🎍#Bamboo is remarkable: fast #growing, #ecologically significant, and #economically valuable.
Wang et al. explore the #genomics, #biotechnology, and #molecular mechanisms behind its growth, #development, and #stress responses. https://doi.org/10.1111/jipb.13909
@wileyplantsci
#PlantScience #botany #review

🌱 At #HofUniversity, #Sustainability is a way of life! With the launch of our new website on #GreenTech, we highlight our commitment to #SustainableDevelopment— #ecologically, #socially & #economically. Explore how we take responsibility and drive change on #campus and beyond. 🌍💡 Learn more: https://t1p.de/v4dr8

#Degrowth and #Socialism: Notes on Some Critical Junctures

by Güney Işıkara and Özgür Narin

"Most degrowth thinkers agree that growth, as both a fact and a concept, is brought about by #capitalism. It is even acknowledged that growth is not the driver, but an outcome, the “surface appearance or ‘fetish’ of an underlying process: capital accumulation.” One would then expect that the challenge to it and the imaginary of an alternative society would be based on the negation of capitalism as a mode of production. Yet instead, growth remains the focal point of the discussion.

"The emphasis on growth as an aggregate phenomenon that emerged only with industrial capitalism and turned into an unquestionable economic paradigm following the Second World War is not trivial. It implies that growth as we know it is capitalist growth, or actually accumulation of capital, constituted in processes of exploitation and expropriation peculiar to capitalism, measured by indicators designed by and for capitalist societies. Why should we then be so concerned with growth as such from the viewpoint of a socialist (or #postcapitalist) society? The degrowth position is that it mesmerizes and captivates individual and social imaginaries, political movements, parties, and projects, including that of socialism: “Growth is the child of capitalism, but the child outdid the parent, with the pursuit of growth surviving the abolition of capitalist relations in socialist countries.”

"The transplantation of growth from its capitalist historical context into a socialist future, and thereby the problematization of growth as such—which supposedly transcends social relations upon which societies are founded—can be justified only under one condition: if all growth, regardless of the underlying relations of humans to both humans and nonhuman natures, can be seen as homogeneous, or at least alike to a significant degree. This is precisely what Giorgos Kallis puts forward: 'socialist growth cannot be sustainable, because no economic growth can be #ecologically #sustainable. Growth in the #material standard of living requires growth in the #extraction of materials. This is unavoidably damaging to the environment and ultimately undermines the conditions of production and reproduction.”

"The logical conclusion of this argument is that all human activity involving extraction, transformation, and use of materials—that is, all human reproduction—is in direct conflict with the environment as the former unavoidably damages the latter. This is a reversion to crude materialism founded on the oppositional binary of nature and society. According to Kallis, this conflict becomes #unsustainable if material living standards keep growing. Growth, however, is still understood in its meaning in the capitalist context, representing a process of accumulation.

"The qualitative difference between socialism and capitalism as two distinct modes of production is highly relevant here. The primary function of production under socialism is to provide all citizens with use values to satisfy a universal standard of basic needs (essentials), which determines the length of the necessary working day. This comprises not only shelter, basic food items, clean water supply, health care, education, and accessible public transport, but also child and elder care, parks and recreation, basic cultural and informational services, (possibly) ecological restoration activities, and the like."

Read more:
https://monthlyreview.org/2023/07/01/degrowth-and-socialism-notes-on-some-critical-junctures/

It's a #Bus
You can use them when you don't feel like #Walking,
In countries that thought ahead and spent money on #Infrastructure.

#Cheap #Clean #Ecologically #Responsible #Public #Transport #Edinburgh

Use #Cars while you still can.
If you want.
By 2039, the age of #mass #car #ownership will be well and truly over.
#Edinburgh #Trams #Ecologically #Responsible #Clean #Efficient #Public #Transport

#Mass #Car #Ownership began in the late 1960s.
It will end in the late 2030s.
Car ownership will simply be unaffordable for most people.
NOW is the time for countries to #Invest heavily in cheap, #Ecologically #Responsible, #Public #Transport, and to make cities #Walkable.

#Buses #Trams #Trains

Later will be too late.

