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Poet and writer Ryszard Kapuscinski once offered that “oil is a resource that anaesthetizes thought, blurs vision, and corrupts.” Perhaps this anaesthetization also lends itself to the origins of infinite growth as sacrosanct, coupled with a collective and insatiable thirst for artificial needs and false prophets – which seemingly cannot be quenched. Like the 17th century mad hatters poisoned by mercury, perhaps the

This is a new mechanism for generating profits for the wealthy (those with financial capital on the top tier) via the global commodification of nature's functions and services. In essence, the implementation of payment for ecosystems services represents an unprecedented coup: a privatization of the commons.

September 23, 2015   Walk the Walk On September 21, 2014, the day of the so-called People’s Climate March, the #WalktheWalk campaign twitter account (@weareherenow) belonging to New York City public relations firm Purpose Inc., had a mere 167 followers (see screenshot below). Yet, the screenshot below (September 20, 2014) clearly documents the #WalktheWalk hash tag shared (“tweeted”) by none other t

The numbers are large, inconsistent, and deliberately confusing, but the underlying message is not. And the take-home message is this: the carbon budget allows us to continue to burn for decades to come while remaining within the safe confines of the two-degree target (the strategy of deferring). Even more pathological is the framing of the language in regard to 2ºC: the phrase "for a likely chance of achieving the t

August 6, 2015 Part ten of an investigative series Divestment Investigative Report Series [Further Reading]:  Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII • Part VIII • Part IX • Part X • Part XI • Part XII • Part XIII • Part XIV • Part XV   “Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence