Applying a Peak Oil Filter to Financial Choices

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"If peak oil occurs, it will dominate most everything else that we do, because energy drives everything." Financial consultant Jim Hansen's peak oil filter doesn't just guide  investment decisions for his client portfolios. He applies it to his personal lifestyle (you may … [Read more...]

Human-Powered Machines – Can Pedals Power the World?

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Jump on that bike and power up the blender for your morning smoothie! Matthew Corson-Finnerty shows several machines he has developed while at Aprovecho Center in Oregon. Watch us pedal power an electricity generator, a grain mill, a blender, and a straw-chopper. Matthew … [Read more...]

Practice Collapse Now and Avoid the Rush

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 I piled the laundry basket into the wheelbarrow and headed towards the Lone Bobcat Woods house. We'd agreed with our renter to share the washing machine. As I pushed the 'barrow about a quarter mile to the house in the warm sun, I thought of John Michael Greer's recent … [Read more...]

Rocket Stoves – Hot, Healthy, Efficient

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Mike Hatfield says the magic of a rocket stove is getting the heat into what you're trying to heat. His tour of a rocket stove reflects designs perfected for decades at Aprovecho Research Center in rural Oregon. They also test and suggest improvements to stoves from … [Read more...]

Oil Puts the Squeeze on the Economy

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This turbulent, troubled global economy is precisely what Chris Martenson predicted in early 2010, "When Exponential Meets Reality" (episode 166). He asserts that we can no longer look at the economy without factoring in the terminal decline of its master resource — oil. … [Read more...]

Arrival of the Post-Petroleum Human

"Petroleum Man is dead. Infinite Growth Man is dead. Post Petroleum Human is alive," announced Michael C. Ruppert on May 22, 2011. Members of this emerging "species" know they must live in balance with the Earth, while remembering the lessons of industrial … [Read more...]

Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises

"There are no real solutions, there are only responses." So say the expert contributors in The Post Carbon Reader, pointing to society's complex, interdependent systems squeezed by growing demand and declining resources. Co-editor Daniel Lerch tells us renewable energy will … [Read more...]

Daniel Lerch and The Post Carbon Reader

December 15, 2010. Seattle, WA. The final week of our 2010 Pacific Northwest Tour. We left Seattle December 15th amid pouring rain and packed freeways a bit before the so-called  rush hour, reminding us why automobile-dependent suburbs and outlying areas will have the … [Read more...]

A Day in the Life

A viewer asked how we live. I've written about how we planned for our off-grid solar-electric system. From a different angle: here are some of today's activities preparing for winter. Dry fruit and vegies. My frugal gleaner self picked figs a week ago, and then a new … [Read more...]

Baked in Telluride: Making Dough in a Tough Economy

Biting into a fresh-baked cookie from "Baked in Telluride" is a double treat — a yummy goody that also supports a local independent business. Owner Jerry Greene has been going "green" for decades before it became fashionable. He shares the challenges of running an … [Read more...]