Zero sum game: A situation or interaction in which one participant’s gains result only from another’s equivalent losses. Sometimes, we imagine business works that way. But what a sad, sorry way to look at the world. And if we do look at the world that way, does it make us happy? Let me explain: The […]
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My Dad made me post this picture of his new solar panels
That’s him standing in front. He and my stepmother Beth are now powering their house and selling electricity back to the grid. They’re proud of themselves for making an effort. They should be. As you know, I’ve been doing my best to reduce my environmental impact for quite a while. If you ever wonder if […]
Work your own head out and get non-violent
My favorite mad scientist sent me this video. It’s the recording of a 14-year-old Beatles fan named Jerry Levitan who snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in 1969 with a reel-to-reel tape recorder and persuaded Lennon to do an interview. The recording has been set to animation by director Josh Raskin and was nominated for […]
Drill here, drill now, get nothing but an opinion poll point or two
The Democrats are caving on offshore drilling. As reported by the Christian Science Monitor (emphasis added): “… In a shift on Saturday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the House will take up comprehensive energy legislation next month that includes partially lifting the 1981 ban on offshore drilling… “… On Friday, Senate majority leader Harry Reid said that […]
Waste
I talk so much about waste of resources here on this blog, but what’s really important is not waste of resources but waste of life. We’ll waste a lot of life if we keep wasting so many planetary resources–climate change, oceans fished out, lakes dead from acid rain, children with asthma. And there is waste […]
Whole countries that climate change will drown
Today, a representative of the Permanent Missions of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) emailed me to let me know of a resolution on the threat of climate change to international peace and security they will introduce to the United Nation’s General Assembly. The co-sponsoring nations believe that the UN Charter charges the Security […]
A bridge across the aisle on climate change
Recently, I received an email from a military officer who I happen to know because he is an expert on subversive warfare, which, in a way, was the subject of my last book. He is a Christian and, I’m pretty sure, a Republican. All the same, without invitation from me, he has become reader of […]
“Why your happiness matters to the planet”
The headline is the title of an article in the Christian Science Monitor about how consuming fewer planetary resources may, instead of making us deprived, make us happier. We’ve discussed this so often here on No Impact Man. The article, by Moises Velasquez-Manoff, points to yet another study that shows that material consumption above […]