Media Articles of Interest

This page is a collection of links to articles in the media about issues of interest to the Transition Movement, in Austin and the world. It will, of course, grow as articles are published. New articles will be added at the top, so the older ones slither downwards toward the bottom. This is where things from the "News" column on the home page go when they get kicked off there by newer articles.

If you see an article you think ought to be included here, please send us a message with information about it - including its URL on the web.

December 27, 2012:
Tokyo Almost As Irradiated As Fukushima
Have you forgotten Fukushima? It hasn't forgotten you. This article has dozens of references to other articles about how badly Tokyo - and the American west coast - have been contaminated by the radiation from the Fukushima disaster of March 2011.

December 23, 2012:
West Antarctica warming fast, may quicken sea level rise: study
Global warming is continuing to accelerate. A recent Reuters report says, "West Antarctica holds enough ice to raise world sea levels by at least 3.3 meters (11 feet) if it ever all melted." And that melting is accelerating faster than anyone predicted - via a feedback loop that's getting out of control.

December 21, 2012:
Peak Philosophy
How is the global economy going to collapse? To be meaningful at all, the study of economic systems is complicated. That, according to this article, is the main reason why "the people" don't - and don't want to - understand the reality of the coming economic collapse.

November 21, 2012:
Collapsing Into Gaia: What to expect when you're expecting collapse
Carbon-fueled human society will collapse. But what will it collapse into? Gaia, the Earth seen as a living, breathing entity, has answers for us on this question. [Read this one all the way to the end - the last section has a lot of wisdom about our future.]

November 21, 2012:
Peak, What Peak?
Dr. Tad Patzek, chairman of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, shreds the "arguments" by peak oil deniers.

November 12, 2012:
The Dangers of Aspartame
Aspartame is seriously bad stuff. This article talks about why it was allowed out there to begin with (courtesy of Donald Rumsfeld), and why the people who own us will go to so much trouble to keep it out there, even though it is a neurotoxin - specifically, an excitotoxin.

October 26, 2012:
President Declares 'War on Entropy'
For a little levity, Richard Heinberg declares that the President (indeed, the entire government) have decided that the first law of thermodynamics is null and void. Basically, he's pokeing fun at the people who believe that the world's systems can continue to grow indefinitely.

October 15, 2012:
2012 Saw Warmest September On Record Across The Globe
We all know that 2011 was the hottest year on record, but this year could be even worse, if September is any indication. We keep breaking heat records in this stewpot we call "our" planet, and we frogs just sit here - after all, maybe next year things won't be so bad. (Yeah; right.)

September 20, 2012:
The Ongoing Damage and Danger at Fukushima
Lest we forget, the four destroyed Fukushima reactors are still the deadliest threat facing the earth. This is an conversation between Helen Caldicott and Arnie Gunderson, a nuclear expert who has been telling the truth about Fukushima since the catastrophe in March of 2011.

June 20, 2012:
We're Done
Stick a fork in us - we're done. That's the assertion in this article from the blog Nature Bats Last by Guy McPherson. From economics to ecology to environment to ... well, a whole bunch of stuff, we're finished as a race, he says.

July 19, 2012:
Global Warming's Terrifying New Math
Three simple numbers add up to global catastrophe, and make make it clear who the enemy really is. This article explains those three numbers, and why they show that the earth is heading for a disaster - courtesy of the human race.

June 23, 2012:
The Heat is On: U.S. Temperature Trends
Texas is the 9th fastest warming state, according to this new report at Climate Central. There you'll see a summary of the report and an interactive map showing the warming statistics of all "lower 48" states.

June 10, 2012:
Human-induced global ocean warming on multidecadal timescales
Research keeps coming in that humans are responsible for the ongoing global climate change. The latest report, published in "Nature: Climate Change" addresses the dominant role of people in this change.

May 23, 2012:
Real Homes: Small, Frugal, and Green
In 1950 houses were built with an average of 259 square feet per person; now the average American now has about 961 square feet of space. This article from Yes! magazine shows how smaller is better when it comes to building sustainable housing.

