Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths
The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. A new poll by the Pew Forum finds that large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Download the new report here.

Via Clean Break, John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, offers some useful thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding the emails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. Holdren touches on the current state of climate science, the significance of the emails, and the [...]

Phase II of the City/County Water/Wastewater water study is coming to a close.  Due to budget constraints, the public comment period for the draft report was not publicized, so you only have until December 1st to comment.While we recognize the hard work and countless hours that the committee members and staff put into this effort, [...]

In what is surely one of the more interesting convergences of economics
and design in recent memory, the multiethnic, small-business-dominated
London neighborhood of Brixton recently started printing its own
currency. For more information see the NY Times blog.

Give your furs back to the animals! Starting Saturday, November 14 through Earth Day on Thursday, April 22, bring your real fur apparel, including trims, accessories and shearling, to any Buffalo Exchange and let us know it’s a donation for Coats for Cubs.
Since you’re donating to The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), condition [...]

Nicolette Niman, from a decidedly self-interested perspective on the matter, still has some interesting arguments to consider about what she refers to as “the real story of meat’s contribution to global warning.” You might want to read her op-ed in the New York Times.

The Wall is a place where literally thousands and thousands of people committed to a revolutionary new energy future for our nation and the world are coming together — to express our hopes, share our resolve, and step up to a leadership role [...]

Just a heads up that Hertz is the 1st to launch the Flex car program and it’s up and running at the U of A. You do not need to be a student to rent the vehicle. You can rent it for an hour, a few hours or even a day or more. It’s really a great program. [...]

You may be interested in the following new reports:
1. Climate Solutions2: Low-Carbon Re-Industrialization. A Report to WWF International based on the Climate Industry Sector Technology Allocation (CRISTAL) Model (Executive Summary). This report models the ability of low-carbon industries to grow and transform within a market economy. It finds that runaway climate change is almost inevitable [...]

Land Institute President Wes Jackson announced as new Post Carbon Institute Fellow
Published Mon, 09/28/2009 – 07:00
by Energy Bulletin (http://www.energybulletin.net)

Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage

From the Post Carton Institute website:
Wes Jackson is one of the foremost figures in the international sustainable agriculture movement.
Founder [...]

Paul Krugman offers a timely analysis of some of the reasons for our inadequate response to the crisis of climate change.

Please listen to this powerful appeal to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development by a young woman of 13, wise beyond her years: http://media.causes.com/510213

Here’s a rather impressive bit of reflection by Adam Sacks on “the fallacy of climate activism“  http://www.grist.org/article/2009-08-23-the-fallacy-of-climate-activism.
He says: “in the 20 years since we climate activists began our work in earnest, the state of the climate has become dramatically worse, and the change is accelerating–this despite all of our best efforts. Clearly something is deeply [...]

Van Jones’s Ousting: A Wake-Up Call for Green Economy Advocates
Published 09/07/2009 on Energy Bulletin (http://www.energybulletin.net)
by Aaron G. Lehmer
A dear friend of the earth, a staunch defender of justice, and a bold champion for a solar-powered America has just been forced out of the Obama Administration through a clever campaign of deceit, malice, and fear. [...]

The CEO of Siemens AG, Peter Löscher, believes Europe is on the brink of anew era in energy production. The aim of the €400 billion ($560 billion) project is to provide carbon-free energy that could supply up to 20 percent of European energy needs by 2050.
The biggest solar energy project in the world is about [...]

by Rob Hopkins
Published on Energy Bulletin (http://energybulletin.net), 05/28/2009
At the Transition Network conference, Richard Heinberg gave an online presentation looking at the concept of Emergency Planning for Communities, something he initially unveiled at Findhorn last year. You can see his presentation here. For a while now, Richard and I have been discussing the tension between longer [...]

View Richard Heinberg’s Presentation on Resilient Communities here.

Richard Heinberg on Resilient Communities: Day 7 of the Findhorn Positive Energy Conference
The final day of the recent Findhorn Positive Energy Conference began with rain driving on the bedroom window. This extraordinary week at Findhorn had offered us a year’s worth of weather in one week. Snow, sleet, [...]

From Bubble to Depression?
by Steven Gjerstad and Vernon L. Smith
Published in The Wall Street Journal on April 6, 2009.
Dr. Vernon Smith is a Nobel Laureate economist who taught and conducted research in experimental economics at the U of A.  Sustainable Tucson Core Team member, Bob Cook, took his UA course in 1979.
______________________________________
Bubbles have been frequent [...]

