In the wake of the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami, an instructive story is unfolding about the manifold vulnerabilities of the modern industrial world. Robin Young of the radio show "Here and Now" reported yesterday on the too-often overlooked phenomenon of industrial supply lines. Her guest, Jeffrey Karrenbauer, a supply-chain expert with Insight Inc., said … [Read more...]
Japan crisis
After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, now the shaken nation is facing nuclear emergency. Read all of our coverage on the situation in Japan with analysis of the lessons that this tragedy may hold for a world desperately in need of clean, safe energy in the face of climate change and peak oil.
Two antidotes to Obama’s energy trance
President Obama's speech on energy last week was at best an empty ritual and at worst, a cowardly collection of lies, fairy tales and demagoguery designed to pander to the worst impulses of the American public. Yes, the president seemed to say, if gas prices stay too high, I know that you'll vote against whoever's in power. But don't vote against me, because I'm the guy … [Read more...]
Japan remembrance through the senses
I have some strange eating preferences. When I was younger, I hated avocados. Absolutely loathed them. I hated the texture and thought they were bland, slimy, mushy green things. But I loved guacamole. I figured someone hated the avocado as much as me and had figured how to make the darn things edible. Go figure. I think I was in my late teens when I realized that … [Read more...]
Is Nature trying to tell us something?
Was it not just last summer that British Petroleum’s (BP) engineers were working desperately around the clock to find a way to plug a three month leak from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig that spilled 205 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico? Now, engineers and plant operators are braving potentially lethal radiation to avert a catastrophe in the … [Read more...]
We get the power but future generations get the waste
Fukushima now enters the lexicon of nuclear catastrophes alongside Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. No amount of official downplaying of the current levels of radiation leaking from Fukushima can gloss over the fact that the hinterland of Fukushima will be contaminated for many years to come. A new wasteland in which human habitation and agricultural production becomes … [Read more...]