On the #Bus in #Edinburgh
#Cheap #Clean #Ecologically #Responsible #Public #Transport

theme for first #WorldCleanupDay2024, “ #Arctic Cities and #Marine Litter,” underscores the vulnerability of remote and #ecologically significant regions like the #Arctic to pollution.
https://indianf.com/un-world-cleanup-day-tromso-norway-2024/#:~:text=%23The%20theme%20for%20this%20first%20World%20Cleanup%20Day%2C%20%E2%80%9CArctic%20Cities%20and%20Marine%20Litter%2C%E2%80%9D%20underscores%20the%20vulnerability%20of%20remote%20and%20ecologically%20significant%20regions%20like%20the%20Arctic%20to%20pollution.

[Thread] More from #KleeBenally 's book, #NoSpiritualSurrender. This may be a hard read for some folks, but I felt it was necessary to continue where I left off, where Klee states how many "convince themselves" that "killing the Earth just a little bit less is an appropriate response."

"This is exemplified with #ClimateJustice movement organizing, where grand proposals of a ‘GreenEconomy’ or a less #ecologically devastating form of #capitalism is the means to achieve human survival with a habitable planet.

"‘#BigGreen’ non-profit #corporations and so-called non-governmental organizations [#NGOs] (yes even the smaller #Indigenous ones too) set the terms for dissent and triage this crisis to the point where we can see the future coming back at us, but what else can be expected from marching in circles? After all, in the recycling of capitalism into climate justice, we still end up scrubbing their palaces green, resting our heads in green prisons, and sustaining unsustainable lifestyles.

"‘Just transition’ is a strategy of economic redemption to further preserve ways of being that are unsustainable by design, you can’t lobby away #colonialism and #capitalism, no matter how hard you try."

Page 137

#IndigenousAnarchy
#Ecosystem
#DefendTheSacred
#CorporateColonialism

2 Friday IOB
fresh ink shares :
Surfperches vs Damselfishes…
Cooper et al
https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obae018

&
Four-bar #Geometry is Shared among #Ecologically Divergent #Fish #Species

Camarillo et al
https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obae019

#Berlin has considerable #urban #biodiversity. It is favored by a large number of #greenspaces with #ecologically diverse areas (including #water areas), which is unusual for large cities on that level. In the photo “Nordhafen” can be seen.
#Trifolium pratense, #redclover

© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2024

#PrayerHorseRide's Third Annual March Ride Begins March 17, in Schurz, Nevada

Reconnecting and Revitalizing #Traditional Ways of Life Threatened by Destructive #Mining Resource Extractions Supporting "#GreenEnergy"

By Prayer Horse Ride, via #CensoredNews

SCHURZ, Nevada -- "Prayer Horse Ride "#NanesootuhinaPookooGoobakatudu," is getting ready to begin our annual ride March 17th-26th, from Schurz, #Nevada through Yerington, Fallon, Wadsworth and Nixon, through Lovelock, then Orovada, and ending in #PeeheeMuhuh (#ThackerPass in the McDermitt Caldera), in the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the #Paiute, #Shoshone, and #Bannock.
The Riders, walkers, and runners carry the prayer with each community. They'll move forward to raise awareness regarding lithium mining in Peehee Mu'huh and the McDermitt Caldera; AND also raise awareness to #CopperMining in the #PineNutHills, a holy place known to the #Nuwu; in honor and remembrance of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women / People (#MMIW/P) in Nevada; and to revitalize and restore cultural identity, languages, creativity, and supportive lifeways in our indigenous communities.

"Northern Nevada is the home of the #NorthernPaiute, #WesternShoshone, #Washoe, and #Bannock people. We, as descendants of them, will continue to give voices to the voiceless on #MotherEarth. To all of our relations.

"'We do this prayer ride to reconnect and revitalize our way of life,' says Josh Dini, Sr, a member of Walker River Paiute Tribe, #WaterProtector and #PrayerHorseRider, and a member of #AmericanIndianMovement Northern Nevada (#AIMNNV).

"Indigenous communities in the Great Basin and McDermitt Caldera are experiencing fast-tracked #mining and industrial development to support 'green energy,' and are threatened by #ecologically and #sociologically destructive resource extraction processes, most notably, #lithium and #copper mining, in areas in proximity to or within #communities, #reservations and #LandTrusts, and #SacredSites.

