Topic: Transition

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[ Episode #77 // Locally Invested ]

Apr 29 2014

As trust is lost in the global financial system and its intermediaries, surplus investment capital seems stranded in ever more risky international asset flows. Are there ways of re-routing investments towards local processes that rebuild communities and food systems? Will alternative investment strategies develop in time to challenge the failing narrative of a standard approach to retirement savings?

On Extraenvironmentalist #77 we talk about developing an investment paradigm for the future that's rooted in local business and healthy food, first with Michael Shuman of Cutting Edge Capital and author of Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity. We ask Michael about ways to invest locally that have the potential for better returns on capital and community cohesion while getting thoughts on the coming revolution in crowdfunding. Then, we speak with Carol Peppe Hewitt about the idea of Slow Money and ways that it can rebuild our foodsheds as detailed in her book Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food with Slow Money.

// Books

Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity by Michael Shuman
Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food with Slow Money by Carol Peppe Hewitt

// Links and News Items

60 Minutes: Is the Stock Market Rigged?

NYT: Can a Pop-Up Service Fix It? Probably

Extraenvironmentalist Youtube Channel

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 21m

Forget gold, buy farmland
Jim Rogers on commodities, the agriculture boom and perilous times ahead
As Farmers Age, Japan Rethinks Relationship With Food, Fields
BBC Report on Farmland Investment in the Ukraine

[End]

Jeb Brugmann - from the upcoming XE miniseries on the built environment

// Music (in order of appearance)

Cuz - Tamatebako via god is in the tv
Robin Schulz - Shyer (Bootleg)
Paperwhite - Got Me Goin (Robotaki Remix) via The Burning Ear
Ghetto Brothers - There Is Something In My Heart (Spanish Gold Cover) via IndieShuffle
MSMR - Hurricane (Goldroom Remix) via Dancing Astronaut
Pharrell - Happy (NEUS Remix // Bobby C Sound TV edit)

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #77 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Sarah in North Carolina
Hadi in British Columbia
Raul in Illinois
Feargal in Ireland

// Send us a BTC tip for #77

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

Donate Bitcoins

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[ Episode #76 // Energy Slaves ]

Mar 31 2014

Mini Episode

Our command of energy resources has created amazing technologies and social systems at a grand scale, but at what cost? Where past societies shackled human muscle with force and subjugation to create an energy surplus, beginning in the late 19th century we have used coal, oil & gas to create an unprecedented energy abundance. As the era of surplus energy comes to an end, how will our systems reliant on energy slaves for mechanical and cognitive work adapt? How is the energy transition moving forward?

In Extraenvironmentalist #76 we discuss our global energy systems with Andrew Nikiforuk as we discuss his new book, The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude. Andrew discusses ways of understanding our use and abuse of cheap energy. Then, Chris Nelder joins us to talk about the ongoing energy transition and how it is reaching a tipping point through the recognition of a financial carbon bubble, the German Energiewende and the decline of the traditional oil majors.

As Terence McKenna once said, "Reason, and science, and the practice of unbridled capitalism, have not delivered us into an angelic realm. Quite the contrary: they’ve delivered 3% of us into an angelic realm, completely overshadowed by guilt about what’s happening to the other 97% of us who are eating it!"

// Books

The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitudeby Andrew Nikiforuk

// Links and News Items

News Item #1. NPR: US Commuters Ditch Cars For Public Transit In Record Numbers

News Item #2. Fukushima’s “crisis of manpower”: Unskilled and destitute workers have taken over the cleanup process

Stephen Kopits Presentation on Energy Supply Forecasting

[jwplayer mediaid="3532"]

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[First Break] - 35m

Shell energy scenarios to 2050
RT: Running on Empty
"Peak Oil Debunked"
Canadian Tar Sands Ad

[Second Break] - 85m

Earth 2050 - How Much Energy Will We Need
Stephen Kopits on Energy Forecasting

[End]

From the XE Youtube Channel: Richard Heinberg on Snake Oil: How Fracking's False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Henry Green - Electric Feel (Kygo Remix)
Camera2 - Appetite via KCRW Today's Top Tune
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine (Rare Monk Cover)
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman (Paddy McAloon Cover)
No Nukes - Power
Porter Robinson - Sea of Voices (RAC Remix)
Great Good Fine Ok - Not Going Home

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Mr. Nelder for music suggestions

Episode #76 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Derek in CA
Jay in WA
Linus in Sweden
Simon in Norway
Kim in Quebec City

// Send us a BTC tip for #76

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

Donate Bitcoins

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[ Episode #47 // Power Transition ]

Aug 9 2012

Mini Episode

After years of stagnant growth in conventional oil extraction rates, ignorance of Hubbert's Curve has peaked. Now that the mainstream can't dismiss the issue, public conversations proclaim an exuberant belief in marginal reserves as our savior. Claims of American energy independence have fueled a dialogue that threatens to drive the US economy towards a fiscal and energy cliff. Can we look toward renewables to meet our energy needs for the future? Is it possible to start telling a new story about our energy future?

In Extraenvironmentalist #47 we discuss the global energy picture with Chris Nelder as he describes the energy stories we tell ourselves and explains exactly how many natural gas wells it will take for the United States to gain energy independence. We ask Chris about the complexity of our international energy markets and why we shouldn't give up on renewable energy even if it doesn't fit the power grid of today. Then, we speak with Gregor MacDonald about the recent blackout in India that cut electricity to 10% of Earth's population. Gregor tells us about the process of normal accidents and why the risk we've offloaded might be trickling back into our energy infrastructure. Last of all, we speculate about the future of capitalism as growth ends. Will we look back on these years of corporate rule as the golden age before serfdom?

// Music (in order of appearance)
Deerhoof - The Trouble With Candyhands via Tiny Mixtapes
Fleetwood Mac - That's All For Everyone (Tame Impala Cover) via Stereogum
F*ck you Pepco via Youtube
Marlena Shaw - California Soul (Diplo Remix) via Soundcloud
Nico - These Days (Shinichi Osawa Edit) via Daily Beatz
Elton John - Good Morning to the Night (PNAU Remix) via Tracasseur

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[1st Break] - 36m
America's Infrastructure is Failing
Heat Adds Misery to Atlantic Power Outage
Congress Ignores Nations Infrastructure

[End]
Gail Tverberg on Peak Oil at the Montreal Degrowth Conference

// Production Credits
Josh B.
Kevin M. via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

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[ Extra // Sacred Economics Film Premiere Q+A ]

Mar 4 2012

Mini Episode

After you watch the new Sacred Economics film, tune in for our discussion with filmmaker Ian McKenzie and Charles Eisenstein.

In this special Extraenvironmentalist we speak with Ian McKenzie and Charles Eisenstein about their new short film based on Charles' book Sacred Economics. If you've been thinking about discussing Extraenvironmentalist topics with a family member or close friend, we highly recommend sending them this succinct and moving video summary of the ideas Charles presents in his recent book. We hosted this discussion on our Livestream page and would love to take more suggestions for live events.

Follow Ian McKenzie on Twitter and stay tuned to his work as he moves forward with his next feature documentary project Occupy Love.

You can find our past episodes with Charles Eisenstein at #25 and #33.

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