Sam Butler

Hi @gonatureforward.bsky.social, I do media in the D.C. area and was thinking about coming to the Civic Center today to help cover TNB. Would that be possible? You can see my work at sambutler.us

I was skeptical, but I just closed IG and opened Bluesky in search of some Farming While Beige -- the strategy works!

Your content was basically the core of the app for me, which is wild to think about -- IG was just a clunky old data-sucking ad wrapper around your content!

Ahhh my bad, good to know! I would love to hear your opinion on the platforms you considered (or was it ghost right away?)

Media Collective — The newsletter platform built for growth Helping leading journalists forge an independent, sustainable path forward.

www.beehiiv.com/media-collec...

I've been curious to learn more about this from @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social. @molly.wiki also went on there from Substack. I would like to get to know Beehiv better and get more long-term trust from their ownership, and I also trust Molly and Ryan choosing it.

bsky.app/profile/samb...

Here's the thread!

bsky.app/profile/samb...

There is no cheaper, faster, or more viable plan. (Happy to be proven wrong — bring what you've got.)

Incorporate it in your vision and start organizing to make it happen. Happy to answer questions, support, and help — we're doing this on the ground in mid-Atlantic. (6/6)

Screenshot of page: A home built by hand from natural materials sequesters carbon, rather than emitting it because it is made largely of carbon. A straw bale and wood frame house sequesters around 15 tons of CO2 for the life of the building; the reason being that straw and wood contain a great deal of carbon, and it doesn't break down while the house is standing. If, after a few hundred years, the house needs to be replaced, the carbon is simply re-sequestered. IMAGE Natural home interior w/ wooden beams and lots of windows and natural light, w/ caption "you could be living here, along with a bunch of CO2 in the walls" And then more text: Now let's match these individual statistics to the problem at scale. The Paris Agreement would require that 550 million tons of carbon be sequestered per year by 2030. At 15 tons of CO2 per straw bale house, that's only 36.6 million houses, on a planet with 8 billion inhabitants, or a new house for .5% of the total global pop each year.

And homes built with natural materials — like straw bale, timber, hemp — are the best form of carbon sequestration. Plus healthy, well insulated homes without toxic construction materials. via @thelastfarm.bsky.social (5/6)

We affirm that these activities carried out in Indigenous territories without free, prior and informed consent violate our inherent and recognized rights and do not constitute a transition, but rather a form of modern genocide against our worldviews, ways of life, and territorial governance systems. We also have noted solutions and good practices, based on our own knowledge, sciences, technologies, lived experiences and time-tested practices for restoration of sustainable food production and soil, ecosystem protection, and true and equitable just transition, distinct from models based on imposition, extraction, and colonialism. As Indigenous Peoples, we affirm that the concept of a just transition as it is currently presented is not true, as it implies initiatives and proposals driven by transnational corporations and States to implement and consolidate the free-market economic model, neoliberalism, and deepens the inequalities of the capitalist system. This leads to genocide and ecocide, as States and corporations fail to ensure respect for Mother Earth and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. For Indigenous Peoples, a just transition means exercising our own forms of territorial governance according to our traditions and ways of life. We point out that we continue to be affected by the current and increasing levels of fossil fuel extraction, which, along with so-called "green" or "clean" energy projects, create a double impact on Indigenous Peoples. We recognize the urgent need to affirm Indigenous Peoples’ own visions, definitions, and to develop principles and protocols, as well as plans and means for action, in order to confront these threats, as well as to contribute in a positive way to discussions, programs, and actions on all levels for environmental sustainability, protection of ecosystems and biodiversity, and the prevention and aversion of climate change.

In alignment with the Indigenous Peoples Principles and Protocols for Just Transition

www.indigenoussummit.org/summit-outcome @earthworks.bsky.social (4/6)

90% of the costs of solar are storage, inverters, and batteries / grid-ties. Grid-tied is still prone to failure and grid outages — leaving people vulnerable. Just put energy on the roof, where it's cheap.

Leave lithium in dirt and the deserts intact.

*That* is a *just transition*

Throw solar PV and solar thermal fluid on a roof, design the building to store heat thermally (and stay cool through insulation.)

There is a townhouse on Capitol Hill on offgrid solar, suburban houses are doing it, we're planning a condo project like it in Baltimore. (2/6)

pss.pm/solar

Housing near transit. Natural materials that store carbon. Rooftop solar connected to DC (no grid-tie or batteries required.) Solar thermal connected to boilers for hot water and heating.

That should be our climate plan. Follow / keep reading (vid below) ⤵️

Likewise a great Douglas Adams anecdote about that in Hitchhikers!

We Need Speculative Fiction Now More Than Ever Amid a terrifying political moment, escapism can be dangerous. But as we celebrate ten years of the Southern Reach trilogy, N.K. Jemisin reminds us that stories can help deconstruct colonial power.

I wrote an intro for the 10-yr anniversary of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach books, which Esquire has helpfully reprinted here: www.esquire.com/entertainmen...

Reading your opening, I thought this short story might resonate with you. (I'm working on more spec fiction in this realm, e.g. from now in American suburbs — if that interests you, I'd love to connect and explore some ideas with you!)

pss.pm/1c

sent you an email related to this, would love to connect with you on it!