"#HeavyMetals extraction #poisons lands, air, and water. Sacred sites for ceremony, where ancestors are buried, where medicines grow, and where lifecycles are anchored, are destroyed.

"'Copper mining in our Pine Nut Hills takes away our knowledge and our identity of who we are,' says Dini, who explained the mining threatens an important Paiute medicine food, as well as numerous traditional campsites and sacred places that have been used for innumerable generations.

"'We ride in honor of the people on the land before extraction industries, past - present - and future. Here in Nevada we have places important to the indigenous culture that are considered America's sacrifice zones in search of 'green energy.'

"'We are Paiute and Shoshone allied with many of the federally recognized tribes in Nevada. We lead this prayer for Mother Earth,' says Gary McKinney, a Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute, water protector and Prayer Horse Rider, People of Red Mountain spokesperson, AIMNNV council member, and SIRGE Coalition Steering Committee member.

Prayer Horse Ride will visit #Indigenous northern Nevada communities affected by these issues including #WalkerRiver Paiute Tribe, #Yerington Paiute Tribe, #Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, #Lovelock Paiute Tribe, and #PyramidLake Paiute Tribe. As Riders reach each community, they may share meals, engage in ceremony, share stories and songs, and teach and learn traditional arts, bringing the communities together to celebrate and remember the traditional ways.

"McKinney says, 'We ride to honor the land and the people - of the past, present, and the future. #LifeOverLithium."

"About Prayer Horse Ride: Established in 2022 to honor the late #MyronDewey, Water Protector, Paiute Shoshone journalist and drone pilot, and to continue prayers for cultural sites like Peehee Mu’huh (Thacker Pass), we are an indigenous led prayer group and community service organization that advocates for our indigenous communities, to protect what we have left and to raise your awareness to what our communities face, and most importantly, in gathering tribes back together to stand in unity, not by separation.

"'We'll continue this ride in the Vision of our Ancestors, for Healing, Strength and Awareness, in Prayer and Unity.'

"Prayer Horse Riders have a story to tell and you can reach out to PHR media liaison André Wesner for inquiries: PrayerHorseRide2023@gmail.com

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/02/prayer-horse-ride-2024-in-honor-of.html

#PrayerRide #WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #IndigenousLands #IndigenousActivism #EnvironmentalRacism #CulturalGenocide #NoUraniumMining #NoMining #LandBack #LandDefenders #CorporateColonialism

#MaineTribes and Leading #Environmental Organizations Join Forces To Oppose Proposed #Mine in Shadow of #Katahdin

Proposed #ZincMine at #PickettMountain being pursued by virtually unknown Canadian company

June 28, 2023

"Two Tribes in Maine today joined forces with leading environmental groups and a national public interest environmental law organization to oppose a proposed mine that would be located in the shadow of #BaxterStatePark and the #KatahdinWoods & Waters National Monument.

"The proposed zinc mine at Pickett Mountain is being pursued by a virtually unknown Canadian company, #WolfdenResources, that has never operated a mine before. A previous version of Wolfden’s request was widely opposed because the region holds enormous cultural and natural significance to #Wabanaki Tribes, outdoor recreation businesses, and Maine people.

"The #HoultonBandOfMaliseets, the #PenobscotNation, and the #NaturalResourcesCouncilOfMaine [#NRCM], represented by #Earthjustice and #Brann&Isaacson, joined the #ConservationLawFoundation in petitioning to intervene in the review of Wolfden’s permit application to the Land Use Planning Commission (#LUPC) to rezone the area for #industrial uses.

"'The Penobscot Nation strongly opposes the rezoning of this #ecologically important area. We share significant concerns over impacts to the #water quality and f#isheries of the area, which our members rely upon,' said #ChiefKirkFrancis of the Penobscot Nation. 'The West Branch of the #MattawamkeagRiver contains abundant, high-quality, cold-water fish habitat and Designated #CriticalHabitat for #endangered #AtlanticSalmon, identified as necessary for the recovery of Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River. This mine would impact our traditional territories and forever alter our ability to maintain our relationship to this place.'