May, 2012:
It Looks Bleak. Big Deal, It Looks Bleak.
In this interview on the Ecological Buddhism web site, Joanna Macy, long-time commentator with a spiritual viewpoint, discusses future possibilities. Is a mass extinction event coming? Probably, she says, but that doesn't stop us from finding joy now.

April 17, 2012:
The Trouble with Money
Money is supposed to be a facilitator of exchanges, a symbol of real wealth. However, this article is that it represents a style of economy that is obsolete, the economy of continual, even limitless, growth - and those days are over.

February/March, 2012:
Seed Starting Made Simple
Most people buy transplants for things like tomatoes, greens, and herbs; but it's possible to start your own seeds and avoid the cost of the transplants. This article gives you an easy-to-follow guide to do just that.

February 16, 2012:
Climate Change Texas: The Worst-Case Scenario is Happening
We all know that Texas is getting hotter and drier. This article, in the Austin-based Rag Blog, discusses the details of what's happening, using a lot of very disturbing charts and maps to prove its points.

January, 2012:
The Transition Companion
Rob Hopkins' new book, The Transition Companion, is the successor to his original Transition Handbook. The Transition Culture web site in Britain has prepared this interactive introduction to the book that lets you use your mouse to flip through the first several pages of the new book.

December, 2011:
How To Prepare For The Difficult Years Ahead
There's a lot of information and opinions out there about how to get through the coming hard times. This article is its author's take on preparing for what's coming at us; it's an easy read and pretty comprehensive. You may not agree with all of what he says, but it's definitely worth reading.

December 15, 2011:
As economic growth fails how do we live?
In a series of articles for The Energy Bulletin, Craig A. Severance discusses the end of economic growth and how we can live after that end. The link above is to part 1 of this three-part series, "The four horsemen of the economic apocalypse," which covers the causes of the problems we're facing. The other two articles will cover ending unsustainable practices and embracing a world with failing economic growth.

November 22, 2011:
The myth of renewable energy
The Transition Movement is based on the use of renewable energy, but this article challenges that assumption. The challenge is not that renewable energy, per se, is wrong, but rather that each individual type of renewable energy has its own problems that the author says make it unworkable. Whether she's right or wrong about this challenge, this article is something we all need to read and be aware of.

November 30, 2011:
The Era of Small and Many
In this article, environmental activist Bill McKibben says that "we're moving, if we're lucky, from the world of few and big to the world of small and many. We'll either head there purposefully or we'll be dragged kicking, but we've reached one of those moments when tides reverse." This applies, he says, to all human endeavors, from businesses like farms to individual living.

October 27, 2011:
The Transition Companion
The Transition Network recently announced the release of the successor to The Transition Handbook, entitled The Transition Companion. The announcement also describes a new on-line directory of Transition Ingredients and Tools, and a set of "Ingredients and Tools" cards to help people understand the concepts.

August 31, 2011:
How To Prepare For A Future Increasingly Defined By Localized Food And Energy
Joel Salatin, proprietor of Polyface Farm, says that "modern humans have become so far removed from a natural connection to the food they eat, that we no longer have a true understanding of what 'normal' food is." The article also includes a link to an audio interview of Mr. Salatin by Chris Martenson, the author of the article.

August 14, 2011:
The Fifth Sacred Thing Green Plan
Starhawk, Wiccan writer & philosopher and Permaculture teacher, is working to make a movie from her book The Fifth Sacred Thing. In this article on her blog Dirt Worship, she discusses the plan for making the film in a truly sustainable manner, using Permaculture principles at every step.

August, 2011:
Start a 1-Acre, Self-Sufficient Homestead
The Mother Earth News tells you how. It's not easy - it takes a lot of work, every day, and it requires raising animals as well as plants. Even if you're not planning a 1-acre subsistence farm, this article is full of ways you can improve your life by taking responsibility for your own food.

June 23 & July 20, 2011:
Saving Seeds
This two-article series from the Christian Science Monitor talks about two aspects of saving seeds from one year's garden to the next. The first article in the series is Gardening on the cheap; it's about how saving your seeds can greatly reduce the cost of having a family or yard garden. The second article in the series is When and how to collect and store seeds; it's about the procedure of collecting, storing, and re-using seeds.

