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CURATED ECOLOGICAL NEWS Delusions of technological solutions
“A buzzword on the liberal/left about economics and ecology will be ‘abundance’, after the release of the book with that title. The book poses politically relevant questions: Have policies favored by the political left impeded innovation with unnecessary red tape? Can regulatory reform and revitalized public investment bring technological progress? Those debates have short-term political implications but are largely irrelevant to the human future. “The challenge is not how to do more, but how to live with less. “All societies face multiple cascading ecological crises. There are many crises, not just climate change. The cascading changes will come in ways we can prepare for but can’t predict, and it’s likely the consequences will be much more dire than we imagine. “If that seems depressing, I’m sorry. Keep reading anyway. “Rapid climate disruption is not the only existential threat. Soil erosion and degradation undermine our capacity to feed ourselves. Chemical contamination of our bodies and ecosystems undermines long-term human presence. Species extinction and loss of biodiversity will have potentially catastrophic effects on the ecosystems on which our lives depend. “The foundational problem is overshoot: There are too many people consuming too much in the aggregate. The distribution of the world’s wealth is not equal or equitable, of course, but the overall program for human survival is clear: fewer people consuming less energy and creating less stuff.” More at: Local economic network strengthens resilient communities
“Could citizen management over an essential resource — money — be widely accepted? Ekhilur, a nonprofit citizen cooperative in the Basque town of Hernani, is pioneering an innovative approach to strengthening the local economy. Instead of creating a new currency, it operates its own payment system — regulated by the Bank of Spain — to maximize the circulation of the existing euro within the community for as long as possible. “In just over two years, the initiative has reached a sales volume of 5 million euros and more than 200,000 transactions in a community of 20,000 inhabitants. Money is an essential tool in today’s market economy, but its impact on local wealth depends on how it flows and where it is concentrated. However, money is nothing more than a social agreement. “If money is quickly funneled into large platforms or financial markets, the capacity to generate employment and boost the local economy diminishes. On the other hand, if it remains in circulation within the community, it fosters the development of small businesses, strengthens financial autonomy, and multiplies economic opportunities. “Citizens using the local payment system in participating businesses strengthens the community’s economic structure. Local businesses accepting payments through this system fosters cooperation. Municipalities play a crucial role, as they can channel public spending through the local payment network. These entities receiving and managing funds within the community strengthens the social fabric and reinforces the solidarity economy.” More at: Gift economy, gratitude, and reciprocal relationships
“A few years ago, [Emergence Magazine] asked if I [Robin Wall Kimmerer] would write an article about economics. I accepted the challenge because as a botanist and an ecologist, I have some familiarity with the economy of nature, but only questions about human economy. Most of us, I think, are perhaps like me: we’re just embedded in this economy without really a sense of why it is the way it is. I feel deeply complicit and kind of entrapped in rapacious capitalism. “So that’s what [my book] The Serviceberry attempts to do. It’s really more asking how the world of the serviceberry tree — in all of its relations with pollinators and dispersers and sun and soil and microbes — is engaged in a circular economy, where there’s no such thing as waste, or the notion of hoarding and accumulation and individual gain that are so pervasive in Western capitalist economics. “I wanted to imagine what a gift economy would look like. And here we go back to Indigenous science and to Indigenous knowledge and economies. They’re based on reciprocity. The currency of those gift economies is gratitude, not money. And there’s trust that when you have more than you need, you will share it with me because we have this currency of reciprocal relationship. That’s how the natural world works.” More at: Capitalism’s unknown successor
“As a fierce opponent of capitalism, these are the two objections I most often hear: 1) How can you oppose capitalism while being part of it — even benefiting from it? and 2) But what is the alternative? What will come after capitalism? I breathe oxygen while criticizing pollution, because we can’t live without breathing air. The same goes for capitalism. The grip of this system is so pernicious that existing outside of capitalism is practically impossible. So what is the alternative? What will come after capitalism? “Not only is predicting the future impossible, but it’s also not a prerequisite for letting go of what no longer serves us. Throughout history, societies have repeatedly faced the collapse of systems without a clear successor in sight. The need to know what comes after capitalism is not only unnecessary but actively hinders our ability to let it go. “The current system no longer serves us. That truth alone is sufficient reason to release our grip. For much of human history, capitalism didn’t exist. We lived, loved, built communities, and thrived without it. We must remember that we created capitalism; it did not create us. The ingenuity, creativity, and resilience of humanity are far more powerful than any economic system we’ve built. “If we can trust in these qualities, we can trust in our capacity to craft a new paradigm — one that prioritizes well-being, equity, and sustainability over relentless growth and profit.” More at: Mump* – 6 bankruptcies, stiff his creditors, now the U.S.A.