No, we can’t?
by Dave Cohen
Published on Energy Bulletin (http://www.energybulletin.net) March 5, 2009
What is the biggest impediment in 2009 to mitigating the harmful effects of energy problems in the 21st century? The answer may surprise you-it is insolvent zombie banks and our entrenched FIRE economy (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate). Allow me to explain.
Another Tragic Misallocation of [...]

Diana Hadley writes:
I’m hoping that you can help me spread the word about a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program coming to the Mercado. This program can provide you with weekly bundles of fresh, locally grown produce at a reasonable price. This is a great way to be green, eat healthy, and support local [...]

UA climate scientist Jonathon Overpeck confirms previous studies that Arizona is ground zero for the most extreme warming and drying impacts in the U.S. Read article here. UA Regents Professor, Malcolm Hughes recently completed a new study that shows the last decade was the hottest in at least the past 1300 years.

By Tony Davis, February 18, 2009, Arizona Daily Star
The state’s best-known climate-change expert presented harrowing forecasts for sharply higher temperatures and drier rivers and reservoirs before a legislative committee in Phoenix on Tuesday.
Jonathan Overpeck told the House Environment Committee that:

Temperatures could regularly hit the 130s in Phoenix by the second half of this century [...]

Tucson’s problems are increasing. After two years, we continue to have a glut of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 empty, unsold houses. Home prices are plummeting. Families are abandoning their foreclosed houses, especially in the suburbs. Builders are going bankrupt. Skilled workers are losing their jobs and leaving the state. Net population growth in Tucson has [...]

Sharon Astyk, a New England family farmer and sustainability writer, is scheduled to speak at Pima Association of Government’s Sustainability and Energy Expo on March 7th. Here is a recent article from her blog. She bemoans, “investing is saving” is the lie we believed. More can be read at Casubon’s Book: http://sharonastyk.com/
Down the [...]

The Crash Course seeks to provide a baseline understanding of the economy so that everyone can better appreciate the risks that we all face. Created by Chris Martenson, PhD scientist and MBA professional, this set of video tutorials and related articles present a clear, accessible explanation of the complex factors which are converging to create [...]

One response to the global crisis that is gaining enthusiastic momentum in Tucson and around the world is the Transition Towns movement. Sustainable Tucson is taking advantage of many Transition Resources to support our Sustainability Planning Initiative.
Jennifer Gray, a pioneer in the Transition Initiative in the UK and cofounder of Transition US, describes it as [...]

By David Adam, published by The Guardian (UK), December 9, 2008
As ministers and officials gather in Poznan one year ahead of the Copenhagen summit on global warming, the second part of a major series looks at the crucial issue of targets
At a high-level academic conference on global warming at Exeter University this summer, climate scientist [...]

by Richard Heinberg
December 4, 2008
Executive Summary
Our continued national dependence on fossil fuels is creating a crippling vulnerability to both long-term fuel scarcity and catastrophic climate change.
The current economic crisis requires substantial national policy shifts and enormous new government injections of capital into the economy. This provides an opportunity for a project whose scope would otherwise [...]

An important message by an average citizen from Michigan
Friends,
I drive an American car. It’s a Chrysler. That’s not an endorsement. It’s more like a cry for pity. And now for a decades-old story, retold ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have had to desert their country to simply find [...]

On October 30th, Dr. David Suzuki, reknowned Canadian scientist and educator, gave “one of the great speeches in history”  to the 20th Anniversary Roundtable on the Economy and the Environment.
Click on the following to watch a video of that speech:
http://www.cpac.ca/forms/index.asp?dsp=template&act=view3&pagetype=vod&lang=e&clipID=2099

The Peak Oil Crisis: Memorandum for the President-Elect
by Tom Whipple, retired CIA analyst, columnist for the Falls Church (VA) News-Press, and editor of Peak Oil Review. Published November 6, 2008
The way things are shaping up, in less than three months you will be in charge of solving the direst set of crises since the ones [...]

A Desire Named Streetcars: Alan Drake Interview
Click here for interview.
How should North Texas cities meet the public transportation needs of the near and distant future? This is an hour-long interview with engineer Alan Drake and Jay Kline, interim vice president of planning and development at Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART),. They both participated in a [...]

By Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, professor at Columbia University
Showing how ideology, special-interest pressure, and sheer incompetence have left the U.S. economy on life support, the author puts forth a clear, commonsense plan to reverse the Bush-era follies and regain America’s economic sanity.
published by Vanity Fair, November 2008
When the American economy enters [...]