June 21, 2011:
Earth in the Balance, Humankind on the Edge
When the Bloomberg.com web site publishes an article with that title, you know even the money folks are beginning to get the message. A couple of the section titles will give you the idea: "Bad Decisions" and "Lucky History" pretty much sum it up.

June 13, 2011:
JEREMY GRANTHAM: We're Headed For A Disaster Of Biblical Proportions
"Legendary" investor Jeremy Grantham doesn't just say "Biblical Proportions;" he backs up that assertion with graph after graph, all showing the reality of the coming crisis. His summary of the situation - "The world is using up its natural resources at an alarming rate, and this has caused a permanent shift in their value. We all need to adjust our behavior to this new environment. It would help if we did it quickly."

May 29, 2011:
Facing The New Dark Age: A Grassroots Approach
John Michael Greer of The Archdruid Report tells how "individuals, small groups, and communities can still prepare for the approaching crises by mastering low-tech survival skills now to lay foundations for a sustainable society in the future." Does that sound like Transition to you? This is a very important article to read - and spread.

Weekly, 2011:
Fairewinds Associates
Arnie Gunderson is a name most people haven't heard - yet. He's a nuclear safety engineer whose informative, calm presentations are great resources about the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster and its implications on the world. He does a short weekly video on the Fairewinds Associates web site. No axe to grind, no sensationalism, no panic: just clear, understandable reporting on what's going on, with his expert interpretation of the facts.

April 28, 2011:
Permaculture: Going back to the land
This article starts out as a permaculture success story, to keep us all going in these increasingly dark times, It then includes six links to other articles along this line, followed by a list of sustainable gardening tips - and face it, we could use all the gardening tips we can get.

April 15, 2011:
Emotional Resilience In Traumatic Times
Dr. Carolyn Baker discusses how we can maintain our emotional resilience in the times that are coming. Besides talking about the need we have for emotional resilience, she lists "A Few Ways of Developing Emotional Resilience" - like identifying and connecting with a support system. Well worth a read.

April 10, 2011:
Bolivia enshrines natural world's rights with equal status for Mother Earth
Bolivia is leading the world, showing us all where we need to be going. "Bolivia is set to pass the world's first laws granting all nature equal rights to humans," affirming the right of nature "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities."

March 29, 2011:
Garden As If Your Life Depended On It, Because It Does
This article, written for mainstream audiences, says that "There are at least five reasons why more of us should take up the spade, make some compost, and start gardening with a vengeance." (Of course, the people on this list have known that for years.)

March 25, 2011:
Fukushima Dai-ichi status and slow burning issues
The Fukushima Daiichi disaster is going to have major impacts on the entire world. This article gives an update as of March 25 of the status of the disaster, but also gives an analysis of its implications on the world.

March 15, 2011:
Collapse Preparation 101: A Newbie Introduction and Checklist
Not sure how to prepare for what's coming? This article has a list of 10 steps to prepare and protect yourself for the coming times. (You'll have to scroll down through a promo for the site it's on, but the list is worth reading - and acting on.)

March 3, 2011:
Market turmoil as IEA warns 'age of cheap oil is over'
The International Energy Agency now agrees with us. Fatih Birol, chief economist with the IEA, has finally said it explicitly. Of course, he then goes on to soften the truth as much as he can to keep his job, but the truth is clear, even to him: the age of cheap oil is over.

February 2, 2011:
Bat Out of Climate Hell
Bruce Melton, registered professional engineer and climate researcher, reports that "Climate change has destroyed the functionality of two of the greatest carbon sinks on the planet. The latest discoveries show in terrifying detail that we are straddling the worst-case scenario modeled so far."

February, 2011:
Signals and Signposts
In 2008 - right before the global financial collapse - Shell produced a report entitled Shell energy scenarios to 2050 (a PDF file). They recently published this update to that report (also a PDF file), about the changes to their forecasts as a result of the financial collapse. Both are very interesting, as is the difference between the two.

