[Illustration by Andy Potts]Two of The Generalist's favourite gurus have made a recent appearance in the mainstream and academic media.
The Economist's latest issue contains a Science and Technology supplement which profiles Amory Lovins, one of the world's leading exponents of energy efficiency as a fast-track solution to our current energy situation. 'The Frugal Corncucopian' is an interesting piece which acknowledges how far ahead Lovins has been in his thinking but also gives space to his critics and their perceived weakness of his arguments. Its a good read.
The Generalist first met Amory Lovins in 1996 and 1997 and was inspired by his thinking. [Use the search box to find full accounts of the two interviews I did with him at that time.]
His ideas lie behind my Earthed postings on this blog which provide irregular reports on the new industrial/energy revolution of green, efficient, low carbon technologies. It's happening even if the mainstream press is still blindsided on the subject.
Fascinating read is the 1977 Plowboy Interview with Lovins from the archives of Mother Earth News.
Another man who had a great influence on my thinking was of course Jim Lovelock, most famous for being the author of the Gaia hypothesis. Lovelock is always worth keeping an eye on.
I had the privilege of going to his house in Devon to do an interview back in the early 1980s. I have since written a piece critical of Lovelock, not about his coming out in favour of nuclear energy per se, rather the fact that the British press had failed to realise that Lovelock has been a long-term nuclear supporter from the get-go, rather than as green whose changed his stripes.
Read this Previous Post: James Lovelock: Man of the Moment
In the current issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Lovelock is talking about the fact that planetary engineering as the only way we are going to be able to have a chance of controlling climate change. Read about it in the excellent Daily Galaxy
The Generalist was onto this subject early, writing in PLANET NEWS in Sept 2007 about The Climate Engineers, an excellent and detailed essay by James R. Fleming in the Wilson Quarterly
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