Transition Colorado

robert easton
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  • boulder, colorado
  • United States
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Draft handout introducing Transition Boulder
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Started this discussion. Last reply by Margaret Emerson Dec. 11, 2008.

 

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robert easton added a blog post
Quality of Life There is an obvious tradeoff is between the quality of human lives and quantity of humans. A small population can live sustainably off the fat of the land. Undisturbed land is abundant. Forests and wetlands store and purify water. W…
July 17
Economics, Energy Transition, and Climate Change at C. U. Campus Eaton Humanities Room 1B50
February 26, 2009 from 7pm to 9pm
Event: A public lecture by Professor Robert Repetto Title: Economics, Energy Transition, and Climate Change Doctor Robert Repetto is a Professor at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and is a Senior Fellow at the Uni…
February 26
Calling all gardeners on the Front Range! This is the place to ask questions and exchange ideas.
February 18
robert easton updated an event
Economics, Energy Transition, and Climate Change at C. U. Campus Eaton Humanities Room 1B50
February 26, 2009 from 7pm to 9pm
Event: A public lecture by Professor Robert Repetto Title: Economics, Energy Transition, and Climate Change Doctor Robert Repetto is a Professor at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and is a Senior Fellow at the Uni…
February 18

Profile Information

How are you currently involved in the Transition movement?
I belong to the Transition Boulder Initiating Group. I am researching the state of world energy, food, and water resources and I am writing and thinking about population growth and its negative impacts. Further, I'm cultivating a garden and raising bees.
In what ways do you identify with the Transition movement? Why are you interested?
I believe we are approaching limits to growth of the human population and the economy. Current social systems in many parts of the world are destroying the ecosystems on which they depend. Biological diversity, including habitat for non-human life must be preserved- not only for humanity's sake but also because it has intrinsic value. In the coming struggle to secure scarce food, water, and energy resources, we must protect ecosystems, teach self reliance, and value community.
What background and skills do you bring to this community?
I am a life-long environmentalist. I know how to make stone tools, build furniture, raise a garden, and build a cabin. I am an emeritus professor of applied mathematics at the university of colorado. My past research was in dynamical systems and chaos theory. My new research is devoted to environmental and ecological economics.
How can you help the growth/acceptance/vitality of the Transition movement?
I am a researcher, a writer, and a teacher. I am building a mathematical model of forest-village system to illustrate the connection between an ecosystem and a simple economy. The model is played like a game where the user allocates land, labor and water resources at each round.
Your Favorite Books/Websites/Blogs/RSS Feeds for Information about the Transition Movement
I see the transition movement as part of a broader environmental movement. Authors such as Henry Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Lester Brown, Paul Ehrlich, and Ed Abbey, have influenced my thinking. The web gives amazing access to data about the current state of the world. I like the information collected by the following
institutions: the World Resources Institute (www.wri.org), the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (www.fao.org), the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov), the U.S. Energy Information Agency (www.eia.doe.gov), the CIA World Fact Book (www.cia.gov), the Global Footprint Network (www.footprintnetwork.org),the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/es/index.html), and many others.
Your Personal Website (if you have one)
http://http://amath.colorado.edu/faculty

Robert easton's Blog

robert easton

Quality of Life

There is an obvious tradeoff between the quality of human lives and quantity of humans.
A small population can live sustainably off the fat of the land. In a lightly populated world undisturbed land is abundant. Forests and wetlands store and purify water. Wildlife habitat and biodiversity are protected. Thoreau said, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to leave alone”.

All the advantages of a small human footprint on the earth are sacrificed as societies outgrow… Continue

Posted on July 22, 2009 at 5:00pm —

robert easton

Re Obama Flinches of Immigration, N.Y. Times 3/24/09:

Re Obama Flinches of Immigration, N.Y. Times 3/24/09: Popes, despots, and apparently the N. Y. Times believe in “the more the merrier” population theory. More believers, more soldiers, and more readers make the empire grow stronger.
I know a straw man when I see one. “If he (Obama) is ever going to win the battle to put 12 million illegal immigrants on the path to citizenship, he will have to confront and dismantle the core restrictionist argument: that being an illegal immigrant is and unpardon… Continue

Posted on March 26, 2009 at 1:04pm —

robert easton

What's the deal on energy?

If the energy in one barrel of oil were converted to food energy it could power 584 workers for a day. The United States uses about 20 million barrels of oil per day. This is like having 11.7 billion extra workers (who work 24 hours per day) to do our labor. Is there any hope of replacing this energy supply without producing a catastrophic climate change?

Yes! The earth has a great power supply that rises in the east and sets in the west. The energy in the sunlight that falls on the earth’s lan… Continue

Posted on November 14, 2008 at 10:38am — 1 Comment

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Brad Klafehn and evi klett are now friends
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Dan Graeve updated their profile
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Pot luck sounds great!
yesterday
A potluck!-good food and good talk!-sounds like a plan Margaret! Can't wait until you're back! My best to you up in Boulder, hoping you feel better each day!
yesterday
evi klett might attend Nichole R's event
Sustainable Greenhouse Design at Denver Botanic Gardens
February 6, 2010 from 1pm to 5pm
Have you ever wondered if it could be done? Can you create a greenhouse that needs NO supplemental heating year round? – the answer is yes!! This greenhouse design, involving stored water as thermal mass and our bountiful Colorado sun, can be used w…
yesterday
evi klett is now friends with Kevin Price, Jim Sincock, Paul Riederer and 3
yesterday
I can only speak to my own experience. For most of my life I took the lead from my father and his cohorts in developing my worldview. When he died (a personal catastrophe), I took a few years to examine every aspect of my life -- including my values…
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Hi Paul, Sorry for the delayed response. Life got way too busy in December. I'm out of town right now but will be back by January 1st. I'll call you to discuss what we did at the library and to see what we all can cultivate for 2010 in Colorado :)
yesterday
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Hi All. Good to be part of this group. I'm planning on coming to the watershed meeting in January. Pavlos, I'll rsvp soon.
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A group about events, programs and community building at Woodbine Ecology Center
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