairly robust literature on the use of...
William Rees gave one of the Keynote Speeches for Day 2 of the Dresden Nexus Conference 2015 (DNC2015), which took place 26 March 2015 in Dresden, Germany. His speech, entitled “Is Urban Sustainability Possible? Biophysical and Political Considerations”, aims...
Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. The very deep did rot – Oh Christ! That ever this should be. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge El Niño has...