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CURATED ECOLOGICAL NEWS
Societal planned downsizing rather than free fall
“Most public discussion of societal collapse treats history as a warning system. Today, we see a different and potentially more valuable role for historians and archaeologists. Rather than helping us predict collapse, they can help us reflect on how some societies appear to have softened collapse, adapted to contraction, and transformed in ways that preserved elements of culture.
“We have argued that modern societies remain gripped by two inadequate narratives. The first is perpetual progress: the assumption that modernisation, technological substitution, and economic growth can and must continue everywhere. In biophysical terms, this narrative is impossible.
“The second narrative is a nostalgic, defensive effort to preserve a mythologised past by fortifying borders, cultures, and hierarchies. This is the emotional base of much contemporary reactionary politics.
“What is missing in both popular and political discourse are narratives of intentional contraction, adaptive simplification, cultural continuity through transformation, and dignified loss. What societies in the past might stimulate such a dialogue? We have identified three examples which could be candidates for further inquiry.
“Following territorial losses, demographic collapse, and fiscal contraction, the Byzantine world did not simply fall. This section of the Roman Empire appeared to intentionally reorganise itself. Urban life shrank, monetary circulation narrowed, and state capacity was reduced, yet many core institutions persisted. The Empire appears to have willingly embraced forms of localisation.
“A second civilisation to inspire our ideas of managed decline is the Mayan civilisation in modern day Central America. That history should not be framed as civilisational failure, but as processes of urban-rural migration and the re-localisation of trade and governance.
“A third example is Post-Roman Britain and Western Europe after the collapse of Roman imperial systems. While much was lost at the time, including infrastructure, literacy, and long-distance trade, both ancient and new forms of social organisation, spirituality, and local resilience all emerged.
“We notice several recurring themes for narrative-generation that might alleviate the metacrisis. As we speculate on such cross-cutting themes, we don’t see them offering any great solace for what is a terrible and unprecedented situation facing humanity today, along with the catastrophic damage to habitats and biodiversity that is unfolding. However, they do expand the imaginative space in which we can think and act.” [click the link for the full article]
The case for reimagining civilization from the ground up
“Few people have had as much effect on the recent direction of the world as Tina, telling people what they can, and can’t, talk about. Tina isn’t a person, but a killer of ideas. TINA is the acronym of Margaret Thatcher’s famous 1980 declaration: ‘There Is No Alternative’.
“Following the ascendancy of Ronald Reagan to the presidency of the United States, the two leaders unleashed onto the world ‘neoliberalism’. It holds that humans are individualistic, selfish, calculating materialists, and unrestrained free-market capitalism provides the best framework for every kind of human activity.
“Neoliberal adherents have transformed the world. Regulations have been shredded, billions are malnourished while mega-billionaires vie for planetary domination, and corporations have surpassed nation states in economic power. Virtually all policy proposals operate within the current system rather than examining the system itself. It is time to dethrone TINA. There is, in fact, an alternative.
“In the pursuit of endless growth, our civilization is running at 40% above its sustainable capacity. Rather than shifting course, though, we have kept going pedal to the metal. What would it actually mean to change the operating system?
“An ecological civilization — or ‘ecocivilization’ — takes its inspiration from the principles of life itself. Ecologies are fractal in structure — tiny cells nested within organisms, nested within populations, nested within ecosystems, nested within the living Earth — requires the flourishing of each of its parts.
“It is unrealistic to believe that more of the same will produce different results. The other way to think about ‘realistic’ is to sketch out the conditions that might allow human civilization to prosper into the indefinite future, then work backward toward those conditions. Planners call this backcasting.” [click the link for the full article]
Countless small-scale power providers for a bottom-up electric grid
“The US power grid is, by some estimates, the largest machine in the world, a continent-spanning wonder of the modern age. Given the millions of Americans, their billions of electrical devices, and the thousands of miles of electrical wires involved, well, it’s downright amazing. Still, the grid is stressed out. Blackouts due to extreme weather (hurricanes, floods, wildfires) are on the rise,
“What’s more, a system designed around big, centralized power plants and one-way power flows is grinding against the rise of smarter, cleaner technologies to manage energy at the local level (think solar panels and batteries).
“Said energy consultant Lorenzo Kristov, ‘As these devices — generators, storage, and controls — get cheaper and more powerful, every end-use customer will be able to get a major portion of their energy on-site or in the community’.
“Thinking about the grid at the systems level is a discipline known as ‘grid architecture’ — not a term designed to set the heart aflame, but it is extremely important. Grid architecture offers the conceptual tools needed to reshape the structure of the grid system so that it can better accommodate a shift from centralized power plants and one-way power flows to massive amounts of small-scale resources at the edge of the grid.