“On Monday, the stock market and major indexes continued their downward plunge ahead of Donald Mump’s* expected April 2 announcement of a sprawling tariffs package, which the president is billing as ‘Liberation Day’. The recent market slide was compounded over the weekend amid growing fears that the president’s economic plans will send shockwaves through the global economy. “Tesla, the flagship company of Mump’s* unofficial co-president Elon Musk, dropped more than 10% in the past five days after a weekend of protests against the billionaire, who spent the weekend openly attempting to purchase a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. By the time markets opened on Monday morning, investor panic was coming to a head. By mid-morning, the NASDAQ had touched a six-month low, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged over 300 points, and the S&P 500 is now on track to match its worst performance in a single month since September 2022. “Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs recently upped its odds of a recession to 35%, increased its annual forecast for unemployment to 4.5%, and slashed its outlook for major markets and GDP growth. ‘We continue to believe the risk from April 2 tariffs is greater than many market participants have previously assumed’.” More at: * Mump regime — Musk plus Trump = Mu…mp. Biodiversity and sufficiency at the “Third Pole”
“Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains are part of what is known as the ‘third pole’, the largest area of glaciers and permafrost outside the polar regions. Mountain ecosystems provide up to 85% of all the water humans need, and glaciers contain 69% of all the freshwater on the planet. So what happens within and around the Pamir Mountains directly affects global climate patterns, in addition to the fact that more than two billion people across Asia rely on water from this region for irrigation, power and their economy. “The climate crisis is causing the glaciers to recede dramatically, which means less sunlight being reflected and more heat being absorbed. Over the last 60 years glaciers in the Pamirs have lost one-third of their area and one-fifth of their mass, which means far less water for farmers. This, along with warmer temperatures, has caused drier winters and wetter summers, increasing droughts and floods. “The third pole is now both a victim and contributor to the climate crisis, leaving the primary water source and biodiversity of the region under threat. As more than two billion people begin to lose their primary source of water, power, and economy, they will become climate refugees to areas already [experiencing] food and water stress. “The Pamirs are home to thousands of medicinal plants and herbs that are unique to the area. The Pamiri’s traditional farming practices are regenerative by definition, so this is bringing back medicinal plants and traditional strains of legumes, grains, and other foods. Their practices naturally support biodiversity. “The Home Planet Fund sees this as a critically important opportunity to support the regenerative practices of Pamiri farmers. Their practices naturally mitigate the climate crisis by helping preserve the ‘third pole’, rehabilitate soil, land and biodiversity, all while their knowledge base continues to be passed to future generations. Our partners have created 10 seed banks in as many communities that benefit 1,500 farmers across the region. These seed banks are populated largely with local varieties of wheat, legumes, and vegetables.” More at: Juliana v. U.S.A. lost, but has inspired other youth cases
“The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to take up a closely watched lawsuit brought by 21 young people challenging the federal government’s fossil fuel energy system. The high court’s decision Monday in Juliana v. United States ends a 10-year legal effort to hold the government accountable for knowingly endorsing an energy system that would destabilize the climate. “Despite the decision, the lawsuit’s impact continues to reverberate. ‘Juliana has inspired and motivated countless youth-brought climate change cases around the world’, said Andrea Rodgers, senior litigation attorney at Our Children’s Trust that brought the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs. By one count from the nonprofit ClimaTalk, young people filed 18 cases worldwide between 2016 and 2020 and at least another half dozen since then. “Julia Olson, chief legal counsel for Our Children’s Trust, said she’s helping Our Children’s Trust litigate or develop eight more state-level climate cases. She’s also working with the Juliana plaintiffs to decide whether to bring their case before an international venue like the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which could issue a nonbinding, but nevertheless symbolic, decision.” More at: Global drought conditions getting more severe
“Earth has lost enough soil moisture in the last 40 years to change the planet’s spin and shift the location of the North Pole. The persistent loss of water from land to oceans has dried out huge portions of every continent and may be irreversible, scientists said this week. ‘Large regions in East and Central Asia, Central Africa, and North and South America show pronounced depletion’, between 2003 and 2007, the authors wrote. In some regions, there would have to be well above average rainfall for 10 consecutive years to recover from extended periods of drought. The findings suggest that this decline is primarily driven by shifts in precipitation patterns and increasing evaporative demand due to rising temperatures. As of 2021, soil moisture had made no recovery, the authors noted, adding that they saw little likelihood of recovery under current climate conditions.” More at: Indigenous Alaskans’ culture threatened by uranium mine
“For generations, the people of Elim have subsisted off the forests and waters of north-west Alaska. The Iñupiat community of 350 people lives on one of the state’s most productive and biodiverse fisheries, an inlet of the Bering Sea called the Norton Sound. They refer to their land as Munaaquestevut, or ‘the one who cares for us’. Now, an intensifying global competition for critical minerals and the priorities of a new administration threaten to put their land, their fishery and their lives at risk. This summer, the Canadian mining company Panther Minerals is set to start exploration for a uranium mine at the headwaters of the Tubuktulik river, adjacent to Elim’s land. The people of Elim have opposed the mine since last May. They said they feared for their health, and spoke of the cancer and contamination that followed uranium mining on Navajo land in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. However, Alaska’s department of natural resources (DNR), which manages most of the land, has so far refused Elim’s requests for a consultation – and brushed aside over a hundred comments from the community over plans for the mine. In October, they granted Panther Minerals a four-year exploration permit.” More at: | 
