Today is usually the biggest shopping day of the year, but in this economy I am betting (and hoping) it will be quieter than usual. As for us, we are participating in Buy Nothing Day, which can be explained as follows - “Suddenly, we ran out of money and, to avoid collapse, we quickly pumped liquidity back into the system. But behind our financial crisis a much more ominous crisis looms: we are running out of nature… fish, forests, fresh water, minerals, soil. What are we going to do when supplies of these vital resources run low? There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less. It will take a massive mindshift. You can start the ball rolling by buying nothing on November 28th.” That’s us - we won’t be buying anything today. Besides, I can’t stand the crowds. On to the news…

Geothermal energy finally seems to be getting the attention it deserves. While it still is a small percentage of most nation’s energy mix (read: everybody but Iceland), the potential of geothermal in some places is enormous. Towards that end, Google and the US Department of Energy have both committed resources to bring more geothermal power online in the past few months; now, the US Department of the Interior has announced that it will be opening up a good sized swath of federal lands to geothermal power development. This is definitely a move in the right direction!

The snow has arrived and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) season has ended for many people, including for my friend Allie. We plan on joining a local CSA next Spring here and are looking forward to it.

Revenge of the Electric Car - While the Big Three U.S. automakers in Detroit cry for a $25-billion dollar bailout, we should keep in mind the documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car.” This important documentary released in 2006 investigates the “creation, limited commercialization and subsequent destruction of the battery-powered electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the 1990s.” Yet another reason the auto industry here in the US should not get a dime of bailout money.

Gases blamed for global warming reached record levels in the atmosphere last year, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday. Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) touched new highs after more steady rises in 2007, and methane had its largest annual increase in a decade, the World Meteorological Organization said. Ugh.

Well, I am all for supporting local farmers and supporting earth friendly, sustainable, conscious companies with our money. But I am not for consuming just for the sake of consuming and yes I do realize that this is exactly the trend that our current economy is based upon. Consumerism may make the economic world turn…but self sufficiency is what will preserve the planet…not consumerism.

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