“Since the grid first started growing in earnest in the early 20th century, power is generated at large power plants and fed over long distances to [end users]. Changes in the electricity world are many and varied, but they boil down to three core trends.
“The first is the rise of renewables. Because they come and go with the weather, you can’t ramp them up and down at will like you can fossil fuel plants. The second is the rise of ‘distributed energy resources’ (DERs) or small-scale solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, fuel cells, or thermal storage. The third trend is the increasing sophistication of sensors and processors to share knowledge in real-time over the web so energy can be more intelligently managed.”
“Fossil fuel and nuclear power plants only come in one increment: big. It takes a long time to build, iterate, and improve them, and the capital barriers to enter in that market are high.
“DERs tend to be smaller and more connected to information and communication technology, things like electric cars, smart car chargers, new kinds of batteries, or just software to run all that stuff. The capital barriers are lower; the time it takes to iterate is much shorter; learning and improvements spread much faster.” [click the link for the full article]
Hell bent to power AI data centers, nuclear safety be damned
“Trump’s deregulatory agenda has particularly favored the energy sector. Among the most alarming are changes to regulations governing nuclear reactors and their waste.
“The overhaul cut over 750 pages of Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear safety regulations. The changes nix requirements that groundwater, wildlife, and plants be protected from harm by radioactive materials. They double the allowable limit of accidental radiation exposure for workers before an investigation is triggered. And they cut entire chapters on how and with what physical barriers to secure nuclear material.
“A series of orders are intended to expedite the construction of a new generation of so-called small modular reactors (SMRs). ‘Small’ modular reactors are actually as large as a city block.
“The program will be under the oversight of the DOE, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will only consult on the development of reactors. The program will also be exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to consider and solicit public comment on the environmental consequences of major projects.
“The current push toward deregulation originates with one industry, and it is one of questionable relevance to human well-being. It is the proliferation of electricity-guzzling AI data centers.
“Meta, Nvidia, and Bill Gates have invested millions in nuclear startup Terrapower, which the NRC just approved to build a reactor in Wyoming. This was the first commercial reactor approved in the United States in more than a decade. The speed of its approval suggests the NRC may be taking safety shortcuts to grease the wheels of industry growth.” [click the link for the full article]
Agroecology — regenerative farming for food sovereignty and climate healing
“In northern Malawi, the lonesome Bungulu Mountain bulges out of the landscape. Subsistence farming is very typical for rural Malawian villages – 80% of Malawians live in rural communities, and about the same percentage are employed in agriculture.
“Maxwell and his team had been working with the villagers at Chombe for a year, delivering a series of training workshops in the field of agroecology. Max is a field officer for a small start-up based in the town of Nkhata Bay called EARTH Workshops: Environment, Agroforestry, Restoration, Topsoil, Health.
“Fundamentally, agroecology treats farms as ecosystems. It involves regenerative farming techniques that mimic nature, informed by deep knowledge about nutrient cycling, crops and agrobiodiversity, water and energy, insect and disease ecology, and local natural landscapes, while paying special attention to the social, economic, and political dynamics of agriculture.
“Agroecology works towards food security through achieving food sovereignty. Agroecological food systems are organised from the bottom-up, are ‘underpinned by social justice, solidarity, reciprocity and trust.” [click the link for the full article]
local community — small scale — effective mutual aid
“I learned self-sufficiency from my neighbors. But I am learning the most from the land herself, living now where the seasons and the cycles influence everything I do. What would make us feel as healthy and safe as possible? What do we need for grounding and stability but also joy and well-being? My first three categories are water, food and community — basic needs for all animal life.
“Our most pressing issues right now and in the near future are to curb our almost willful destruction of our air, soil, water and food supply. The root problem is our unchecked consumption in a world of finite resources. In a world where we think our food must come from half a planet away, we have lost our sense of community, of deep local connections.
“In my early farming years, I received a grant to breed 25 three-day-old black australorp chicks following instructions for their care. I was to keep no more than seventy-five adults in total. That was curious – why seventy-five? A flock larger than 75 would mean increased anxiety for the community, increased fighting and pecking. It would affect their ability to lay eggs and brood their babies.
“Then I encountered The Ringelmann Effect which is the tendency for individual members of a group to become increasingly less productive as the size of their group increases. Max Ringelmann (1861-1931), a French agronomist, postulated that the larger the group the less likely individual members will feel engaged and responsible.
“There is much mutual support, mutual aid, and mutual defense going on amid various species. Who are the fittest? Those animals which acquire habits of mutual aid are undoubtedly the fittest. They have more chances to survive, and they attain in their respective classes, the highest development of intelligences and bodily organization.
