In The Petri Dish: The Plight of our Energy-Sucking Species

This is not the decade of global warming or even climate change. It is one of ensuing ecological destruction.

When the energy runs dry, all of the systems we have so carelessly created to gulp that energy down will be worthless. We can build tiny houses (less than 100 square feet), rip up our lawns for edible estates, drive a prius, sell carbon credits on the Chicago climate exchange, or refocus our energy policy on biofuels and ethanol, but as Wes Jackson from the Land Institute argues,


This was the sobering theme of the 2007 Sopris Conference: Innovative Ideas for a New West, held in Missoula this weekend. Sponsored by the Sopris Foundation, which aims to promote a self-sufficient and innovative West, the conference focused on the future of the West and its people who are known for their,