"The area Wolfden wants to mine is next to three State Heritage Fish Waters and is a centerpiece of the region’s growing outdoor economy. It contains the headwaters of the West Branch of the Mattawamkeag River, which is sacred to the Penobscot Nation and provides key, federally designated critical habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon.

"'The Katahdin region’s wild beauty and clean water are extraordinary. One look at this landscape demonstrates that this is no place to put a mine,' said Nick Bennett, staff scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. 'Wolfden’s claims that it will treat #wastewater more effectively than any mining company on earth are not credible. This is too big a risk for #Maine.'

"'The legacy of metallic mineral #mining in Maine is one of empty promises of economic development, acid mine drainage #polluting waters and killing fish, and multi-million dollar c#leanups funded by taxpayers and not the fly-by-night mining companies like Wolfden,' said #SeanMahoney, vice-president and senior counsel at the Conservation Law Foundation. 'Rezoning this area to allow mining would fail to recognize the cultural and spiritual importance of the land to the #WabanakiTribes and threaten the natural resources and experiences valued by generations of Maine citizens.'

"After withdrawing its initial request because it was riddled with errors, Wolfden submitted a second rezoning petition in January that sparked another review by the LUPC. Comments by Wolfden’s CEO disrespecting Maine tribes and #MininLlaws have prompted outrage from the Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and #conservationists. The company has lost tens of millions of dollars over the past decade.

"'This is one of the absolute worst areas to rezone for a mine,' said Aaron Bloom, a senior attorney with Earthjustice. 'The region is known for its vast contiguous forest, pristine streams, high-quality lakes, and aquatic species like wild brook trout and landlocked salmon. Why would we risk that, along with the outdoor economy that depends on it, on a half-baked proposal from an unproven mining company? The Commission must put Maine’s unique natural resources, and the well-being of the people of Maine and Maine’s Wabanaki Tribes, before short-term industry profits.'

"More than 700 hundred Mainers and local businesses, including Bradford Camps, Chandler Lakes Camps and Lodge, and the #MaineWildernessGuidesOrganization, have spoken out against Wolfden’s plans. In May 2022, residents of #Pembroke voted overwhelmingly to ban industrial-scale metallic mineral mining in their town in response to Wolfden’s plans to develop a mine there."

Source:
https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/maine-tribes-and-leading-environmental-organizations-join-forces-to-oppose-proposed-mine-in-shadow-of-katahdin

#WaterIsLife #Maine #WabanakiNations #Environment #Mining #CorporateColonialism #NoMining

Mention of @centerforbiodiv ! Follow them here on Mastodon!

Lawmakers need statewide #lithium plan, says #conservation group

By: Jennifer Sollis, Nevada Current
February 20, 2024

"There are more than 80 lithium projects proposed on #Nevada’s public lands as the nation races to power the #GreenEnergy transition. Now conservation groups are looking to state lawmakers to establish a rule-making process that would help reduce the establishment of mines in areas of greatest conflict.

"Despite a growing interest in lithium mining, Nevada has not developed a state-level plan for where lithium production should – and should not – be permitted to avoid impacts on local communities and resources.

"The United States produces less than 1% of global lithium production, all from a single facility, Albemarle Corp.’s Silver Peak mine in Esmeralda County, according to the United States Geological Survey. But that may soon change, making a statewide plan necessary, say conservation groups.

"#Mining on public lands requires federal approval. However, state approval is also required for various permits needed to advance mining operations. States — including Nevada — generally regulate waste management, #groundwater use and impacts, reclamation, surface water use, and air quality operating permits.

"Conservation groups argue that those permit requirements give Nevada an opportunity to help shape the future of lithium development in the state.

"Earlier this month, the #CenterForBiologicalDiversity submitted a letter to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources, asking the committee to put forward a bill establishing a rule-making process that would help reduce the establishment of mines in areas of greatest conflict.

"The letter also includes a request that the bill include funding for a study by the #DesertResearchInstitute and state agencies to evaluate lithium resources in the state and determine which can be extracted with the least impact on communities and the environment.

"Lack of data around natural resources isn’t just an issue in Nevada, but nationwide.

"According to the Association of American State Geologists, the United States lacks an effective process for gathering, organizing, compiling, or publicly sharing geologic data that would help in the identification of valuable mineral deposits.

