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The possibility of failure

A fascinating essay by Bryan Appleyard in The Sunday Times Magazine argues two things:

• Human civilization is facing unprecedented crises;
• the pace of innovation has long been slowing, and we may not be able to think our way out of this one.

But that woefully oversimplifies the piece. I encourage you to read the whole thing.

It reminded me of something that's been on my mind lately. To wit:

Something Fishy: Fossil fish catches could be bad news

Yo-ho-ho, me hearties. 'Tis ye favorite pirate here with a quick news bit to satisfy yer cravin'. Me plundering sked is keepin' me busy these days, and I gotta tell ye, wifi ain't so great out here on the high seas.

That said, I've got a tale for ye about the African Coelacanth, an archaic (we're talking tens of millions of years old) species long thought to be extinct until one was caught in South African waters in 1938. I'm pretty sure it was the "Lord God" of fish at the time.

Bill and peak oil

Bill Clinton is officially on the peak oil bandwagon, and wants the nation's newspaper editors to hop on with him.

(via Oil Drum)

This book was made for walking

It makes intuitive sense that living in a community that encourages walking -- with sidewalks, good street connections, and homes that are close to shops and services -- would make you active and healthier.

As Sightline Institute's new book -- Cascadia Scorecard 2006: Focus on Sprawl and Health -- points out, such communities are also safer. (Full disclosure: I work at Sightline.) Residents who live in a compact community have significantly less chance of dying in a car crash -- not because they're better drivers, but because they drive less. (And car crashes, of course, are the leading killer of young people.) And they also tend to weigh less and have less risk of chronic diseases associated with obesity.

Check out the press page for pdfs and fact sheets about the new research. And check out media coverage: front page of the Vancouver Sun and in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as well.

But for a quick take, here are my top ten facts from the new Scorecard:

Cool books for hot sunny days

Well, folks, it's officially summer. I know this because it's finally -- gasp! -- sunny here in Seattle. So get out those flip-flops and the sunscreen, settle into that lawnchair or hammock, and hand me a margarita ... it's time for the summer reading list.

Popular Science solves the whole energy thing

Everyone and their cousin has already linked to this, but in case you missed it, Popular Science is running a series of stories called The Future of Energy. It's good.

And when I say "good," I mean "more or less reflects my own priorities." I was particularly pleased that nuclear didn't show up on the list and that grid improvements were way up at No. 2. I would have moved "negawatts" -- i.e., efficiency and conservation -- up higher on the list, and moved hydrogen lower, but those are quibbles. Overall, nice work.

(The editors explain their methodology here.)

Waste gas to clean gas

This looks pretty nifty: A company called Prometheus Energy Co. will be setting up a facility that takes waste gas from landfills (ew) and refines it into liquid natural gas, which can fuel vehicles (at least vehicles that have undergone a fairly expensive conversion). Allegedly the resultant gas will be cheaper than diesel, and Prometheus will also set up a fueling station.

The LNG can also be created from "excess gases at coal mines, dairy farms or abandoned natural gas wells."

These waste-to-fuel projects are the kind of no-downside strategy I hope we see a lot more of.

Happy Happy Day!

Are you happy yet?

A psychologist says he can prove that Friday 23 June, today, will be the happiest day of the year.

Hey, Poacher, Leave Those Squids Alone

Pirates cause a social and environmental ruckus in Africa There’s lots of money involved in commercial fishing off African coastlines — a full trawler can bring in over $400,000. The high stakes, poor regulation, and lack of coast guards lure “pirates,” foreign anglers who bully locals and deplete area fish stocks illegally. Many unlicensed vessels […]

C’est Bonn

Legendary music fest Bonnaroo urges fans to go green What do you get when 80,000 blissed-out music fans spend four days in the Tennessee sun? Besides sunburns in inconvenient places, that is. You get trash: 600 tons of it. And you get a captive crowd, which makes it a fine time to offer words of […]