These are a few stories we found this week that may be of interest to institute regulars. If you have a news tip, please send it to lowtechinstitute@gmail.com.
Low Tech News
Climate Strange – G
Why I love the Slow Bicycling movement – An Outside Chance
Taking the lane, and making our cities safe for all – An Outside Chance
Humans need to learn to co-exist with wildfires. Here’s how we can do it – Ensia
Farmerama Radio: Episode 30 – Gove, agri-culture, Human Ecology, Sanfoin and Pollarding – Indie Farmer
Simple Passive Solar Strawbale Home in Crestone – NBB
How to make your own herbal tea blends – TH
Best Materials for Natural Building in the Pacific Northwest – NBB
Seed Size Often Matters – NYT
Swedish fitness trend of ‘plogging’ is amazingly awesome – TH
Canadian Prairies with Tracey Smith – Episode 62 – Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast
1803 – Jacqueline Smith: Animal Agriculture, Regenerative Enterprise, and Central Grazing Company – Permaculture Podcast
6 Fruit Crops to Propagate for Free from Cuttings – Tenth Acre Farm
Rebellious Cow Finds Winter Home Among Polish Bison – NPR
The ‘IKEA Effect’ — And Getting Kids To Eat Their Veggies – NPR
Environmental News
Don Blankenship, fresh outta federal prison, has outlined his campaign platform – G
Germany: Hambach Forest Defenders Call for Day of Action on February 3 – EF!
Congress mulls options for abandoned mines legislation – Earth
New Emails Show Scott Pruitt Personally Directed the EPA’s Website Purge – MJ
11 Billion Pieces of Plastic Are Making Coral Reefs Sick – VM
E.P.A. Blocks Obama-Era Clean Water Rule – NYT
Research News
The EU got less electricity from coal than renewables in 2017 – CB
Rainforests: Scientists concerned climate change is altering the tropical life cycle – CB
State of the climate: how the world warmed in 2017 – CB
Beavers preserve wetlands in water-stressed areas – Earth
Researchers Just Found a Hidden Cause of California’s Smog Problem – MJ
Fossil fuel developments on U.S. public lands emit more greenhouse gases than most countries – G
Americans are saving energy by staying at home – C
This Ecologist Finds Clues to Anthropocene Survival in Ice Age Extinctions – VM
The Next Big Volcano Could Briefly Cool Earth. NASA Wants to Be Ready. – NYT
Ancient Turkey Bones In Mexico Reveal A Strange Relationship With Humans – NPR
Op-Ed¹
Gasoline–Such a Big Bang for the Buck – Musings
The real lesson of the Energiewende is that the German economy uses too much energy to be sustainable and needs to degrow… – Feasta
If nuclear war doesn’t get us, runaway climate change will – G
Who will drink the last glass of water in Cape Town? – Resource Insights
Climate change is a disaster for millennials, an inconvenience for the boomers – TH
Yarrow’s Spiderweb – The Great Change
Source Abbreviations
CB – Carbon Brief
C – The Conversation
E – The Ecologist
EF! – Earth First! Newswire
G – Grist
MJ – Mother Jones
NBB — Natural Building Blog
NPR – National Public Radio
NYT – New York Times
PRI – Permaculture Research Institute
R – Resilience
TH – TreeHugger
V – Vice
VM – Vice: Motherboard
Disclaimer: The news stories and posts linked above are not meant as an endorsement of the information presented. They are provided as they may be of interest to our readers and further our aims of solutions for a post-fossil-fuel world. We strive to provide fact-based information. If you feel that political views are being presented in a partisan fashion, we are happy to provide equal time to opposing view points as long as they are derived from verifiable data and facts.
¹Opinion pieces represent the independent thought of their authors and may or may not represent the position of the Low Technology Institute.