LATEST BLOG POSTS

I have to add to what I wrote last month on How the liberation of living more sustainably feels. In that post, I wrote I left out scope and scale I left out the scope and scale of the difference. Taking off wet socks feels liberating and surprisingly pleasant if you forgot they were on, but it’s still just physical sensations for your feet, a part of your body. Unlike[…] Keep reading →

I was out in the park along the Hudson River picking juneberries. Not only was the food not packaged, I picked them myself. They’re incredibly delicious. The tree evolved to provide fruit to be eaten. I saw a lot of people picnicking on the grass, eating at the outdoor bar in the park, and eating while they walked. Every piece of food or beverage I saw them eating was bought[…] Keep reading →

This recording went far beyond my usual preference for recording with guests in person when I can. We met in Prospect Park on one of the peak birding days of the year. Tons of people were out with powerful binoculars and cameras. You’ll hear lots of birds chirping in th background and even people who knew Ryan coming up to talk to him. Nature is everywhere. We can enjoy it[…] Keep reading →

I feel increasingly like an abolitionist or anti-slavery politician around 1800 living in Monticello. Mainstream culture looks and sounds like Thomas Jefferson: He said some of the most important words in history on liberty and freedom. He knew how wrong slavery was. He knew owning people corrupted him. He knew he was violating his own values. Likewise, we all say we don’t want to drive a system that hurts and[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Choice: Embrace the Possible, by Dr. Edith Eger: At one point listening to this book, I started feeling choked up. Tears started welling up in my eyes. I asked myself, “When has a book made me cry?” “Has a book ever led me to cry?” I continued to ask myself. As the book continued, I started full-on bawling at the experience of the author, how[…] Keep reading →

If “transition” means we stop using the old fuel then there has never been an energy transition. You can hear more details when I post my next episode with Mark Mills, but it deserves more publicity. I recorded with him again after reading his recent piece We’ll Never Have an Energy Transition, in City Journal from the Manhattan Institute. I find his results compelling, as always. Every fuel we’ve ever[…] Keep reading →

I walked past what was once likely a planter bed filled with lovely flowers or maybe a tree. I presume it was something nice because someone installed a plaque that began “In loving memory of.” Instead of flowers, a tree, or anything lovely or nice, the bed was filled with garbage. I’ve passed it before and seen it filled with garbage. It’s nice to think that environmental problems haven’t hit[…] Keep reading →

We have never decreased using any fuels. When we find new energy sources, we use the old one and the new one. Our plans to increase solar and wind have nothing to do with lowering fossil fuel use. This ordering doesn’t work: The only ordering which can work: (Though, according to Adam Smith and the US founders, we don’t need to create new energy sources to create the most opulent[…] Keep reading →

You probably know about the effect called the tragedy of the commons. The classic case is shepherds and a common grassy area. If each lets their sheep graze so they consume grass as fast as it grows, then each has the incentive to graze more, privatizing the extra profit while everyone else loses a smaller amount, but if all do it, everyone loses. Here is Wikipedia’s definition: The tragedy of[…] Keep reading →