http://zone5.org/2008/08/book-review-climate-code-red-the-case-for-emergency-action/ ...on the edge between Nature and Culture Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:18:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://zone5.org/2008/08/book-review-climate-code-red-the-case-for-emergency-action/comment-page-1/#comment-37083 Graham Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:13:26 +0000 http://zone5.org/?p=206#comment-37083 <p>I just got it via the publishers at ScribePublications: http://www.scribepublications.com.au/</p> I just got it via the publishers at ScribePublications: http://www.scribepublications.com.au/

]]> http://zone5.org/2008/08/book-review-climate-code-red-the-case-for-emergency-action/comment-page-1/#comment-37081 Susan Butler Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:40:52 +0000 http://zone5.org/?p=206#comment-37081 <p>I enjoyed the quote from Spratt & Sutton's book, paraphrased: [Current political skills in the art of compromise (among established players) are obsolete.] I agree. Those players themselves are obsolete. A quote from Dimitri Orlov's "Reinventing Collapse," previously reviewed on this blog, is illustrative: "The best alternative by far is to reduce energy consumption by shutting down all non-vital parts of the economy...Since such a revolution is not politically possible, the only remaining alternative is economic and political collapse." It seems to me that GHG projections or mitigaton plans that go as far as 2050, such as the Stern Review, are useless, since the world is almost certain to be a very different place before then. Likewise efforts aimed at population reduction (likely to take place on its own) which historically require either goverment enforcement, or massive projects to educate and empower women, are not possible in the short time frame required. Both the book reviewed and Graham's suggestions assume intact govenment able to reform planning permissions, et al. This may be so for a while. What's needed is an unprecedented event to shock the world into emergency mode. So far its been all talk and some bad weather. We may see such a shock event this winter with high mortality and mass migrations out of cold climates in the developed world due to unaffordable heating fuel. Here in the States, aware Vermonters are freaking out and setting up community-based emergency planning, while governments sleep-walk. I particularly enjoyed the quote, "a youthful willingness to live with uncertainty and to view the prevention of climate catastrophe as an invigorating process of innovation, learning and imagination." If conditions permit, this attitude could inspire currently unthinkable measures. The obsolete economy along with overpopulation (this an ecological certainty) will fade of themselves. We need to stop adding momentum to the mindset of business as usual and instead focus on putting into place the skeletal invisible structures, along with the first steps towards real productivity in alternative local economies, including independent financial institutions, in the time remaining of relative peace and prosperity, and afterwards. In the nature of things we can't possibly keep emitting GHG at past rates, nor keep growing population. Therefore mitigating climate catastrophe is part and parcel of reimagining world culture.</p> I enjoyed the quote from Spratt & Sutton’s book, paraphrased: [Current political skills in the art of compromise (among established players) are obsolete.] I agree. Those players themselves are obsolete. A quote from Dimitri Orlov’s “Reinventing Collapse,” previously reviewed on this blog, is illustrative: “The best alternative by far is to reduce energy consumption by shutting down all non-vital parts of the economy…Since such a revolution is not politically possible, the only remaining alternative is economic and political collapse.” It seems to me that GHG projections or mitigaton plans that go as far as 2050, such as the Stern Review, are useless, since the world is almost certain to be a very different place before then. Likewise efforts aimed at population reduction (likely to take place on its own) which historically require either goverment enforcement, or massive projects to educate and empower women, are not possible in the short time frame required. Both the book reviewed and Graham’s suggestions assume intact govenment able to reform planning permissions, et al. This may be so for a while. What’s needed is an unprecedented event to shock the world into emergency mode. So far its been all talk and some bad weather. We may see such a shock event this winter with high mortality and mass migrations out of cold climates in the developed world due to unaffordable heating fuel. Here in the States, aware Vermonters are freaking out and setting up community-based emergency planning, while governments sleep-walk. I particularly enjoyed the quote, “a youthful willingness to live with uncertainty and to view the prevention of climate catastrophe as an invigorating process of innovation, learning and imagination.” If conditions permit, this attitude could inspire currently unthinkable measures. The obsolete economy along with overpopulation (this an ecological certainty) will fade of themselves. We need to stop adding momentum to the mindset of business as usual and instead focus on putting into place the skeletal invisible structures, along with the first steps towards real productivity in alternative local economies, including independent financial institutions, in the time remaining of relative peace and prosperity, and afterwards. In the nature of things we can’t possibly keep emitting GHG at past rates, nor keep growing population. Therefore mitigating climate catastrophe is part and parcel of reimagining world culture.

]]> http://zone5.org/2008/08/book-review-climate-code-red-the-case-for-emergency-action/comment-page-1/#comment-37080 Rob Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:11:19 +0000 http://zone5.org/?p=206#comment-37080 <p>Thanks for that... be great to have a link in the piece to say where we can order it from?</p> Thanks for that… be great to have a link in the piece to say where we can order it from?

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