Saying “Yes” to life gives it meaning and value. Being a naysayer to your own choices and experiences makes it all futile. In our story, Harvey the pigeon dies doing what he loves the most – eating peanuts and crackerjacks at the baseball game. He “seizes the day” up to his last moment. We also discuss the significance of the Anthropocene age, the promise of converting non-generating dams to create more hydropower, and the myth that switching lights off and on regularly uses more energy than leaving them on.
Month: May 2019
Authenticity and the Great Outdoors
Big data from Denmark proves that growing up in green spaces makes you mentally healthier the rest of your life. The decimation of the native North American populations in the 15th-16th century contributed to the Little Ice Age in Europe, but at least there’s a green lining to this colonial cloud: reforestation rapidly reverses warming. Clean energy and energy efficiency boost the economy. Virginia’s natural areas are much better than its solar policies. In our story, Fern and Meredith compete in The Great Bird Bake Off. Both Fern and Soren Kierkegaard confront the problem of authenticity.
The “Unexamined Life” of Extinction
The intergovernmental biodiversity & ecosystems report says what Aldo Leopold said 70 years ago – but phrased in the form of a loud alarm bell: our economics and our idea of the good life are killing us. In our story, Meredith loses her inhibitions at a summer concert, after eating some fermented berries. We discuss how living on “autopilot” disables not only our practical freedom to improve, but also our metaphysical freedom to take joy in existence.
The Legend of Tough Beak – A Climate Leadership Allegory
Tough Beak was a bird like no other – or maybe like one other. Plus a discussion of how good societies go bad, the new parent-child climate dilemma, Anya Kamenetz on k-12 climate education, and solar in Appalachia.
Good Energy 