A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Environment

  • We’re doomed

    I’m not sure what I think about the whole Peak Oil issue, but Georgetown political scientist Patrick Deneen has thought a lot about it and has a – “sobering” is too mild a word; “apocalyptic” maybe? – post up about the relationship between oil and food and the implications that might have for world population. Read more

  • All theology is animal theology

    Christopher: Considering animals in relationship to God is not something extra or foreign to Christianity. In my opinion, a serious doctrine of Creation cannot ignore the rest of the living world and the Creation as a whole and finally be Christian. Even rocks glorify God. And frankly, neither can a complete doctrine of Redemption or Read more

  • Carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade

    I missed this when it first came out, but this is a good article explaining the debate over the best way to reduce carbon emissions. It’s also heartening to see Reason of all places running articles that take the reality of climate change as a given. I’m not suggesting that some measure of skepticism can’t Read more

  • Black green metal

    Interesting Slate article on the evolution of the black metal ethos from misanthropic Satanism to a more romantic, melancholy pre-Christian paganism. This ends up having a certain affinity with deep ecology themes, and the article offers a profile of a black metal group in Sanat Cruz that is simultaneously trying to live off the grid Read more

  • A food bill, not a farm bill

    Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) writes about the unprecedented amount of attention the farm bill has been getting this year from environmental, health, and international development groups. Unfortunately, he says, the traditional interest groups have largely managed to craft a bill to their liking. They did this by adding on some programs as sops to Read more

  • Greener markets?

    Gristmill ran a rejoinder to the post I linked to last week advocating a localized, greener economy. The author, Ryan Avent, takes issue with the “buy local” mantra, arguing that local economies would reduce standards of living and that international trade and markets are compatible with reducing our ecological footprint. I’m not confident in my Read more

  • Toward a green manufacturing economy

    This is interesting and relevant to some of the stuff I was talking about here. Read more

  • Newt the environmentalist?

    Apparently Newt Gingrich is seeking to reinvent himself as a conservative environmentalist. David Roberts at Gristmill is skeptical, and contends that Newt-brand conservatism will always sacrifice the environment to its economic agenda when push comes to shove. Personally, I say with the endless parade of Bushes and Clintons dominating our politics, the last thing we Read more

  • Unresolved questions

    A couple of questions that I continue to turn over and which I’m not at all clear on the answers to: Is it necessary to seriously restrain economic growth for the sake of the environment (and ultimately ourselves) or can growth continue pretty much at present rates but in “sustainable” ways (with the help of Read more

  • October reading notes

    A smattering of theology, philosophy, and even some fiction this month: The Environment and Christian Ethics by Michael Northcott. This is part of Cambridge University Press’s “New Studies in Christian Ethics” series. Northcott is (at least at the time of this book’s publication) a lecturer in theology at the University of Edinburgh. This text is Read more