[ This is Chapter 4 of my latest book, which is the first of an eBook trilogy “Moving to a Finite Earth Economy – Crew Manual. It was first published at the Sarasota Institute, a 21st Century think tank two weeks ago. The subtitle of the first eBook is the name of this chapter, The […]

[This continues the publishing of  some past “golden oldie” columns from this 13 year-old blog about the future.  I am currently writing a trilogy of eBook about the need for a new global economy, so a good time to revisit some older columns that new subscribers might not have read.  Detail on the trilogy are […]

[This golden oldie is the first of two columns on Elon Musk that I wrote four years ago in 2015.  To put it simply, Musk is truly on a level with all the great robber barons and scientists of 100-125 years, ago combined.  Each one of the names listed in the title represents a specific […]

[Note to readers:  I am deep in writing a trilogy of eBooks with a tight deadline.  So I have decided to bring back some columns from the past, that many recent new subscribers might not have seen.  Since I am a futurist, I am called upon to make forecasts.  My firm commitment is to be […]

Finally, there is a groundswell for a unique, creative, possible piece of legislation that could have both a profound effect on reducing carbon and creating consensus in Congress.  Solving two of the biggest problems the U.S. has today. We simply cannot let this opportunity go away! Back in February of last year I wrote about […]

January is the time of year that there are hundreds, if not thousands of stories about the new tech gadgets and technological innovations coming this year and next.  This is largely due to the year starting out with the CES show in Las Vegas and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Both shows […]

[Note:  This post is much longer than usual.  It was first published at The Sarasota Institute where columns are 1500-2500 words.  I didn’t want to break the column in two.] The negative effects of fossil fuels have been speculated upon and known for a long time. The larger scale concerns, awareness, and now actions have largely […]

The Millennium Project’s latest report – the State of the Future 19.0- has recently been published.  This publication is one of the few that looks broadly at the present and future of humanity. As a futurist, I find it has always provided a wider scope of analysis about the present issues than most other reports […]

 “Houston, we have a problem”  – James Lovell, Apollo 13 “Work the problem people, work the problem”  Gene Krause, Mission Control Apollo 13   Hurricane Harvey was a huge disaster.  More than 60 people lost their lives.  There is and will be hundreds of billions of dollars in damages and lost business.  My deepest sympathies […]

Earth Overshoot Day was August 2, the earliest Earth Overshoot Day ever. This is the day when humanity’s consumption of natural resources officially passes the planet’s ability to replenish then in one year.

If humanity lived sustainably on Earth, then Earth Overshoot Day would be at midnight December 31, meaning we would not have consumed more than the finite resources the planet provides for us.  This is why the metaphor of Earth as a spaceship is the highest and best way to think about any aspect of climate change, sustainability, energy use and anything relative to the only place we have to live.