Courtney White

Explores the impact an increase in the carbon content in soil would have on greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, and offers ways to accomplish this.

A Journey Through Carbon Country

Grass, Soil, Hope

Rebecca Burgess

Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy

Fibershed

In Revolution on the Range, Courtney White challenges the conventional wisdom that those who wanted to work the land and those who wanted to protect it had fundamentally different—and irreconcilable—values. He argues that ranchers and environmentalists have more in common than they’ve typically admitted: a love of wildlife, a deep respect for nature, and a strong allergic reaction to suburbanization. The real conflict has not been over ethics, but approaches. As ranchers and environmentalists find common cause, they’re discovering new ways to live on—and preserve—the land they both love. Revolution on the Range is the story of that journey, and a heartening vision of the new American West.

The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West

Revolution on the Range

Sixteen-year-old Ariana Campbell is just an ordinary child: a straight-A student, and the perfect daughter to her parents, she even dreams of having her own family. Being the daughter of a detective seems great, but can quickly and drastically change her reputation. One day, when Ariana receives a strange phone call giving her coordinates, she isn't exactly sure who to tell. She decides to dig deeper in order to decode her secret message but quickly becomes victim to stalking. Menacing alien beings with the ability to appear human try to prevent Ariana from unlocking the secrets. The deeper she digs into her search, the more aggravated they become. Soon enough, Ariana finds herself in the middle of an alien invasion, destroying everything and everyone she has ever loved. The journey to save the remaining humans on Earth lies in Ariana's hands. But will she be able to do it alone?

They Are Not Human

To the Boy I Can't Get Enough Of

This book tackles an increasingly crucial question: What can we do about the seemingly intractable challenges confronting all of humanity today, including climate change, global hunger, water scarcity, environmental stress, and economic instability? The quick answers are: Build topsoil. Fix creeks. Eat meat from pasture-raised animals. Scientists maintain that a mere 2 percent increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils could offset 100 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere. But how could this be accomplished? What would it cost? Is it even possible? Yes, says author Courtney White, it is not only possible, but essential for the long-term health and sustainability of our environment and our economy. Right now, the only possibility of large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is through plant photosynthesis and related land-based carbon sequestration activities. These include a range of already existing, low-tech, and proven practices: composting, no-till farming, climate-friendly livestock practices, conserving natural habitat, restoring degraded watersheds and rangelands, increasing biodiversity, and producing local food. In Grass, Soil, Hope, the author shows how all these practical strategies can be bundled together into an economic and ecological whole, with the aim of reducing atmospheric CO2 while producing substantial co-benefits for all living things. Soil is a huge natural sink for carbon dioxide. If we can draw increasing amounts carbon out of the atmosphere and store it safely in the soil then we can significantly address all the multiple challenges that now appear so intractable.

In the mid-1990s, news headlines featured political gridlock, anti-government fanaticism, political assaults on environmental regulations, local demands to turn over federal land to the states, ‘patriotic’ armed militia groups, courtroom brawls between activists and rural residents over endangered species, finger-pointing and trash-talking generally. Sound familiar? It’s said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but rhymes instead. Fortunately, if problems are cyclical so are solutions. I’d like to share one that we came up with back then. It’s called the radical center. This is the story of its rise. I’m a former Sierra Club activist who dropped out of the ‘conflict industry’ in 1997 to cofound The Quivira Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering common ground between ranchers, conservationists, public land managers, and scientists. Our effort focused on resolving the long-standing feud between ranchers and environmentalists, a hopeless fight that had imperiled the wide open spaces of our beloved West. Our idea was to find a ‘third way’ beyond the polarization in order to implement practical, on-the-ground goals through collaboration, not confrontation. We called it the radical center and defined its mission as “a grassroots coming-together of diverse people to discuss their common interests rather than argue their differences and who agree to work cooperatively on a pragmatic program of action that improves the well-being of all living things.” Included in this book are three columns that I wrote over a period of nearly twenty years: The Uneasy Chair (1995-1997) which was published in the newsletter of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, The Far Horizon (1997-2006) for the newsletter of the Quivira Coalition, and The Next West (2009-2011), which I wrote for my web site. Taken together, I believe they offer a unique look at the times from the perspective of someone on the front lines. ~ Courtney White

The Rise of the Radical Center and The Next West

Grassroots

Two Percent Solutions for the Planet profiles fifty innovative practices that soak up carbon dioxide in soils, reduce energy use, sustainably intensify food production, and increase water quality. The “two percent” refers to: the amount of new carbon in the soil needed to reap a wide variety of ecological and economic benefits; the percentage of the nation’s population who are farmers and ranchers; and the low financial cost (in terms of GDP) needed to get this work done. As White explained in Grass, Soil, Hope, a highly efficient carbon cycle captures, stores, releases, and recaptures biochemical energy, mitigating climate change, increasing water storage capacities in soil, and making green plants grow. Best of all, we don’t have to invent anything new—a wide variety of innovative ideas and methods that put carbon back into the soil have been field-tested and proven to be practical and profitable. They’re mostly low-tech, too, relying on natural resources such as sunlight, green plants, animals, compost, beavers, creeks, and more. In Two Percent Solutions for the Planet, White expands what he calls the “regenerative toolbox,” to include holistic grazing, edible forests, biochar, weed-eating livestock, food co-ops, keyline plowing, restoration agriculture, bioenergy, aquaponics, animal power, Farm Hack, bees, bears, wildlife corridors, rainwater harvesting, native seeds, and various other projects from across the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe, and Australia. These short, engaging success stories will help readers connect the dots between diverse, exciting, and pragmatic practices, and inspire them to dig deeper into each individual story and concept, energized by the news that solutions do exist.

50 Low-Cost, Low-Tech, Nature-Based Practices for Combatting Hunger, Drought, and Climate Change

Two Percent Solutions for the Planet

Ursula Lindsey

Bathsheba Demuth

Sasha Archibald

Timothy Crimmins

Eliza Starbuck Little

Daegan Miller

Skomantas Pocius

Ben Jeffery

Jacob Hamburger

Peter C. Baker

Daniel Felsenthal

This issue's symposium deals with the question "What is the earth for?"-featuring essays on climate change and charisma, Soviet coal towns, immigration and the environment, and moving from connection to coexistence. Plus essays and reviews on New Atheism, the Arab Left, Wesley Yang's "The Souls of Yellow Folk," and more.

Courtney White

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