As I move towards long-term work supporting Energy Democracy, I’m taking time out to explore the ideas and models that define this world. So far, I’ve asked What is Energy Democracy? and examined one example of an Energy Democracy group that is finding success in Spain. Today, I want to take a look at the philosophy of the Xarxa per la … Continue reading Sobirania Energètica: New Ideas on Energy from Cataluña
Los Angeles, CA and San Francisco, CA– 450 km (Total Mileage: 18,041/40,075 km) It all feels so familiar. I was born in the Berkeley and have a few memories–images, really–from the time before my family moved north to Oregon. But it’s the West Coast culture that strikes me, the health foods and dominant liberal culture. I’ve been … Continue reading Back West: 11 Photos from LA and the Bay Area
This post is part of an ongoing focus on Energy Democracy as a force within the energy transition. Polling conducted in the wake of the most recent US presidential election showed held results that would surprise both national Republican leaders and climate activists. 60 per cent of respondents who labelled themselves as “very conservative” supported … Continue reading What is Energy Democracy?
From an email I sent out to followers a few days ago, a short retrospective of the past 5 months on the road: Just over a year ago, I took the first pedal strokes of a journey that will eventually cover six continents. I set out to understand what climate change means to people around … Continue reading Milestones.
Baku, Azerbaijan/Bakı, Azərbaycan to Tbilisi, Georgia/თბილისი, საქართველო – 635 km this section (Total Mileage: 9,426 km/40,075 km) Tracing the name Azerbaijan back through history, one arrives at the Old Iranian word Āturpātākān, meaning The Land of Fire. In these lands, oil and gas deposits were known to turn earth to flame. Hindu and Zoroastrian worshipers used oil in sacred rites and channeled gas … Continue reading Azerbaijan, The Land of Fire: 19 Photos From the Road
In 2012, the late French street artist Bilal Berreni (alias Zoo Project) and filmmaker Antoine Page traveled overland across Asia to the Pacific Coast of Russia. They drove a truck full of art supplies and film equipment, stopping along the way to paint and film. Out of their trip came the film C’est assez bien d’être fou (It’s … Continue reading Frescos on a Dead Sea: Art, Water and Justice in Central Asia
In 2015, Alexander Harris walked 232 miles across southern Oregon to protest a proposed Jordan Cove natural gas export facility. Harris and his fellow organizers dubbed the project Hike the Pipe and set their route to follow the proposed path of the Pacific Connector gas pipeline, which would connect the Jordan Cove export terminal near Coos Bay, Oregon, to existing pipeline networks. Harris says … Continue reading Humans of Climate Change: Alex Harris, Southern Oregon
More than 3,000 people gathered in central Manila on the morning of February 7, 2016, to push the city to dedicate more of its road space to its “carless citizens.” The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, or MMDA, partially closed a 5.5 km stretch of Roxas boulevard in the Intramuros region of the city, giving space … Continue reading 3,000 Claim Their Lane at Road Sharing Event in Manila
It may not look like much, but this developing waste management system may help communities deal with food and human waste, power public transportation and generate energy, all while lowering disease transmission rates. Biogas has faced a bumpy road so far and more challenges await, but the team of a startup project based in Southwest China thinks that now … Continue reading Untapped waste: Old technology sees new development in Southwest China
To keep my Spanish up and with some amorphous future project ideas in mind, I’ve been reading some of the works of Eduardo Galeano, José Luis Sampedro and Olga Lucas. Here is a rough translation from Eduardo Galeano’s El libro de los abrazos, The Book of Embraces, a book of short prose and meditations first published in 1991. Galeano’s writing … Continue reading Future Traditions: A Translation from Uruguayan Author Eduardo Galeano
360 by bike 