January 23, 2011:
Preparing for Life in a Peak Oil World
This site has a fairly comprehensive list of steps to take to prepare for life after the end of the age of oil. It's written for people who know we need to be doing something, but aren't sure about just what that "something" is. It's a must-read, for us to use for our own personal preparation and for us to share with those we care about.

January 7, 2011:
Alternate Unemployment Charts
This page at Shadow Government Statistics shows how misleading the US Government's version of the unemployment rate is. Think it's around 9%? Nope; it's actually around 23%. Or, as Benjamin Disraeli once said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

January 3, 2011:
Transition cities: Mission impossible?
This article tells how Los Angeles is approaching the problem of implementing Transition in a large city. Their experience is useful for our task in the city of Austin.

January 1, 2011:
2010 - Chart of The Year
This page, from The Oil Drum, contains reader-submitted charts and graphs conveying important points from the world of energy 2010. Some of them tend to be a bit information-dense, but they all say something important about what's going on.

December 28, 2010:
Peak Oil Could Lead to Energy, Economic Valley
was the title of a recent story on Austin's KUT Radio that discussed the oil situation, including quotes from some Transition Austin members. (On that page you can read the story, or click the arrowhead icon to listen to it.)

December 14, 2011:
Timeline of a Bee Massacre: EPA Still Allowing Hive-Killing Pesticide
Honeybees are critical to our lives; without them, most of the food crops we grow will not pollinate, and so will not bear fruit (or bean, or kernel, or ...). This article talks about why the EPA is still allowing the Bayer Corporation's neonicotinoid pesticide to be sold, even though it's killing our honeybees. Be sure to take the two links at the bottom.

December 8, 2010:
Transition: The Sacred, The Scared, and The Scarred
The conversation below deepens. In this article, Carolyn Baker, a well-known author on both Collapse and Transition, puts the two articles below into perspective.

December 6, 2010:
A critical response to Michael Brownlee's call for "Deep Transition"
In this article, Rob Hopkins, the founder of Transition, expresses some serious objections to Michael Brownlee's article (immediately below). Mr. Hopkins lists several reasons for his disagreement - the main one being Mr. Brownee's emphasis on the role of the 'sacred' in Transition. Both authors make good points, and both should be read for a balanced picture.

November 26, 2010:
The evolution of Transition in the U.S.
This article is a thorough overview of the Transition Movement in the United States. Michael Brownlee, co-founder of Transition Colorado, lays out why "The emergence of the Transition movement in the last four years or so is one of the most hopeful signs in the early 21st century...." It's long, but well worth reading.

November 2, 2010:
Becoming a Modern Peasant: Hedgesteading
This is a review of the book The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe. In the article, she talks about what a city dweller, either who doesn't have plantable land or whose land isn't worth planting, how to begin to live sustainably anyway. An excerpt from the article, commenting on the book: "... she embraces history's idea of interdependence: if possible, grow as much of your food as you can. But if you can't, work on your food preservation and other skills."

October 20, 2010:
New study puts the 'hell' in Hell and High Water
This article describes a new report from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and includes some pretty scary graphs showing what the temperatures and available water are likely to be on the earth by the end of this century.

September 25, 2010:
What happened when the oil ran out?
This is a story written for a visioning exercise by the Bowen Island, BC, Transition Initiative. It's hard reading but it shows us what we're really likely to be facing when oil - and hence, gasoline - beging to get scarce. The island is 20 square miles in area, which limits its resources, but its isolation from the mainland means they won't have to worry about "guests" from other places.

July 21, 2010:
The Attack of the Future Eaters
What kind of creatures are we humans? This article by Chris Hedges, author of War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, will tell you. He argues that "We face a terrible political truth. Those who hold power will not act with the urgency required to protect human life and the ecosystem. Decisions about the fate of the planet and human civilization are in the hands of moral and intellectual trolls such as BP's Tony Hayward."

June 5, 2010:
Imagining Life Without Oil, and Being Ready
"Located somewhere between the environmental movement and the bunkered survivalists, the peak oil crowd is small but growing, reaching from health food stores to Congress, ...." This article from the New York Times talks about a variety of responses to the end of the age of oi, from individuals to Transition US to the US Congress. One woman who's learning to grow food in her kitchen (it's New York) said, "Whether or not collapse happens, being able to teach other people to grow food so they can weather any adversity is a good investment of my time."

