Info, news & debate
Economy
What low-impacters are up to around the country: Greystoke Cycle Cafe
Proper seasonal tea garden cafés (i.e. just with a tea garden facility and no indoor space as a cosy backup) are few and far between in this country – especially in the north (thanks largely to the weather)
What is TTIP exactly, and what’s it for? Interview with the World Development Movement
You may have heard of a proposed trade deal called TTIP (generally pronounced tee-tip). You may also be aware of an awful lot of protest against it. Do you know what it is, and why there is so much opposition to it?
Is the global human population too high? Steady-state people as well as steady-state economics?
There is a long-standing case made for the benefits of a steady-state economy. With climate change, collapsing biodiversity and increasing pressure on key resources, that has to be the way to go.
Why Brian Cox is wrong about nuclear fusion
Who’s been watching ‘Human Universe‘ with Brian Cox? I’m especially talking about the last episode – ‘What is our Future?‘ Brian Cox is doing a great job popularising science – and science, as he says, is a ‘wonderful tool for making the darkness visible’.
New share offers in community-owned renewable energy projects around the UK
Pomona Solar launched its pioneer share offer during h-Energy festivities on 11th October in Hereford. Pomona’s first scheme is for a 250kW solar PV array that will supply low-cost electricity to small businesses located on the site.
Why Adam Smith, father of capitalism, would have hated neoliberalism
1776 was a very good year. The US declared independence and Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations. Both of these events helped mark the transition to a new world; both have contributed enormously to human freedom, and have therefore been claimed by neoliberals as their own.
Help put energy into the hands of local people, and make yourself a bit of money at the same time
The Low Carbon Hub has just launched its 2014 community share offer to raise £1.5 million investment into its first wave of renewable energy schemes for Oxfordshire.
Are we ‘silenced by economic power’? Paris 2015 and the Hartwell Paper
In December 2011, South Africa welcomed the United Nations Framing Convention on Climate Change. The host city was Durban, where a number of years before, and just after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela had
Where do banks get the money for mortgages from?
The simple answer is that they don’t have it. They check your credit record, decide you’re OK, type some numbers into a computer and suddenly you owe them a significant portion of your income for 25 years, plus interest.
Size matters: why a big house can’t be a green house
The wonderful Art Ludwig of Oasis Design in the US was asked to design and build an ‘eco-home’ for a client. He wrote a letter to the client to explain that he couldn’t take on the project because green ‘add-ons’ aren’t green at all when tacked on to a house that is too big
Keeping pigs: the story of a pig co-op
In 2012 some households in our village decided to start a pig co-op/club. Living in a Somerset village and with several interested neighbours, one of whom had the space needed, we all got together for an informal meeting
What low-impacters are up to around the country: Meadow Forge
Nestled in, part way down the side of a beautiful valley in Devon, is probably the most interesting, bonkers, chaotic and inspiring workshop I’ve ever been in. Housed inside what was once an open cow shed, this is where long-standing network member, Dean Aggett,
Tim Harford – the ‘Undercover Economist’ – thinks that the economy can grow forever. Here’s why he’s wrong
Here’s an article that I came across recently. It was written by Tim Harford, the ‘Undercover Economist’, who points out that physicists are telling economists that economic growth can’t continue forever because of the exponential function
Unique opportunity to live on a low-impact, off-grid smallholding in Devon
My name is James Dexter and I am one of the new tenants at Greenham Reach which is a low-impact farming project established in north Devon by the Ecological Land Coop (ELC)
Do you consider yourself left-wing or right-wing, and does it matter any more?
Do you label yourself ‘left’ or ‘right’, or somewhere in the middle? Do you think the Labour party in the UK or the Democrats in the US, are left-wing parties? Or do you have only a vague idea about what those labels mean?
We have a huge housing problem, and yet they want to destroy Charlie’s home; you can help
This blog is about the house that Charlie and Meg built. It’s a straw-bale roundhouse with a reciprocal roof, built in the countryside where they grew up. The exterior can be seen above, the interior below, with Charlie, Meg and sprog in the middle.
Who runs the world?
It’s widely believed that we have democracies in the West. We’d like that to be the case, but it’s not – because ultimate power is corporate, not political. By ultimate power, we mean the ability to control the direction in which humanity moves.
Ethical investments in renewable energy – you can make it happen
A quick update on Sharenergy-supported projects and share offers. Firstly some great news – the first wind turbine supported by Sharenergy is now up and running in Dingwall
BBC: ‘Only by increasing productivity can we improve the quality of our lives’. Do you agree?
It’s a quote from an economist invited in to comment about the UK economy on the BBC World Service earlier this week (it doesn’t matter who – this is a point that virtually all economists agree on, to the shame of the discipline).
It’s not possible to demonise people any more, in the age of the internet
Western populations have to kept in a state of fear, so that weapons corporations can continue to make huge profits. People of America – this is your latest enemy: