Dandelion Times

David Orton dies at 77

wp3 — Sun, 29 May 2011 17:17:25 +0000

Writer, philosopher and longtime “deep green” environmental activist, David Orton died at his home in Watervale, Pictou County, New Brunswick on May 12th, 2011. He was 77. Orton, who founded the Left-bio movement, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March.

The Way We Live

David Orton — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 05:04:25 +0000

Continuing our Visions of Ecotopia series, left-biocentrist David Orton describes his rustic lifestyle that many urban ecocentrics might envy. Here’s his description of his life with wife Helga Hoffman-Orton on their wooded acreage in picturesque Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Economy of Poetics

Victor Postnikov — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:00:19 +0000

This is the right time for poets and artists to engage in economics, says Ukrainian poet-translator Victor Postnikov. More than anyone else, artists inject aesthetic satisfaction into their work and are able to prevent systemic collapse by dismantling the Mega-Machine and creating a genuinely sustainable economy.

Visions of Ecotopia

Penny Novack — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:55:30 +0000

How can humans become ecocentric, a part of and symbiotic with the ecosphere or even our own watershed, our own local ecosystem? And how might our future humankind have gained those ways of perceiving themselves within our world’s living systems? Eco-centric poet Penny Novak describes her vision of ecotopia.

The American Dream

Penny Novack — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:55:52 +0000

By Penny Novack Thinking to myself, daydreaming as I watch Golden bliss slip into my tea, the thought comes, “How would I describe honey for those Who will never see honey?” Just that suddenly, visions of a world bereft Of honey, of songbirds, of ancient groves Take me and I see: We have poisoned our [...]

Confessions of a recovering environmentalist

Paul Kingsnorth — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:11:04 +0000

Today’s environmentalism is as much a victim of the contemporary cult of utility as every other aspect of our lives, from science to education, writes UK environmental writer Paul Kingsnorth. It does not mean defending the non-human world from the ever-expanding empire of homo sapiens, but sustaining human civilisation at the comfort level which the world’s rich feel is their right, without destroying the “natural capital” or the “resource base” that is needed to do so. It is not genuine environmentalism.

Holding A Smaller Seat

wp3 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:34:31 +0000

By Jim Drescher The Great Eastern Forest is gone. Chopped down, chopped up, ground to a pulp so we can read about the global economy while we wipe our asses on the Great Eastern Forest. Flushing it down the toilet bowl watersheds of our setting sun civilization, we barely give a shit; just call for [...]

There really is only one kind of sustainability

wp3 — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:03:41 +0000

Like the word “green,” “sustainable” or “sustainability” has become the buzzword of the millennia. Corporations and governments of the left or right feel compelled to dress up the most ecologically invasive development proposal or economic activity with assurances that it is “sustainable.” Employed as an adjective it coats the unpalatable with the sweet syrup of delectability rendering the bitter pill of upheaval and damage neutral in flavour. British Columbia ecocentrist Tim Murray debunks the myth.

Wind Turbines: Some Deeper Questions

David Orton — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:09:10 +0000

Wind turbines are sprouting up like industrial mushrooms in many rural regions. Nina Pierpont, a rural physician living in upstate New York, writes about health impacts suffered by people living close to wind turbines. Although it covers an important topic, the book is essentially about human health and does not discuss the deeper aspects of ecosystem health, write Nova Scotia deep ecologists David Orton and Helga Hoffman-Orton.

My Cathedral

Victor Postnikov — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:45:34 +0000

My cathedral is the forest, The pews are mossy banks; There a scarlet crested parson, Drums insistently his thanks. I have no need of temples Carved in stone by hands of man, My cathedral is the forest, My heaven is the land. My altar is a meadow Thick carpeted with grass; Its roof the vault [...]