April 5, 2010:
Austin Heat : Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet?
Research by the U.S. Global Change Research Program shows that "Austin (Central Texas) normally has 12 days of 100-degree-plus heat per summer based on temperature records that go back to 1854. In the next 80 to 90 years, Austin is projected to average between 90 and 120 days of 100-degree plus heat every year. ... The Sonoran Desert Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, only averages 87 days over 100 degrees."

February, 2010:
The Oil Crunch: A Wake-up Call for the UK Economy
This is an update of the 2008 report of the same name; both reports are available from this site. The 2010 document reports that "... oil shortages, insecurity of supply and price volatility will destabilise economic, political and social activity potentially by 2015." Of course, everything the report says about the UK is equally true in the US - and maybe even more so.

February 1, 2010:
How Can We Talk About Transformational Change Without Losing Hope?
This article is a summary of the Transition movement by someone who was about ready to give up hope for the future altogether until she heard about Transition. She says, "The father of England's Transition Initiatives, self-described as 'the fastest growing community scale initiatives in the world,' aimed at reducing carbon emissions, building resilience and strengthening local economies, Rob Hopkins disagrees with environmental tactics that attempt to shock us into action like helpless Pavlov dogs. ... He believes the Great Turning that has been shifting our identity from mindless consumers of the planet's resources to conscious protectors 'offers the potential of an extraordinary renaissance - economic, cultural and spiritual.' "

January 26, 2010:
Economic Black Hole: 20 Reasons Why The U.S. Economy Is Dying
This interesting article is about the third of the three upcoming problems with which Transition is concerned. The title is deliberately provocative, but it's hard to argue with the content - each of the 20 points is well argued and documented. In other words, this is also a transition we have to be prepared for.

January 4, 2010:
The Meaning of Copenhagen
In his "Museletter" Richard Heinberg gives a balanced view of the results of the 2009 Copenhagen conference, discussing its successes & failures and where we go from here. Whether you believe Copenhagen went too far, or it didn't go far enought, Mr. Heinberg's analysis is worth reading.

December 14, 2009:
The Future is Now : Mother Earth and Our Great Green Leap
Quoting from the article, "Mother Earth demands that fossil/nukes be transcended. ... But climate chaos and financial ruin do not stand alone. Green gadgetry aside, we don't get to 2030 unless we confront:
   * The power of the corporations;
   * Social justice and ballot-based democracy;
   * Ending waste and war;
   * Growing food that's truly organic;
   * Empowering women while harmonizing population growth."

November 25, 2009:
The Great Turning : From Empire to Earth Community
Quoting from the article, "David Korten, long-time global justice activist, co-founder of Yes! Magazine, and author of such books as When Corporations Rule the World, lays out the fundamental crossroads facing the world in his 2006 book The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community .... In response to global climate change, war, oil scarcity, persistent racism and sexism and many other mounting crises, Korten argues we must recognize these as symptoms of a larger system of Empire, so that we might move in a radically different direction of equality, ecological sustainability, and cooperation, which he terms 'Earth Community.'"

November 16, 2009:
If Nothing Else, Save Farming
In this analysis by environmental and political activist George Monbiot, he discusses the implications on farming of the coming oil crisis. Converting from the British units used in the article, he says that currently, cultivating 2½ acres uses 10½ gallons of gasoline and 20 gallons of diesel fuel. In summary, he says, "Unless farmers can change the way it's grown, a permanent oil shock would price food out of the mouths of many of the world's people."

Novmber 1, 2009:
Transition: Meeting the Challenge of Energy Descent
Quoting from the article, "Where we are now is at the beginning of a transition from an industrial growth culture to a culture of descent. This transition will be characterized by much cultural chaos, and then we will be declining or descending to a far more sustainable low-energy culture. Regarding this, David Holmgren says, 'We have trouble visualizing decline as positive, but this simply reflects the dominance of our prior culture of growth.... The real issue of our age is how we make a graceful and ethical descent.'"

