(This article is based on a chapter in my book Strange Encounters: Adventures of a Renegade Naturalist) If we are going to Mars and hope to settle there, we need to develop reliable ecological life-support systems that provide food, oxygen and water, and recycle wastes. Such a system doesn’t exist, but I have tried to help develop one.Back one day in the early 1970s, I … [Read more...]
How To Live On Mars: The Ecology of Mars Colonization
A Dutch company has advertised a program to start a human colony on Mars, called the “Mars One project.” Seeking applications by those interested in becoming one of these Marsonauts, the company published an offer in which, for $34, a person could have his/her name listed as one of the applicants. By the summer of 2013, 100,000 people had applied, demonstrating that there is … [Read more...]
Solar Energy Where It’s COLD Outside
For most people, the very north of Michigan, the Keweenaw Peninsula, on the shore of Lake Superior, might seem an unlikely place to get electricity from solar energy. But Professor Rolf Peterson of Michigan Technical University, well-known for leading the long-term study of wolves of Isle Royale National Park, thought differently. He installed a photovoltaic system on his … [Read more...]
The Shifting Geography, Technology, and Politics of U.S. Energy Production
Guest article by Joe Browder.About the author: Joe Browder of Washington, DC, an active participant in Meeting of the Minds, is a consultant to global energy and automotive companies, NGOs and to Native American groups, chairs the Advisory Committee of China’s ChangCe Institute and is a member of the Advisory Board of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for the Study of the … [Read more...]
Woodsmanship and Naturecraftsmanship
On June 19, 2013, Bob Williams, a certified forester practicing in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, received New Jersey Audubon's Richard Kane Conservation Award--- their conservationist of the year award. He has successfully planned timber harvests for commercial and government forests for more than twenty years, converting little-remembered and poorly cared for forests into … [Read more...]
Is There Nuclear Power in Our Future?
Can We Build Enough Nuclear Power Plants Fast Enough?In a recent (May 22, 2013) Wall Street Journal article, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger state that nuclear power “is the best chance we have to make big reductions in carbon emissions quickly.” In fact, however, “quickly” is impossible. A large number of new nuclear plants would have to be up and running in the … [Read more...]
Botkin Rule of Ecology #1
Over the years of working in the science of ecology, I have learned some basic rules. I find that many people are unaware of them, yet have firm convictions about what we should do about the environment. So I would like to share these rules with you. They are easy to understand, helpful, and even fun. I will post one of these at a time, adding to them frequently. These are … [Read more...]
The Balance of Nature Belief Is Alive and Vigorous, Even Though it Never Existed
I have written for more than 20 years that we need to move away from the ancient myth of the balance of nature---the idea that nature, undisturbed by people, is constant. This idea has formed the premises for many environmental laws and policies. Recently, some of the major U.S. Environmental organizations have expressed the need to move away from this ancient myth, a very … [Read more...]