I told you so...

Hate to say it, but I told you so. Global ecological collapse is
upon us and the human family is entering a Hobbesian struggle
for survival of the Earth and all her species including humans.
Even mainstream leaders tell us we have a decade to act before
utter ecological ruin and despair is assured. If things are
really so bad, where is the urgency? Will you fight for being?

Many mega-consumers in the over-developed world, until now
responsible for most environmental destruction, live in a world
of entertainment, abundance and great comfort. We sit stupefied
in front of our home entertainment systems, addicted to
vicariously watching the lives of glamorous stars, as the Earth
dies. Movies and TV are the modern day bread and circuses meant
to control and keep blind consumers blindly consuming.

A lifetime of global change and ecology research leads me to
conclude humans are on the brink of global ecological collapse
and only dramatic, even revolutionary, global policy responses
can save us now. The Earth system has been cut deeply, hurt in
so many ways, that barring major social and personal
transformation, it is not inconceivable that complex life is
finished. There has been enough awareness building. It is time
to act bravely and with resolve.

These are dangerous times. And those concerned with the fate of
the planet and her species are faced with a dilemma. They can
follow a failing, star-studded, corporate driven reformist
agenda which seeks to greenwash business as usual environmental
policy responses. Or you can concern yourself with what is truly
required to maintain the biosphere, ecological patterns and
processes, relatively civilized human society; and yourself,
family and friends.

Human populations have increased six fold in just over 125
years, who has a plan to reduce global population? Billions live
on a dollar or two a day while a handful of billionaires enjoy
more wealth than entire nations. The whole world increasingly
embraces as the meaning of life ostentatiously living like
celebrities. Meanwhile climate, forests, oceans and water are
failing worldwide. The sky is falling.

Humanity is facing global ecological Armageddon within a decade
or generation at most. Responses to date have been half-hearted,
and do little or nothing to strike at over-population and over-
consumption as the underlying causes of a failing biosphere.

There is little hope when Greenpeace promotes ancient forest
logging, when Al Gore states climate change can be addressed
without economic sacrifice, when Leonardo DiCaprio assures us at
the 11th Hour he only uses private jets when absolutely
necessary. These are our leaders? Their vision lacks concrete
actions adequate to achieve equitable and just ecological
sustainability.

Academically, at what point if ever will armed struggle on
behalf of Gaia be justified? I ask not to encourage violence,
but to ascertain what we are willing to sacrifice to save the
Earth and her humanity. Given the failure of large environmental
groups and well-known environmental activists to present a
coherent and adequate vision to save the Earth, what are we left
with? Changing light bulbs? Renewable energy? Simultaneous
global rock concerts? Will these get us there?

Is the very ecological fabric of being worthy of fighting for at
all costs? I do not know. But if indeed there is only a decade
to save the planet, our being, and very existence; are we not
justified in imagining more robust responses? I speak not of
token arson or mild larceny, but of a global eco-insurgency
adequate to topple the whole disgusting planet eating industrial
growth machine and replace it globally with decentralized
ecologically sustainable agrarian democracy. The vision is of
people living peacefully with the land, air, water, oceans and
all life; and within their ecological and bioregional limits.

A hypothetical Earth revolution must know when and how to
strike. As global ecological mayhem intensifies, it will become
increasingly evident when to begin wholeheartedly targeting
SUVs, coal power plants, ancient forest loggers and their
apologists. The goal must be prompting swift industrial collapse
and lead to a continued insurgency adequate to stop its
regeneration, even as people's needs are met by returning to the
land in relocalized communities practicing true egalitarian
democracy and sustainable permaculture. It is crucial that the
first strike not result in the entire Earth insurgency being
arrested, suppressed and dismantled.

War in defense of the Earth and our habitat is not mere
tokenism; it is a fight for all life and continued being. Given
the failure of the environmental movement and existing political
and economic structures to enunciate and implement policies
adequate to stop ecosystem destruction and meet all basic human
needs, it is time to ask yourself whether you will simply lie
down and die without fighting for mother Earth and your
children's children? My best advice is to educate yourself, band
together in landed communities, organize and protest; and begin
to stealthily prepare yourself for an Earth Revolution should we
fail. Gaia will say when.

By Glen Barry

Dr. Glen Barry is the President and Founder of Ecological Internet (EI). Dr. Barry is a conservation biologist and political ecologist, a writer of essays and blogs, and a computer specialist and technology researcher

Source: Earth Meanders

2006 Wind Installations Offset More Than 40 Million Tons of CO2

The 15,200 megawatts of new wind turbines installed worldwide last year will generate enough clean electricity annually to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of 23 average-sized U.S. coal-fired power plants, according to a new Vital Signs Update from the Worldwatch Institute. The 43 million tons of carbon dioxide displaced in 2006 is equivalent to the emissions of 7,200 megawatts of coal-fired power plants, or nearly 8 million passenger cars.

Global wind power capacity increased almost 26 percent in 2006, exceeding 74,200 megawatts by year’s end. Global investment in wind power was roughly $22 billion in 2006, and in Europe and North America, the power industry added more capacity in wind than it did in coal and nuclear combined. The global market for wind equipment has risen 74 percent in the past two years, leading to long backorders for wind turbine equipment in much of the world.

"Wind power is on track to soon play a major role in reducing fossil fuel dependence and slowing the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," according to Worldwatch Senior Researcher Janet Sawin.

Planet Protectors

This may come as less of a shock to others, but it’s my own recent discovery: we live on a planet.

Read on...

From the publication of his first book, The End of Nature, twenty years ago to the nationwide rallies he led in spring 2007, Bill McKibben has been working to raise awareness about climate change and to step up the response.