The sun came up again today. The day is ahead of us. And so is the coronavirus pandemic. A Known Unknown Yesterday I was exchanging texts with my daughter, Anwyn, who lives in Paris and she asked me, "Is this what it was like during the AIDS crisis?" I had to admit that, no, what's happening for her is happening for me and my generation for the first time, too. We've never in our lifetimes … [Read more...] about How Lady Virginia Weathers the Coronavirus Situation
climate change
Welcome to the Salvage Economy, Full Stop
One of my earliest memories as a little girl, probably just three- or four-years-old, was finding a small patch of grass and clover growing through a crack in the sidewalk. I was immediately drawn down in to that plucky green and sassy red-tipped clover. It spoke to me and, the world being a steady wordless teacher, I didn't need to know about ideas like resilience or grit or that book A Tree … [Read more...] about Welcome to the Salvage Economy, Full Stop
Hurricane Harvey, We Yawn in Your Direction
And Irma, we don't really give a crap about you, either. Water, Water, Everywhere Twenty-seven TRILLION gallons of water dumped on Southeast Texas in six days? That's what the various reports say. And we say, "Big whoop!" Wild-Westy, pavement-obsessedy Houston essentially destroyed, molded, and steeped in a toxic stew from chemical plants gone kablooey while the persistent deluge … [Read more...] about Hurricane Harvey, We Yawn in Your Direction
Pope Francis’s climate encyclical
In my life there are two things that have the effect of at least somewhat isolating me from others. The first is being a writer on climate change, peak oil, and the economic crises bound up with those modern predicaments. The other is being a Christian environmentalist. In the first case, my essays, as well as my social media presence, fairly well run counter to the whole of my society and … [Read more...] about Pope Francis’s climate encyclical
The food and climate intersection
I wanted to do more with this show than just depict urban farming in action, but also to illustrate its benefits. Since food grown closer to where people live travels a smaller distance, and because growing food in proximity to large populations calls for more sustainable methods, overall urban farming results in a smaller carbon footprint, something key to the urgent case for methods — and … [Read more...] about The food and climate intersection
Climate change: Obama needs to turn talk into action
Something's been troubling me ever since I listened to President Obama's first post-reëlection press conference. Perhaps as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the now two-term president was finally asked a question about global warming, a topic conveniently avoided by both sides throughout the seemingly interminable campaign. The question came from New York Times White House correspondent Mark Lander: … [Read more...] about Climate change: Obama needs to turn talk into action
