Ecology

Accidental Gravity. Bernard Quetchenbach. Oregon State University Press, 249 pp.

‘Accidental Gravity: Residents, Travelers, and the Landscape of Memory’

There’s an ethereal quality to much nature writing that can feel oppressively twee, miscalibrated to life in the Anthropocene. Annie Dillard may have had a year to wander the Blue Ridge Mountains playing King of the Meadow with grasshoppers, but that was 1974. Haven’t you heard? A Delaware-sized iceberg is […]

stpierre4

It’s Time to Unite!

Day 5 of the 2018 Turtle Island Solidarity Journey was spent back at the Pointe-Aux-Chien Tribal Building. We had connected with the community and shared a meal with its members a few days earlier, but this time we returned to nurture the relationship we all share – our relationship with […]

Proposed Greenbelt Expansion Study Area - Streams and Water Map

The Greenbelt is Growing

Alternatives Journal and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation are hosting a celebration of the possible expansion of the Greenbelt into Waterloo Region and Wellington County. There’s just one problem: earlier this month, Waterloo Regional council voted for revisions to the greenbelt expansion before agreeing to join. In fact, if […]

Breakfast in 2040 432

Breakfast in 2040

Editor’s note: This article is an exploration of a truly complicated topic: food and climate change. We’ve shared perspectives that touch upon the personal aspects, the scientific realities, and the actionable first-steps that can be taken to better plan for future changes in our climate.  

voices_energy_numbers_main-760x378

Electrify Everything

If you electrify everything and produce electricity from wind, water, and solar, your power demand goes down 42.5 percent. Most of that is due to the fact that electricity is more efficient than combustion. If I drive a car, the plug-to-wheel efficiency of an electric car is about 80 to […]

Don't Worry, Be Happy 431

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

 A great revolution is waiting for us,” once said Nicolas Sarkozy, former French president, at Sorbonne University in 2009. He continued, “For years, people said that finance was a formidable creator of wealth, only to discover one day that it accumulated so many risks that the world almost plunged into chaos.”

New Thinking for Old Problems 431

New Thinking for Old Problems

Western millennials are technologically savvy, environmentally and socially conscious, entrepreneurial, global citizens. We want a future that is just, progressive, innovative, and meaningful. Ecological economics can help the next generation of adults build this future. Ecological economics provides a sustainable framework that supports entrepreneurship, more free time, equality, and improved […]

We've Outgrown Growth 431

We’ve Outgrown Growth

If economic growth is an unmixed blessing, why would there be a need to talk about inclusive, green, clean, smart, responsible, or sustainable growth? In my research, I’ve asked the question: can we in Canada have full employment, no poverty, greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and fiscal balance without relying on economic […]