Findings: Planetary Ritual
Plus -- energy, 30 x 30, tradeoff?, laundry, India(!), poverty = Job One, Chevron, investing in education, EA vs progress studies, research as leisure, World Fairs, Storythinking
Sharing what I’ve been reading, which is lot, so here are many things briefly.
Anthropocene
The world just broke four big energy records - Intrigue (internationalintrigue.io) Summarizing the 73rd edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy. From my favorite email newsletter (on Beehiiv, not Substack). Want to subscribe (it’s free)?
Mass extinction is a choice. A new study shows how we can dramatically reverse it | Salon.com 30 x 30 comes to Salon mag. (For more on: 30 x 30)
Would you like to feel more planetary? - by Gleb Shu (substack.com) I love this “ritual.” I should make it my own practice. Join me? If you’re in, leave a comment.
Conservation and economic development can go hand in hand (anthropocenemagazine.org) The classic supposed tradeoff might not be one.
The psychology of laundry habits suggests a new spin on sustainability campaigns (msn.com) What?! “Carbon emissions from clothes laundering are at an all-time high, and between 16 and 35 percent of microplastics generated worldwide come from laundry.”
Investigating India 2024: Collected Articles - by Sam Matey (substack.com) From
’s epic trip to India, all his articles collected. Allow some time to savor this remarkable travelogue.
Findings
The elemental foe - by Noah Smith - Noahpinion An important piece. My take: Capitalism's Pros and Cons, “We do not want to go back.”
SCOTUS overturns Chevron. (readtangle.com) From my second favorite email newsletter (also not on Substack). I’ve been reading and thinking a lot about Chevron and the dismantling of the “administrative state,” which has become basically a fourth branch of government (extra-Constitutionally) with a combination of legislative, executive, and judicial powers, all non-accountable to the American people. And yet, we live in technocratic times.
The Crucial investment We May Not Make (substack.com) From my friend
. I can’t agree more with investing in education, esp. civics and humanities, not just STEM. But I’m not at all sure appointing the Dept of Education to oversee is the way to do that.The EA-Progress Studies War is Here, and It’s a Constructive Dialogue!—Asterisk (asteriskmag.com) Effective altruism (the utilitarian philosophy out of Oxford, the darling of Silicon Valley) faces off against progress studies. How are they the same? How are they different?
research as leisure activity - by Celine Nguyen (personalcanon.com) “The idea of research as leisure activity has stayed with me because it seems to describe a kind of intellectual inquiry that comes from idiosyncratic passion and interest. It’s not about the formal credentials. It’s fundamentally about play. It seems to describe a life where it’s just fun to be reading, learning, writing, and collaborating on ideas.” I mean, yes!?
Without World’s Fairs, Can America Imagine Its Future? (discoursemagazine.com) “World’s Fairs are but a remnant of a time when America thought big.”
Books
The book I’m most immersed in currently is Angus Fletcher’s Storythinking, which I’ve been reading collaboratively with
. We’re taking turns writing posts introducing the chapter and commenting. Here’s chapter 1. Chapter 2 forthcoming shortly.
Tracy, thanks for mentioning the Planetary ritual!