To save the planet, we must overcome racism
Lots of people seem to have experienced 2016 as a terrible year, metaphysically if not personally. Today, Craig Morris signs off with his own Word of the Year for 2017. Just in time for the new year,...
View ArticleMarginalizing the “strict-father” camp
In two recent posts, Craig Morris shed light on US linguist George Lakoff’s proposal for environmentalists to frame their issues properly. Today, he sums up why framing is too America-centric. He...
View ArticlePeople want fewer cars in cities. Not everyone knows it yet.
Whenever we talk about getting cities back from cars, there’s pushback. Don’t people love their cars? Don’t we have cities built for cars because that’s what people wanted? Not exactly. Today, Craig...
View ArticleMcJihad: how fossil fuel has shaped western democracies
In Carbon Democracy, Timothy Mitchell calls into question our simplistic notions of why there is democracy in some countries and not in others. He claims that vulnerabilities in the coal sector opened...
View ArticleHow coal and oil impact democracy differently
Because it was vulnerable to worker sabotage, the coal sector provided an environment in which democracy could grow stronger, at least up until the mid-20th century, when oil began to replace it – not...
View Article“Free trade” should be called “forced trade”
Timothy Mitchell’s Carbon Democracy says that our fossil fuel consumption has shaped the state of our democracies in ways poorly understood. A look at the role of the oil sector from colonialism until...
View ArticleAre renewables good for democracy? Not necessarily.
In Carbon Democracy, Timothy Mitchell describes how people’s ability to sabotage the economic system strengthened democracy. Craig Morris wonders what the future holds – and if the year 2050 might be...
View ArticleThe modern wind sector – and the Energiewende – turns 30 today
When was the Energiewende born? Lots of dates are tossed around, but one German press report argues that it all started today 30 years ago, when a test wind farm was connected to the grid. Craig Morris...
View ArticleFor many in Puerto Rico, ‘energy dominance’ is just a new name for US...
The Trump administration has insisted on ‘energy dominance’ as its main goal, focusing on fossil fuels at the expense of renewable energies like wind and solar. For Puerto Ricans, however, energy...
View ArticleCraig Morris bids this project farewell
Since this website was launched in 2012, Craig Morris has been its main blogger and the lead author of its annually updated e-book. Four updates and more than 400 blog posts later, he is moving on to...
View Article