Everyone talks about our ancestors like they struggled for food. Many people believe we store fat well because our ancestors didn’t know when they’d next eat. Maybe they look at surviving hunting and gathering cultures and see less food than in their local supermarket. Look at nature, though. Animals and plants aren’t starving all the time. On the contrary, places that aren’t frozen, desert, or that we’ve paved over abound[…] Keep reading →

Environmentalists talk about the possibility of a future collapse. They talk about the harm happening far away. I don’t want to take away from those problems and risks, but they are missing what’s happening here and now with all of us. We can’t look our children in the eye and tell them they’ll live in a safer, healthier, more secure world. Since we can’t, we tell them what we do[…] Keep reading →

Since I’ve learned to love fresh vegetables and fruit, I’ve come to learn the restaurants hate them. Caterers do too. An ex-girlfriend once commented that she couldn’t go to restaurants with me because I complained too much that they covered everything in salt, sugar, and fat (more on that complaint below). I attended an event today that was catered. Everything was vegan, which a lot of people interpret to mean[…] Keep reading →

Regular readers know what most people call “Christmas trees” I call by the more accurate name “Christmas pagan trees” because they come from pagan tradition. I document how many people pay for chopping down trees to use for a few days or weeks, then throw away just before or after Christmas. Today, May 11, I saw another on the curb for trash collection—a testament to how many trees we kill[…] Keep reading →

I spoke today to someone who co-founded a business making fashionable clothes from fabric that would otherwise have been disposed of. Even in sustainability, nearly everyone wants to make more. I’m not going to stop her. I support her salvaging stuff that would have become pollution, but more isn’t less. More than more “sustainable” clothing brands, we need fewer H&Ms and clothing overall, but more people are making “sustainable” clothing[…] Keep reading →

Our environmental problems have become a politically polarized issue. Why? I don’t know values of any political tradition that oppose clean air, land, water, and food, while all seem consistent with stewardship. Meanwhile, the main political tribes seem to see their opponents as obvious enemies, blatantly exacerbating the problems. Liberals say conservatives and libertarians don’t care and are greedy. They say they prefer profit over helping other people or wildlife.[…] Keep reading →

I made it through January and February with 23 out of 25 days of rain, snow, and no clear skies. The days were shorter but I had roof access, so at least I could charge when there wasn’t much sun. Without roof access, bring the panels and battery to the park takes more work and time. The challenges of sustainability are less technology, market incentives, and legislation and more how[…] Keep reading →

First, let’s imagine solar, wind, hydroelectric, fission, or fusion were “clean,” “green,” or “renewable.” They aren’t, but for the sake of understanding, we’ll imagine they are, so if we transitioned to them from fossil fuels, society could live indefinitely on them. What Doesn’t Work Everyone is acting as if we can ramp up “clean,” “green,” and “renewable” energies until we don’t need fossil fuels, then we can ramp down fossil[…] Keep reading →

People jump to treating our environmental problems as rooted in science, therefore they look for solutions from scientists. I’m seeing the problem more as social than scientific in the following way. First, I want to clarify that understanding the mechanisms by which Earth’s ecosystems are changed depend on science. I’m not challenging that we understand the mechanisms through observation, experiment, debate, and the other tools of science. When I pollute[…] Keep reading →