"Data collection on natural resources — like the one suggested by the Center for Biological Diversity — could improve the identification and development of critical minerals, while also identifying and avoiding sensitive resources that may be adversely affected by exploration or mining, according to a recent report on how to improve mining on public lands by the Department of the Interior.

"State Sen. Julie Pazina, the chairperson of the legislature’s Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources, said the committee has yet to make any determinations for what bill draft requests they’ll make for the next Legislative session in 2025.

"'Over the next year, we will discuss and vet policy with the goal of protecting Nevada’s air, water and land for generations to come,' Pazina said.

"In Nevada, the clean energy transition has been marred by conflict with numerous projects in high conflict areas attracting litigation and public outcry.

"Earlier this year, federal land managers pulled their approval for a controversial lithium exploration project less than a mile from a treasured #wetland habitat after getting hit with a lawsuit and fierce opposition.

"Other mining projects in the state have faced backlash and delays, due to their proximity to #cultural and #ecologically sensitive areas. In one case, a small wildflower has been a source of conflict between conservationists and an #Australian mining company, seeking to build an #OpenPit lithium mine on the plant’s only known habitat.

"Last year, Washoe County commissioners withdrew a permit for a #geothermal exploration project near #Gerlach, after locals voiced fears the project could negatively impact the town’s #water supply, the structural integrity of their homes, and nearby natural hot springs.

"Permitting roadblocks, like the ones in Nevada, have been a major source of frustration for the #Biden administration.

"The potential for conflict in the state due to lithium mining is only growing. About half of the projects currently proposed in Nevada are in Esmeralda and Nye County, surrounding the town of Tonopah, a sizable population center.

"'We support domestic lithium extraction as well, if it is done in the right places and with the right techniques. We oppose business-as-usual mining, dewatering of open pits, pit lakes, excessive water consumption, #extinction of species or severe #degradation of #habitat, and regulatory shortcuts to permit bad mines faster,' wrote Patrick Donnelly, the Great Basin Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, in the letter."

https://thisisreno.com/2024/02/lawmakers-need-statewide-lithium-plan-says-conservation-group/

#WaterIsLife #LithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #EnvironmentalDestruction #Extinction #CulturalGenocide #IndigenousLands

Clip of #GretaThunberg advertising a #newbook on #ecologically friendly #war is a #deepfake

https://www.logicallyfacts.com/en/fact-check/fake-clip-of-greta-thunberg-advertising-a-new-book-on-ecologically-friendly-war-is-a-deepfake

"#Agriculture has been the single biggest driver for #wilderness destruction." (As noted in a previous #video, in the #US home #lawns consume more acreage than agriculture, thus are more #ecologically damaging.)

As also previously noted, #ancient #technologies, like #aquaponics, updated and adapted for our times (e.g. including #solar, for power), can be part of a successful Everything, Everywhere, All at Once #ClimateChange mitigation strategy.

#link: https://youtu.be/59kk4OjJCj4?si=L3KybiTmiYahgUBG

Wishing us all tremendous love, hope, and stamina, as we face so many challenges today. I #pray for the #goodness that's in all of us to rise up and #challenge where #power and #systems are failing us #socially and #ecologically.

Somewhere, something's going right.

And if you're drowning in bad news, here's an antidote:
https://www.positive.news/

Is the #US finally ready to start responding to #ClimateChange as a serious and immediate existential threat?

It's too early to know, but this seems it may be a good start.

A concerted effort that is tailored for the many different regions and #ecosystems of this vast and highly-polluting nation could really be a great Everything, Everywhere, All at Once response that benefits us all, #ecologically and #economically.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-is-mobilizing-an-army-to-fight-the-climate-crisis/

but the problem will still remain - how do I, as a consumer, find the things I need to live my life? I don't want to spend my whole life hunting these things down if I don't need to!

Well, one answer so far is by bigger and bigger scale retailers. There's large problems with this model of consumption - it's #ecologically awful, it prevents people without funds from getting things they need, and it's interested only in maximizing profits, not maximizing human happiness.

#Tasmania is struggling to deal with its #industrial #waste, #capitalism still #proving it is not an #ecologically sound #ideology

#australia #ausgov #politas #fascism #econotego #classwar

https://youtu.be/aD2Bb-y5BeA