Executive Committee

Site Value Tax Petition to Minister Noonan

This residential property tax will be collected on every home in Ireland. The rate you will pay, under this system, depends on the full value of your property including the building. The square footage, the number of bedrooms in your home, energy rating, are some examples of the features that assessors will use [...]

Environmental Pillar policy on Site Value Tax

The Environmental Pillar has added its weight to the growing push for a Site Value Tax in Ireland. Today (18 October) it released a policy on Site Value Tax, outlining the social, economic and environmental benefits that would be delivered by its implementation.

The merits of Site Value Tax (SVT) : A public event at the Castelnock Hotel and Country Club

If you are interested in the Single most important decision our Government could take to navigate us out of our current mess You are welcome to come to a riveting and honest discussion on The merits of Site Value Tax (SVT) Otherwise known as “The Fair Tax” as the alternative to a ‘Property Tax” on [...]

Green measures blocked by top EU official

José Manuel Barroso’s top official, Catherine Day, is pressuring environment commissioner Janez Potočnik to delay bringing forward new proposals in a number of areas.

RTE drivetime programmes on fracking

RTE recently broadcast two programmes which include interviews with people who have been adversely affected by fracking in Ohio and Pennsylvania. They are available here and here. A third report will be following shortly. …

3 petitions to ban fracking in Ireland

There’s been much discussion on this site of the problems with fracking. These petitions need 20,000 signatures. The frackingfreeireland.org website is a good source of information on the situation in Ireland.

Petition 1 (Northern Ireland only) Petition 2 Petition 3…

Comment on Sailing craft for a post-collapse world by burton mac-holmes

this article is from a marvelous book that addresses the kind of world we are likely to transition to in the next 1-3 generations. better yet, it addresses practical considerations for trying to maintain our civility in the face of a more hostile clima…

Economics for Conscious Evolution: International Land Taxation conference

Feasta’s Emer O’Siochru will be speaking on the first day of this conference from July 24-28 at the School of Economic Science, 11 Mandeville Place, London W1U 3AJ. It will explore a wide range of topics relating to Land Value Tax and global economic justice. More information here.

Cloughjordan Ecolearn Experience Day: Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Society – Issues and Options, June 22nd

This one day seminar led by Professor Peadar Kirby and Feasta’s Bruce Darrell places into a wider global context the everyday issues of sustainability and resilience that the Cloughjordan ecovillage seeks to model.

“Fresh approaches to tackling climate change” – Feasta/WinACC workshop

Environmental activists and anyone with an interest in environmental law are cordially invited to a weekend seminar organised by FEASTA and WinACC (Winchester Action on Climate Change). The seminar will consider fresh approaches to tackling climate change and how they might be put into action. It will appeal to those who like to hear alternative perspectives, challenge conventional thinking, and explore ideas through discussion with others. Saturday June 29th – Sunday June 30th 2013.

In memoriam: Richard Douthwaite

Richard Douthwaite, co-founder of Feasta and much-loved colleague and friend, died on November 14th 2011 after a long illness. We will miss his unique and far-ranging intellect, the clarity of his thought and writing, his warmth and his laughter. Tributes to him have come in from around the world and you can read them here.

Comment on Panel: Biochar by James Bruges by Patrick Noble

Blimey James – Sorry to continue the correspondence and please end it if you feel so, but this is important. Life is variable as the quality and quantity of the dust which revives it. The mineralsation of complex proteins into the simple elements required for plant growth is a function of a complexity of life. The whole art of husbandry is regulation of the speed of that process. Return too much fertility to a field and we increase crop yield by diminishing that of a neighbouring field.

Comment on Panel: Biochar by James Bruges by James Bruges

Patrick Not really. It’s called entropy. The process that reduces complex life to dust. It happens all the time, not just by fire or pyrolysis. ‘The total mass of bio’ is not constant, it continually increases and decreases. By growing biomass in desert sand entropy is reversed. James

Comment on Panel: Biochar by James Bruges by Patrick Noble

Thanks James – Sequestration & carbon sumps are bees in my bonnet. I’ll try to keep my bees under control – they are confrontational in that they oppose some central first principles of the IPCC, Zero Carbon Britain 2030 and most university departments! A little geezer becomes passionate in proportion to the mass of his opposition.

Comment on Panel: Biochar by James Bruges by James Bruges

Patrick. Thanks for your response and the attached article, which I found interesting because you obviously know so much more about nature’s mechanisms than I do. When the use of biochar is driven by neoliberal economics (as with all aspects of life) it has dangers, as pointed out by BiofuelWatch.