Green Mission News – February 2017

An Economy of Meaning, or Bust

Current economic systems are dismal because they waste our precious time. We can pause to reevaluate, and redesign.

By John Boik, February 6, 2017

It’s not often that a scientist gets to use the words love, creativity, and wisdom in a paper, especially when writing about economics. Perhaps that’s because economics, the dismal science, is obsessed with dismal systems—make that abysmal systems, relative to need.

To be clear, I’m not speaking of the specific policies of the US, the EU, China, the World Bank or others. I’m speaking of dominant economic systems as wholes—especially their underlying conceptual models (macro and micro) and the world views upon which they are based.

A human has only so many minutes in life. Time is the bedrock scarcity. If a person isn’t doing something meaningful in a given moment, he’s doing something less than meaningful.

http://www.principledsocietiesproject.org/economy_of_meaning

Richard Heinberg on ‘America First’

http://www.resilience.org/stories/2017-02-07/richard-heinberg-on-america-first/

Utopian off-grid Regen Village produces all of its own food and energy

http://inhabitat.com/utopian-off-grid-village-grows-own-food-in-shared-local-eco-system/

Tesla helps Sierra Nevada Brewing make ‘green’ beer

http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/17/14264500/tesla-solar-battery-sierra-nevada-brewing-beer

Awash in Green and Gold: The Emerging Restoration Economy in Kenya

http://www.wri.org/blog/2017/01/awash-green-and-gold-emerging-restoration-economy-kenya

Scotland sets 50% renewable energy target

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-38729869

The New Water Alchemists: Regenerative Agriculture

https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/new-water-alchemists-regenerative-agriculture

APPLYING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY LENS TO WATER

http://circulatenews.org/2017/01/applying-the-circular-economy-lens-to-water/

Labelling bioplastics ‘eco’, ‘green’ or ‘bio’ misleads consumers

The European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) voted to amend its Waste Legislative Package this week (January 24) with more ambitious EU targets for 2030.

http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Processing-Packaging/EEB-Labelling-bioplastics-as-eco-green-or-bio-is-misleading

‘Circular economy’: To strengthen Minnesota, find value in what we now waste

http://www.twincities.com/2017/01/25/jessica-hellmann-circular-economy-to-strengthen-minnesota-find-value-in-what-we-now-waste/

Stroud Micro Dairy – a look at the new community-led enterprise planning a milk revolution in the Five Valleys

http://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/15049907.Stroud_Micro_Dairy

Reforming our Land Management, Economy and Agricultural Practices

http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2017/02/reforming-our-land-management-economy-and-agricultural-practices/

‘Circular economy’: To strengthen Minnesota, find value in what we now waste

http://www.twincities.com/2017/01/25/jessica-hellmann-circular-economy-to-strengthen-minnesota-find-value-in-what-we-now-waste/

‘Beyond the extreme’: Scientists marvel at ‘increasingly non-natural’ Arctic warmth

http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/

Introducing the Biophilia Retail System & Concept Store

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3219368#ixzz4Y1LIcQbF

How regenerative agriculture and robotics can benefit each other

http://robohub.org/how-regenerative-agriculture-and-robotics-can-benefit-each-other/

Carbon Farming (Video) | CleanTechnica

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/01/30/carbon-farming-video/

Regenerative Agriculture: Our Best Shot At Cooling The Planet …

www.countercurrents.org/…/regenerative-agriculture-our-best-shot

Carbon Farming: Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Stabilization

http://www.appleseedpermaculture.com/carbon-farming-regenerative-agriculture-for-climate-stabilization/

Beyond organic: Carbon farming is a pathway to climate stabilization and resilient soils

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/beyond-organic-carbon-farming-pathway-climate-stabilization-and-resilient-soils.html

Carbon Farming: positive change from the ground up

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/carbon-farmers-of-britain

MRCD awarded $200,000 grant for carbon farming

http://www.ptreyeslight.com/article/mrcd-awarded-200000-grant-carbon-farming

Open-source plant database confirms top US bioenergy crop

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/crwi-opd010517.php

China kept on smashing renewables records in 2016

https://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2017/01/06/china-five-year-plan-energy-solar-record-2016/

China to launch ‘environmental police’ force

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/china-launch-environmental-police-force-170108155055619.html

New Evidence That the Atlantic Ocean’s Big Current Is Unstable

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/01/what-a-real-debate-looks-like-in-climate-science/512444/

Apple, Facebook and Google top Greenpeace’s clean energy report

https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/10/apple-facebook-and-google-top-greenpeaces-clean-energy-report/

Bumblebee listed as endangered species for first time

http://usat.ly/2ifndOW

A bumblebee is now on the endangered species list for the first time in a “race against extinction,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday.The agency placed the rusty patched bumblebee on the list because of a dramatic population decline over the past 20 years. Since the late 1990s, the population of the species has plummeted 87%.Named because of the rust-colored marks on its back, the bee was once common and abundant across 28 states from Connecticut to South Dakota. Today, the bee is only found in small, scattered populations in 13 states.“Our top priority is to act quickly to prevent extinction of the rusty patched bumblebee,” wildlife service Midwest regional director Tom Melius said in a statement. “Listing the bee as endangered will help us mobilize partners and focus resources on finding ways right now to stop the decline.”