The Five Horsemen of Environmental Change

Just as railroads fundamentally changed the country and the world in the 19th century, five even more power technologies are already among us, making it all the more imperative that we examine them from their potential environmental impacts. Read More

Authoritarianism and Scientific Elitism

Science and technology have led us to our current environmental crisis, and many believe that it also holds the most promising key to getting us out of this predicament. But several new books explore the notion that the rise of 'scientism' can lead to an erosion of personal freedoms. Read More

The Dangerous Rise of Carbon Fundamentalism

A recent string of harsh public statements and policy proposals addressing climate change -- including, but not limited to, the comparison of climate change deniers to Hitler -- does show just how widely accepted global warming has become. Although vehement public acceptance moves us closer to action, it may also serve to stifle productive dialogue on possible solutions or strategies on the crisis. Read More

The Convergence of Science, Technology, and Nature

Brad Allenby writes that business interests have long worked to speed the creation, adoption and dispersal of new technologies into the economy; with the increasing global concern over climate change, they're also encompassing landscapes, biological operations and whole ecological systems, but to what end? Read More

Ideology, Totalizing Discourses, and Authenticity

Where should one seek grounding in a world where even the scientific discourse is losing at least some of its privileged status? By Brad Allenby Read More

Technology, Systems, and Salients

Brad Allenby explores the social factors affecting technological evolution. Read More

When Technologies Become Mythic

The human tendency to seek "silver bullet" solutions to complex problems can create problems of its own. In the environmental area, concepts such as biomass and "the hydrogen economy" are achieving almost mythic status -- to all our detriment. By Brad Allenby Read More

The Efficiency of Inefficiency

How do we define social and economic efficiency? By Brad Allenby Read More

Sustainable Development: Conflict and Synthesis

Does the notion of “sustainable development” help or hinder creative conflict? Read More

Environmental Science and Postmodernism

When environmental scientists use the language of objective scientific observation to support ideology, they put their own credibility at risk. By Brad Allenby Read More