Sustainability Today Blog
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Cheer Up. The Hard Part’s Over.
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on January 03, 2024
Recently a fourth-year engineering student asked me, “so, how much trouble are we in?” With earth systems out of whack, like climate change and loss of biodiversity, burgeoning refugees, public debt, and active wars in Ukraine and Gaza, it is easy to despair, thinking a grim...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Taxing the World’s Patience
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on November 24, 2023
As Canada’s carbon tax appears to be going up in flames as fast as fossil fuels on a cold winter day, it may be worth asking what we get in return for a price on carbon. First, despite the global grumpiness with having to pay, pricing signals are one of the most powerful ways to...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Sustainability Round Two: The Women’s Match
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on September 28, 2023
Last month the men’s Sustainability Round One match featured Vaclav Smil versus Noah Yuval Harari. When trying to come up with a similar Round Two for women, one is struck by the difference in the “battle of the sexes”. Women seem to spend less time fighting each...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Sustainability Match Round One: Vaclav Smil versus Yuval Noah Harari
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on September 06, 2023
The thrust and parry of the sustainability debate is well-argued in the writings of two men:...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Read more from Sustainability Match Round One: Vaclav Smil versus Yuval Noah Harari
The Eleventh Commandment
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on July 27, 2023
Dana Meadows, likely the world’s most appreciated systems engineer and champion of...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
The Year of Living – (sort of) Radical Sabbatical Musings on Sustainability
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on July 01, 2023
One of the best perks of academia is the sabbatical; a year to think and write. The first leave...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Read more from The Year of Living – (sort of) Radical Sabbatical Musings on Sustainability
The Urgent Need for Canadian Cooperation
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on May 06, 2020
As President Obama, Bono and the back wall of Indigo said, the world needs more Canada. This may...
Filed under: Sustainability 101