“In my valley, most of us live off the land to some degree. We all came to country living with different skill sets. What unites us is our mutual need to live among the cypress and oak trees, the wild boar and overgrown blackberry bushes. We often share what tools and abilities we have. When I need hay baled in the field, my neighbor with the baling machine helps out. Our veterinarian is a friend. He will make a house call and stay for lunch. I am planting his garden.” [click the link for the full article]
Northwest’s low snowpack prelude to dry Summer
“The Pacific Northwest’s low snowpack has primed the region to turn dry and fire-prone earlier than usual. Fire experts are bracing for a bad summer for wildfires around the western United States, a sneak peek of conditions in years ahead as the earth’s climate continues to heat up.
“In most years, snowpack in Washington state builds to its annual peak in early April. In 2026, it peaked two weeks early, on March 17. Washington’s snowpack was 51% of normal levels, according to the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service. Other states were in even worse shape. In Oregon, snowpack was just 14% of normal. California’s was at 18%.
“But this year’s low snowpack in the Cascades has led officials to fill the lakes up to their full levels earlier than usual. Managers of Seattle’s water supply also refilled reservoirs on the Tolt and Cedar rivers early to maximize water storage. ‘We plan to hold reservoir storage near maximum levels into June as long as we can’, Seattle Public Utilities spokesperson Nicole Elliott said. ‘This will help prepare us for the dry summer months when water usage is the highest’.” [click the link for the full article]
Dollar figure now put on US climate damages to other countries
“The US has caused an eye-watering $10 trillion in global economic damages over the past three decades through its vast planet-heating emissions, with a quarter of this economic pain inflicted upon itself. China, now the world’s largest emitter, is responsible for $9 trillion in GDP damage since 1990.
“Since 1990, US emissions have caused an estimated $500bn of economic damage to India and $330bn in damage to Brazil, the research finds. Developing countries have called for wealthier nations, which have emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution, to assist them financially to deal with loss and damage stemming from disastrous heatwaves, floods, droughts, and crop failures.
“The US has long resisted the idea of being held legally liable for its planet-heating pollution. Donald Trump has accelerated this abrogation, however, withdrawing the US from a loss and damage fund set to up aid vulnerable countries, as well as removing the country from global climate treaties.” [click the link for the full article]
Rights of Nature becoming more commonplace, but slowly
“The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) provides a timeline illustrating the global evolution of rights-of-nature initiatives and laws. From the 1970s onward, the number of cases has grown rapidly through 2022.
“Ecuador: In 2008, Ecuador became the first pioneering country to recognize the rights of nature in its constitution, strongly influenced by Ecuador’s Indigenous movement. ‘Pachamama’, or Mother Earth, is granted the right to exist and to ‘maintain and generate its cycles, structure, functions, and its processes in evolution’.
“New Zealand: 2017, the Whanganui River was the first river in the modern world to gain the same legal rights as a human person. This concluded a nearly 150-year battle by the Māori people, who draw their mauri (life force) from the river.
“India: A few days after the New Zealand decision, the Uttarakhand High Court in India granted legal personhood to the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. Hindus worship Ganga Mata, or ‘the mother’, and it is a lifeline for more than 500 million people.
“Colombia: Colombia has adopted an ecocentric approach that understands that human rights and healthy environments are intimately connected. Its Constitutional Court has recognized the Atrato River as ‘a legal subject with rights to protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration’. And the country’s Supreme Court ruled the Colombian Amazon ecosystem ‘as a subject of rights’.
“Bangladesh: In 2019, the High Court of Bangladesh decided that the Turag River and all 700 rivers in the country were ‘living entities’ with rights as ‘legal persons’. These rights can be enforced against both private and public (government) entities.
“The United States: Actions are found at the local level rather than at the state or federal levels. Tamaqua Borough, Pennsylvania, granted legal rights of nature in 2006, which were used to ban toxic sewage dumping. Meanwhile, in 2010, the city council of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, unanimously passed an ordinance banning fracking and recognizing the rights of nature. According to CELDF, multiple communities in several states have enacted rights-of-nature laws.
“The United States: Actions are found at the local level rather than at the state or federal levels. Tamaqua Borough, Pennsylvania, granted legal rights of nature in 2006, which were used to ban toxic sewage dumping. Meanwhile, in 2010, the city council of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, unanimously passed an ordinance banning fracking and recognizing the rights of nature. According to CELDF, multiple communities in several states have enacted rights-of-nature laws.
“Native American nations: The following have recognized rights of nature.
- White Earth Band of Ojibwe
- Ho-Chunk Nation
- Navajo Nation
- Ponca Nation of Oklahoma
- Yurok Tribe, Klamath Rive
- Nez Perce Tribe, Snake River
- Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.” [click the link for the full article]
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