Green Social Thought

Produce less. Distribute it fairly. Create a greener world for all.

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Topic: Less of What We Don’t Need

  • Facebook Server Farm Powered by “Clean Energy” Will Increase Denmark’s Greenhouse Footprint

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    by

    scox
    in

    Last month, the social-media giant Facebook announced plans to build a new data center near Odense, Denmark. The expansion of server capacity was needed, the company said, to support "richer content" such as live-streaming and virtual reality.   The Facebook executive who made a public announcement of the decision (live-streamed, of course), noted that the…

  • Black Snakes on the Move: Pipeline Expansion Out of Control

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    by

    fitzdon
    in

    A Lakota prophecy tells of a mythic Black Snake that will move underground and bring destruction to the Earth. The “seventh sign” in Hopi prophecy involves the ocean turning black and bringing death to many sea-dwelling creatures. It doesn’t take an over-active imagination to make a connection between these images and oil pipelines and spills.…

  • A Kurdish response to climate change

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    by

    fitzdon

    For 4000 years since the breakdown of the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, almost every major societal collapse has featured five trends: spiralling migration, state collapse, food shortages, epidemic disease and climate change.[1] What makes the present era distinct is that whilst previous collapses have been geographically contained, the globalisation of carbon-intensive industry since the 1800s…

  • Some thoughts, self-criticisms and proposals concerning the process of change in Bolivia

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    by

    fitzdon

    What has happened? How did we come to this? What occurred in the process of change that more than 15 years ago won its first victory with the water war? Why is it that a conglomeration of movements that wanted to change Bolivia ended up trapped in a referendum to allow two persons to be…

  • Radical Ecological Democracy

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    by

    scox

    Is degrowth, or the reduction of material and energy uses for human use, a valid and viable strategy for the Global South, i.e. countries and populations that have not reached an excessive or even acceptable level of prosperity? Perhaps not. What is needed is for these regions to find their own home-grown visions and pathways…

  • Donald Trump’s Energy Nostalgia and the Path to Hell

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    by

    rsburke

    Since the '70's, "back to the 1950's" has been the rallying cry of reactionaries. Michael Klare shows us that it is the cornerstone of Trump's proposed energy policies. The 1950's may prove hard to ressurrect however.

  • The Ascendance of Trump Makes Broad-Based Climate Action Essential—and Achievable

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    by

    scox
    in

      On December 5, former vice president Al Gore met with Donald and Ivanka Trump in an effort to convince the president-elect that he should not gut federal policies and agreements dealing with climate change. Three days later, actor Leonardo DiCaprio also paid the Trump duo a visit, urging them to help build a green,…

  • Germany’s Energy Transition: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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    by

    fitzdon

    Immerath, 90 km away from the German city of Cologne, has become a ghost town. The local church bells no longer ring and no children are seen in the streets riding their bicycles. Its former residents have even carried off their dead from its cemetery. Expansion of Garzweiler, an open-pit lignite mine, has led to…

  • Is the Oil Industry Dying?

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    by

    fitzdon

    Talking about “peak oil” can feel very last decade. In fact, the question is still current. Petroleum markets are so glutted and prices are so low that most industry commenters think any worry about future oil supplies is pointless. The glut and price dip, however, are hardly indications of a healthy industry; instead, they are…

  • Indigenous Autonomy in the Age of Extraction

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    by

    fitzdon

    The 2011 TIPNIS conflict exposed the contradiction between the MAS government’s proclaimed commitment to indigenous rights and the environment, and its aggressive pursuit of an extractivist development model. International media images of Evo Morales in indigenous garb were replaced by more familiar images of indigenous peoples mobilizing to defend their territories against the incursions of a…