Whenever we talk about getting cities back from cars, there’s pushback. Don’t people love their cars? Don’t we have cities built for cars because that’s what people wanted? Not exactly. Today, Craig Morris takes a look at the German town of Freiburg, and how citizens are taking their streets back.
In two recent posts, Craig Morris shed light on US linguist George Lakoff’s proposal for environmentalists to frame their issues properly. Today, he sums up why framing is too America-centric. He wishes everyone would copy Germany’s Vergangenheitsbewältigung – a faithfulness to the truth in combating alt-facts. And if you ever wondered how feminism benefits men, read on.
Lots of people seem to have experienced 2016 as a terrible year, metaphysically if not personally. Today, Craig Morris signs off with his own Word of the Year for 2017.
The Dakota pipeline protests could be the start of something big. Germany’s Energiewende began as a civil rights movement. Now, Americans are beginning to protest across the country, demanding that the energy sector respect society. Craig Morris asks: when will you join the movement?
A new study published by the Öko-Institut investigates Germany’s historical expenses for renewable electricity – and solar power in particular. In passing, the study highlights Germany’s contribution to the current low price of solar power worldwide. Craig Morris looks into the matter.
Germany wasn’t the most likely birthplace for a revolution in renewable energy. Today, the country remains a leader in renewables and in efforts to combat climate change. Sara Peach went to rural Germany to talk to some of the citizens who started the revolution forty years ago.
If current rates of improvement hold, solar power will be incredibly cheap in just a few years’ time, writes famous author and thinker Ramez Naam. According to Naam, electricity cost is from now on coupled to the ever-decreasing price of technology. That is profoundly deflationary and disruptive.
To many people, both inside and outside Germany, the Energiewende seems special. Questions therefore often focus on where the Germans got the idea. Craig Morris says they stole it from an American.
The 1985 book entitled The Energiewende is possible not only described the problems that the energy transition faces, but also proposed some solutions. Craig Morris describes them.
In his previous post, Craig Morris began his summary of the 1985 book entitled (in German) The Energiewende is possible. Today, he sheds light on how the trend towards large power plants created unnecessary costs in the process – although more efficient distributed cogeneration was an alternative.
