People ask me if I can put my solar panels in the window. Generally I’ve said doing so doesn’t get nearly the power I’d need since for most of my time off grid the pressure cooker was my main use for electric power. I’d also think something like, “no shit, Sherlock. In what world would I not have thought of using the panels in my own apartment.” In fairness to[…] Keep reading →

People constantly cite BP’s promoting personal footprints as a distraction. Nearly everyone who cites it acts like a know-it-all so I find them annoying. The main reason I find them annoying is they use it to justify themselves buying more of what BP sells. I wish more people understood how their minds rationalize and justify, but I’ll write about that topic in another post. Today I want to point out[…] Keep reading →

I knew the article would cover food and not distinguish doof from food from its title: “Why Are So Many Young Adults Getting Cancer? New Columbia research looks at ultra-processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, and other possible explanations.” Sure enough, it didn’t. Imagine people didn’t distinguish heroin from poppy, if they thought shooting heroin was like eating a poppy-seed bagel. They’d miss that heroin affects the body and behavior a lot[…] Keep reading →

Matt and I have appeared on each other’s podcast before. He invited me back to talk about Sustainability Simplified. I recommend reading it. This episode will whet your appetite. Looking at Matt’s podcast page, the guest before me was Bill McKibben so I consider myself in esteemed company. Here at the liner notes:

You’ve heard “the people most affected by our environmental problems are causing it the least, and those causing it the most are the least affected by it.” It sounds unfair. People who say that sentiment seem then to suggest we should help those hurt the most—the disadvantaged. They sure do try to explain to me that if I don’t focus on them, I’m out of touch. No one wants to[…] Keep reading →

People call my behavior extreme, though I’m just acting in service of others. To be more precise, I’m acting in love for others. When people suggest what I’m doing is too hard, I sometimes remark how during America’s Civil Rights era, some people went to jail for different people’s freedom. Nobody looks forward to going to jail, yet people did. Their actions make mine look easy and fun. Still, I[…] Keep reading →

If something destroys life, liberty, and property, making it more efficient leads it to destroy less life, liberty, and property, not zero. Stopping doing it would stop destroying life, liberty, and property. We know life doesn’t require pollution, despite our cultural beliefs. The quality of life of people who live sustainably doesn’t appear lower than ours and in many cases appears higher, also despite our cultural beliefs. Let’s look at[…] Keep reading →

NHK is a public broadcaster in Japan. For a weekly segment NHK@nyc, they interviewed me, recorded me charging from solar in the park, at my home, volunteering, and more. Click here for the page. There’s a video, pictures, and text. Most is in Japanese, but plenty of the video is in English and the web has plenty of translator tools. You get to see pictures and video of me picking[…] Keep reading →

The difference between an externality and coercion. An externality is a cost imposed on someone else. A cost is something that if you pay for it, you undo the cost or make them whole. An example might be if in doing my work, I undo some of yours and it takes you an hour to redo it. You could in principle consent to the work if I compensated you enough[…] Keep reading →