October 12, 2009:
Humanity's Rite of Passage: A World Tended by Adults
This is a long article, and though it's all interesting, the sections "What Developmental Disability Looks Like" and "What Does Developmental Durability Look Like?" are especially pertinent to Transition.

October 8, 2009:
Era of cheap, easy oil is over, warns study
This report from the UK Energy Research Council says that the estimates that peak oil will hit in around 2030 are wrong. "The peer-reviewed research looked at 500 studies from around the world and took into account the difficulty of accessing new oil fields as well as growing demand. It predicted oil will begin running out before 2030 and there is a 'significant risk" peak oil will be reached before 2020." (That's 10 years away !)

September 9, 2009:
Preparing for Peak Oil: How Our Lives Will Change Forever
This article gives a realistic view of "peak oil" and what it means to us - graphs and all. A quote:
"We worship oil - and while an impressive 70% of crude oil is refined into transportation energy, a whopping 98% of transportation energy comes from oil. And if all the predictions are correct, the impact on our economy and our civilization is such that any delay in our response is only going to magnify the coming cataclysm. Imagine an asteroid hitting the planet in slow motion."

October 1, 2009:
How to Sustain a Local Economy: From PB&J to Regional Currencies
How can we do things more locally? Or even completely locally? Ann Arbor, Michigan, is looking at exactly that. This article describes a forum held there entitled "Michigan's Economic Situation: Crisis or Opportunity?", in which the entire city looked hard at the opportunities and implications of true localization.

September 27, 2009:
Cassandras of Climate
Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman says in this article "These days, dire warnings aren't the delusional raving of cranks. They're what come out of the most widely respected climate models, devised by the leading researchers. The prognosis for the planet has gotten much, much worse in just the last few years."

September 25, 2009:
Planetary Boundaries and the Failure of Environmentalism
"Planetary boundaries are the natural limits on humanity's use of the planet. Strikingly, until recently, no one had made a serious effort to quantify these limits in measurable ways. That's why a new report from the Stockholm Resilience Center, attempting to give hard numbers for most of these boundaries, is so crucial."

June 25, 2009:
Austin Eco-Change Exchange
"Fresh off an election in which their preferred candidates swept the City Council races, Austin's environmental-activist groups are calling for a far-reaching 'green' agenda to be adopted at City Hall."

May 15, 2009:
Energy Depletion Risks
This PDF file is a report by Austin Energy, the City of Austin's electric utility, about the risks to the city posed by the coming depletion of oil and natural gas resources. The report states, "Even a modest decline in (oil) supply could cause profound shifts in the social equity and economies in Austin and Central Texas."

April 16, 2009:
The End Is Near! (Yay!)
This article from the New York Times describes the Transtition effort in Sandpoint, Idaho, and goes into quite a bit of detail about what Transition is all about overall. Here's a quote from the article by Rob Hopkins, the founder of Transition, that serves as a clarion call to action:

"Sustainability is about reducing the impacts of what comes out of the tailpipe of industrial society. But that assumes our industrial society will keep running. By contrast, Transition is about building resiliency - putting new systems in place to make a given community as self-sufficient as possible, bracing it to withstand the shocks that will come as oil grows astronomically expensive, climate change intensifies and, maybe sooner than we think, industrial society frays or collapses entirely. For a generation, the environmental movement has told us to change our lifestyles to avoid catastrophic consequences. Transition tells us those consequences are now irreversibly switching on; we need to revolutionize our lives if we want to survive."

December 1, 2009:
Towns Rush to Make Low-Carbon Transition
This article, appearing in Yes! magazine, describes Transition Initiatives in several cities around the United States - Lincoln City, Oregon; Berea, Kentucky; and Greensburg, Kansas. As the article states, "Transition Towns have formed a diffuse, grassroots network led by the individuals who are working to transform their own communities."

March 20, 2009:
LDS Preparedness Manual
The Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Church has always advocated that people maintain a supply of necessities (food, first aid supplies, etc.) for emergencies. This document is an unofficial resource to help people do that. [NOTE: this is a PDF document, 222 pages long and over a megabyte in size.]