In this Sustainable Business Alliance speaker series,leading peak oil educator, Julian Darley talks with Bay Area business owners about the impact Peak Oil is having on their business and community, October 9, 2008. Click hear for this timely 83-minute discussion on video.
http://globalpublicmedia.com/fireside_chat_with_julian_darley

by Al Gore, TED  April 8, 2008
In Al Gore’s brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of “generational mission” — the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights [...]

By Steve Andrews and Randy Udall, ASPO-USA   April 21, 2008 
On April 13, Reuters reported the following from Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah said he had ordered some new oil discoveries left untapped to preserve oil wealth in the world’s top exporter for future generations…
“When there were some new finds, I told them, ‘no, leave it [...]

In the Garden, By ANNE RAVER, New York Times, April 17, 2008
MY peas are coming up – sugar snaps and snow peas – and the seeds I scattered out in my cold frame a month ago are now a blanket of baby greens. A few mornings ago, while weeding, I popped a tiny bok choy [...]

on March 14 at the UofA, the Arizona Daily Star sponsored a forum entitled “Tucson Growth: Decision at the Crossroads”, during which panelists discussed the issues raised by growth in the Tucson region.
Sustainable Tucson prepared a comprehensive flyer of critical questions on the topic related to sustainability concerns, and distributed it to attendees. [View and [...]

SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS
Sustainable Tucson Supported by a Pulliam Grant in 2008
Sustainable Tucson will benefit from the support of a professional grant writer to bring operational funding to its leadership and affinity groups for providing sustainability education to the public in Tucson and Pima County.
The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust (NMPCT) in Phoenix awarded $45,000 to the [...]

2008 State of the City Address
Mayor Robert E. Walkup
February 1, 2008
“A Sustainable City”
The state of our city is strong.
We increased our investments in key areas-public safety, transportation, parks and water-after decades of neglect.
We diversified our revenues and cut costs. While Arizona state and city governments face steep deficits this year, Tucson’s deficit is manageable.
We [...]

Listen to one of the best discussions of our current energy challenges (one hour) by three of the leading U.S. energy analysts, recorded on Februrary 2, 2008. Choose by clicking one of the following audio formats:  (Mp3 plays on Apple’s Quicktime)
Mp3 • Real Player • [...]

12 that have Shaped Green
Our list of the top influencers on green building and remodeling
Rebecca Bryant, Contributing Editor, Professional Remodeler
January 1, 2008
NECESSITY
The picture came into focus in the 1970s; more people were using more resources. This shaped supply and demand curves, which dictated that tell-all number: price. Higher energy bills led to tighter buildings that [...]

A study finds that man-made global warming has been steadily reducing snowpack along mountain ranges. States must make plans now to adapt, scientists say.
By Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2008
Human-caused global warming has been shrinking the snowpack across the mountain ranges of the West for five decades, suggesting that the region’s long battle [...]

While the world’s attention was on Bali in December 2007, a remarkable set of comments and predictions were made by Prof. James Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Science and other scientists at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
They were made at a media briefing: “Climate tipping points: Are we [...]

by James Howard Kunstler, American Social Commentator
Out in the public arena, people frequently twang on me for being “Mister Gloom’n’doom,” or for “not offering any solutions” to our looming energy crisis. So, for those of you who are tired of wringing your hands, who would like to do something useful, or focus your attention in [...]

Are you bored or anxious that much vital news is not being presented and discussed in the broadcast and print media? Here are four recent video reports on two of the most important topics of our current times: The future of oil and the future of the American dollar. These YouTube programs from the People [...]

By George Monbiot, The Guardian (U.K.), December 4, 2007
Outdated figures have been hiding the full extent of climate change. But I am still advocating action, and not despair.
When you warn people about the dangers of climate change, they call you a saint. When you explain what needs to be done to stop it, they call [...]

By Katherine Kizilos, published December 5, 2007 by The Age (Australia)
The inventor of permaculture is among those calling for backyard farmers to be freed from water restrictions. Katherine Kizilos reports.
In a drought year, during an era of climate change, what does it mean to be a responsible gardener? Cactuses, paving and a sculpture near [...]

By Thomas L. Friedman, published December 2, 2007, The New York Times
It was 60 degrees on Thursday in Washington, well above normal, and as I slipped away for some pre-Christmas golf, I found myself thinking about a wickedly funny story that The Onion, the satirical newspaper, ran the other day: “Fall Canceled after 3 Billion [...]

Oil depletion, redesigning transportation, local food, flexible work, ocean energy, the famous Udall family, and overcoming ignorance and bad choices

Matthew Simmons: All the Canaries Have Stopped Singing (Audio) Mp3 or Windows media
Matthew R. Simmons graduated cum laude from the University of Utah and received [...]