Talk: Stewart Brand
I just attended a thought-provoking talk by Stewart Brand, on the topic of his latest book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. In capsule form: the formerly back-to-the-land ecologist makes a strong argument for pro-city, pro-nuclear power, pro-genetically modified food, and pro-geoengineering strategies for mitigating the damage we're currently doing to our planet.
I took a few notes, but I recommend anyone with interest to watch the talk, as it is already up on the web; it's approx. 45 minutes for the talk, 15 minutes of questions. (you'll want to fast-forward to the 2-minute mark).
Things he said which struck me as interesting, though I've done no follow-up research:
- The Darfur war can be argued to be rooted in an environmental catastrophe- they ran out of water; which I knew. But he then showed a map of the Himalayas; its glaciers provide much of the water for Pakistan, through India. Hm.
- 2009 was the first time 50% of the world's population live in cities. Projection of the world's ten largest cities in 2015: only one, NYC, is in the West.
- Discussing new immigrants to cities India; "As an environmentalist, I don't want to stand in their way."
- "Megatons to Megawatts"- 10% of energy in the US is currently generated by energy from decommissioned Soviet nuclear warheads. He thinks this as one of the most amazing swords-to-plowshares stories of our time.
- Environmentalists who know the most are the most strident about the dangers. On nuclear power, those who know the most are least strident.
- 4th generation nuclear power reactors are now commercially viable; these include "microreactors" which are self-contained capsules, many designs are meltdown-proof, and one could easily power a small city. One prototype he likes uses thorium as the reactant, which is 3-4 times more abundant than uranium and produces several orders of magnitude less long-lived radioactive waste. Watch this space.
- There is now an undyed blue rose; a GM product with genes from petunias. You can buy them in Japan for $20 a stem.
- Geoengineering may be the most effective means to lower global temperatures- introducing particles into the stratosphere has been happening for Earth's entire history. When Mt. Pinatubo blew, it lowered temperatures 3 degrees for a year; and biologists talk about "Pinatubo cubs"- a population boom of polar bears from that winter.
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I'm curious what people think of his talk, and what struck you from it. I will probably read his new book.
I realize how much impact his older works have had on me. To begin with, The Whole Earth Catalog probably had big impact on my parents; some of the designs he talked about were things they tried (solar water heating, back-to-the-land-ism). I might be lucky I didn't grow up in a yurt. But I spent a long while reading the Whole Earth Catalog as a kid, and his book on the MIT Media Lab did strongly shape my high-school plans for what I wanted to study. I also realize that the flavour of much of his writing- an imperative to improve one's life with better tools; an environmentalism based on the latest science; and elements of hippie collectivism- have stuck with me. Of course not only through him as a source, but I think he does rightly hold a title of "visionary."
Also, idiosyncratic crazy guy, who puts arrows all over his annotations, but whatever.
I took a few notes, but I recommend anyone with interest to watch the talk, as it is already up on the web; it's approx. 45 minutes for the talk, 15 minutes of questions. (you'll want to fast-forward to the 2-minute mark).
Things he said which struck me as interesting, though I've done no follow-up research:
- The Darfur war can be argued to be rooted in an environmental catastrophe- they ran out of water; which I knew. But he then showed a map of the Himalayas; its glaciers provide much of the water for Pakistan, through India. Hm.
- 2009 was the first time 50% of the world's population live in cities. Projection of the world's ten largest cities in 2015: only one, NYC, is in the West.
- Discussing new immigrants to cities India; "As an environmentalist, I don't want to stand in their way."
- "Megatons to Megawatts"- 10% of energy in the US is currently generated by energy from decommissioned Soviet nuclear warheads. He thinks this as one of the most amazing swords-to-plowshares stories of our time.
- Environmentalists who know the most are the most strident about the dangers. On nuclear power, those who know the most are least strident.
- 4th generation nuclear power reactors are now commercially viable; these include "microreactors" which are self-contained capsules, many designs are meltdown-proof, and one could easily power a small city. One prototype he likes uses thorium as the reactant, which is 3-4 times more abundant than uranium and produces several orders of magnitude less long-lived radioactive waste. Watch this space.
- There is now an undyed blue rose; a GM product with genes from petunias. You can buy them in Japan for $20 a stem.
- Geoengineering may be the most effective means to lower global temperatures- introducing particles into the stratosphere has been happening for Earth's entire history. When Mt. Pinatubo blew, it lowered temperatures 3 degrees for a year; and biologists talk about "Pinatubo cubs"- a population boom of polar bears from that winter.
---
I'm curious what people think of his talk, and what struck you from it. I will probably read his new book.
I realize how much impact his older works have had on me. To begin with, The Whole Earth Catalog probably had big impact on my parents; some of the designs he talked about were things they tried (solar water heating, back-to-the-land-ism). I might be lucky I didn't grow up in a yurt. But I spent a long while reading the Whole Earth Catalog as a kid, and his book on the MIT Media Lab did strongly shape my high-school plans for what I wanted to study. I also realize that the flavour of much of his writing- an imperative to improve one's life with better tools; an environmentalism based on the latest science; and elements of hippie collectivism- have stuck with me. Of course not only through him as a source, but I think he does rightly hold a title of "visionary."
Also, idiosyncratic crazy guy, who puts arrows all over his annotations, but whatever.