A house move is a chance to reflect (because I don't ever ruminate otherwise, oh not at all). So many books. So so many bloody books. So many of them not read (so many not written, too.) You get to thinking, as per my Twitter header - What has it all been for? What am... Continue Reading →
The hypocrite-zealot trap
Those who are trying to do something about the climate crisis are used to being lied about, smeared and sneered at. Some of those doing the lying/smearing/sneering are defending their own (short-term) economic and political positions (politicians, pundits and other poltroons)A larger number of people are terrified, but feel powerless (and, frankly - in the... Continue Reading →
Fear, “apathy” and self-cauterisation around #climate change
So the obvious question is why aren't tens of thousands of people involved in the "Just Stop Oil" actions? There are loads of different answers to this question, that will convince different people. I don't think it is as simple as "people think climate change isn't a big deal" or "people don't like to Get... Continue Reading →
Why “we” ignore the IPCC, and what to do about it.
This is a (light) expansion of this Twitter thread, about an article on the Guardian website by one of their environment reporters, Fiona Harvey. Ms Harvey is anticipating (plausibly - tomorrow we shall see if she is right) that the latest Working Group 3 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will sink without... Continue Reading →
2022 is gonna be hella interesting – roadmaps and guides to all this? My initial two cents
I saw this below on the Grauniad website today and tweeted that 2022 is gonna be hella interesting. I have MUCH else to be getting on with (Sarah, if you're reading this I have got about 3/4 of the crap out of the attic). But I want to throw an initial schema and a set... Continue Reading →
What responsibilities in times of abeyance? Je ne sais “re-Greta” rien.
When will the next Greta Thunberg hit the stage? I know I am a stuck record, but (I think) this is important. a)"We" are leaving/have left a period where climate change was relatively high up the political agenda b) We are leaving/have left a period where small (but non-trivial) numbers of people were willing to... Continue Reading →
Read between the lines – dead repertoire, dead “movement”, dead species to follow… #abeyance
Read this and weep. Since long before that delayed "last chance to save the world" climate conference in Glasgow finally happened (see here and here and here) I predicted that in the aftermath, climate change was gonna be far down almost everyone's list. You don't need to be freaking Nostradamus, you just need to know... Continue Reading →
“Constructive” as a codeword for “I don’t want to address your points.” See also “praktisch”
Sorry if what follows is banal, but it was new to me. Ah, bless Facebook... The word "constructive," it occurs to me after more than half a century on t'planet, is deployed by people who don't want to engage with criticism of what their cherished organisation has (not) been doing. So, if I point out... Continue Reading →
The Magpie, an appreciation, a project
The Magpie was the newsletter of the Manchester Wildlife Group which had begun in 1984. The first Magpie appeared in 1986, and the last issue 54 appeared in 2005. At its height, it was a quarterly publication. The format was A4 landscape, with staples in the middle. It was sent out to members of the... Continue Reading →
What can we learn from a 50 year old Blueprint?
'A Blueprint for Survival,' the first big eco-manifesto, is 50. Below I explore where it came from, how it was received and why its lessons still matter - as part of the "All Our Yesterdays" project. See the full report on which this guest post below is based here. On Thursday 13th January 1972 the... Continue Reading →