02 Apr Digest 4/2: Wealth, BioDiversity, Springsteen & Patriotism, Ruffalo & Energy, Climate Tweets

Not a ton of original writing on my part this week, but some great writing by others. This week, check out: the Steady State Economy concept, a parody on modern life (i hope), Mark Ruffalo's fearless and somewhat failed attempt at debating Stephen Colbert, Springsteen's new reminder of what this is all about, and five tweets that could change the world.

Wealth as a Way of Life
"Somehow, we have come to think the whole purpose of the economy is to grow." "Perpetual economic growth is neither possible nor desirable. Growth, especially in wealthy nations, is already causing more problems than it solves." Herman Daly's 1977 book, Steady State Economy, has recently catalyzed an international movement. Read my blog here.

Consumer-Product Diversity Now Exceeds Biodiversity
I reprinted a portion of this great article from the Onion. "For the first time in history, the rich array of consumer products available in malls and supermarkets surpasses the number of living species populating the planet." See my excerpt here.

Mark Ruffalo on Energy Policy
Mark Ruffalo's new organization, WaterDefense.org, re-frames the energy debate around what today's fossil fuel energy economy is doing to water supplies. Ruffalo, "Hydrofracking, tar sands, mountain top removal, deep sea drilling. All of these things destroy water." WaterDefense, "Less than one tenth of one percent of all the water on earth is safe and available for us to use." See my full post here.

On Springsteen & Patriotism
I reprinted exceprts from an extraordinary review of the new Springsteen record, Wrecking Ball. "These first years of the millennium have been extraordinarily trying, especially for a nation that had passed a quarter century in relative peace. Then came terror. Then came wars. Then came economic meltdown. And in the last we were galled to find that what had brought us to the brink of ruin was greed, corruption, mendacity and predatory practices of giant money houses and that we were now required to save them… It is from the heart of this disconnection, the chasm between the America that is and the America that ought to be that Springsteen issues his report." See more excerpts here.

5 Tweets Worth Your 5 Minutes
Is Climate Change too difficult to talk about? Whether in the media, politics, or at parties climate change ain't getting its due. Too complicated? Yep. Too intense? Yep. Misunderstood? Definitely. Here are 5 short headlines that might help break the ice. See "GW Bush Admin's final report on climate change" and more, here.

See last week's digest here.

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Tweet of the Week
Perception, Reality, and the Consequences of the U.S. Oil & Gas Boom http://on.cfr.org/GVKv0L

–thanks–