Spring 2016 – Life After Oil
Spring 2016

Table of Contents

Life After Oil

From the Editors

Introduction: Life After Oil

We’ve all spent time stuck on a freeway — a six-lane parking lot with concrete and exhaust fumes extending to the horizon. If we’re concerned about climate change, those are moments that can push us into despair. Don’t these people know?

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Why We Need to Keep 80 Percent of Fossil Fuels in the Ground

Life depends on it. Bill McKibben on the big changes we’ve already made in remarkably short order.
Bill McKibben
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100% Renewable Energy: What We Can Do in 10 Years

It will take at least three decades to completely leave behind fossil fuels. But we can do it. And the first step is to start with the easy stuff.
Richard Heinberg
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How Iowa Became the Nation’s Leader In Wind Energy

Even though Iowa is typically associated with red state politics, everyone there seems to agree that wind power makes economic sense for one of the windiest states in the country.
Kim Eckart
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The West Coast Is the World’s 5th Largest Economy. Can It Unite to Stop Big Oil?

From First Nations activism to innovative city initiatives, the West Coast is leading the fight against global warming even as many countries lag behind.
Arun Gupta
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I Was a Fourth-Generation Coal Miner. Here’s Why I Quit

“I quit the mines, not entirely sure what I was going to do. I just knew that I could do something different.”
Nick Mullins
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Jobs After Oil: The Path to a Cleaner, More Equal Future

A successful energy transition to renewables could not only rescue the planet but create a more just economy.
Yessenia Funes

Infographic: The Surprising Ways You Consume Oil Every Day

Less than half the oil we consume is used for gasoline. Petroleum also goes into a bunch of everyday products. Some useful, and many we could live without.
Peter Kalmus
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How Far Can We Get Without Flying?

When a climate scientist decided to stop flying to cut his carbon emissions, he caught a glimpse of the post-oil future.
Peter Kalmus
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Without Fossil Fuels, a New Population Puzzle

So how many people can the planet really support?
Laurie Mazur
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Retrofitting Suburbia: Communities Innovate Their Way Out of Sprawl

The future for suburbanites, who now have twice the carbon footprint of city dwellers, seems to be pointing backward to pre-automobile, train-based living.
Erin Sagen
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When I Dream of the Planet in Recovery

For decades, poet-philosopher and radical environmentalist Derrick Jensen has warned us about the problems of civilization. Yet he’s a tireless activist with hope for the planet’s future.
Derrick Jensen
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No Fossil Fuel? No Problem—7 Ways We’re Already Living More Locally

From affordable transit to local food for school lunches, many people across America are already on their way to living a life without oil.

Solutions We Love

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5 Prisons Improving Life on the Inside

From canine cellmates to computer training, prisons across the country are finding small ways to make life behind bars better for inmates.
Marcus Harrison Green
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The Radical Work of Healing: Fania and Angela Davis on a New Kind of Civil Rights Activism

"Self-care and healing and attention to the body and the spiritual dimension—all of this is now a part of radical social justice struggles."
Sarah van Gelder
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Proud of Our Pidgin: The Newest Language in the U.S. Census

When Hawaiian Pidgin Creole joined an official list of 350 languages spoken in U.S. homes, it lifted up communities throughout Hawai‘i and their rich immigrant history.
Sheldon Ito

Culture Shift

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Why Does Being a Man Require So Many Masks?

National Book Award-winning poet Terrance Hayes writes about fatherhood and his own struggle to negotiate Americans' narrow definition of masculinity.
Terrance Hayes
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The Untold History of Female Friendship

To get an honest picture of female friendship, we must look beyond the familiar whitewashed stories in Western history and literature.
Rachel Vorona Cote
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Eat to Boost Immunity: 6 Things You Need and Where to Find Them

Essential vitamins and minerals like Vitamin D and Zinc can keep you from getting sick. But which foods have them, and when should you worry about consuming too much?
Keith Barbalato
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The Role of an Activist Attorney in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement

For civil rights lawyers, litigating isn't enough. They need to engage with the struggle of black Americans firsthand.
Nyasha Laing