You’d think the problem with sleeping in summer weather would be the heat and humidity. I wake up sweating several nights per summer and it’s annoying. I don’t want to touch the sheets and it’s hard to fall back asleep. Still, I think of many places that are hotter and more humid than here where people have lived for thousands of years. Also, after a few nights of it, I[…] Keep reading →

I wrote last week about how people decline free produce in my post More fresh juicy local peaches and heirloom tomatoes than I can handle, saved from waste by rich and poor alike. The people declining them include from homeless, probably crazy maybe homeless people as well as volunteers who appear mainstream, likely without a worry about money or food. Here’s an heirloom tomato I got for free that many[…] Keep reading →

I value family. Extracting fuel and minerals leads to things that tear families apart, like making them refugees, child labor in dangerous mines, people living far from the homes they grew up in, causing people to die young, and more. Valuing family is one of the main reasons I don’t fly. I don’t want to tear families apart. Likewise with communities. I don’t want to fund tearing communities apart. Can[…] Keep reading →

I was browsing OpenSecrets’ page on lobbying by “the fossil fuel lobby.” Who is OpenSecrets? They track who lobbies whom in the US. According to its site: “OpenSecrets is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. We provide comprehensive and reliable data, analysis and tools for policymakers, storytellers and citizens.” Their page on climate change lobbying is sobering. Here’s[…] Keep reading →

The Washington Post‘s Climate Coach column by Michael Coren quoted me today. Here’s the part with my quote, which responded to his column last week about people figuring out solar on their own when they can’t install it on their buildings, which is my case. Did I let my coop board or the Department of Buildings stop me? No, because I live by values including Do Unto Others As You[…] Keep reading →

I haven’t posted about the book The Once and Future World by podcast guest J. B. MacKinnon lately, but it’s one of the more eye-opening books I’ve found on the environment. He asked, researched, and answered how nature looked before modernity impinged on it. In case you worried, he qualified that nature didn’t exist in a perfect state, let alone a static one. It changed all the time. Still, he[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, by Janna Levin: Somehow I started receiving Janna Levin’s Substack (that Is, Substack spammed me, though I doubt Levin caused it). I looked her up. She teaches physics at Barnard. I got my PhD at Columbia and worked with a professor at Barnard, who was one of my main reasons for returning there after starting graduate school[…] Keep reading →

I found a podcast episode from the Cato Institute, where I spoke last year and met some wonderful people: How Does Libertarianism Deal with the Problem of Pollution?. I’m posting quotes from them mainly for future reference. Sorry if the post isn’t my most readable, but my main response: Lack of hands-on practical experience leads them to opposed their own values. They think no pollution means the end of civilization,[…] Keep reading →

Aaron and I met after I got to see a screening of his recent short animated film Snow Bear. I knew about Aaron’s achievements from participating in some of the biggest animated movies of all time. I expected to talk about art, creativity, and expression, topics I love. We did, after first hitting on leadership, especially empathy. He started by sharing his growth as an animator and director at Disney. Soon[…] Keep reading →