Based on this statement it looks like they were compelled by the courts:

In this case, Proton received a legally binding order from Swiss authorities which we are obligated to comply with. There was no possibility to appeal this particular request.

They also provided an update:

In October 2021, Proton won a Swiss court ruling that email services are not telecommunications providers. Consequently, email services are not subject to the data retention requirements imposed on telecommunications providers and are exempted from handing over certain user data in response to Swiss legal orders.

So it sounds like they had their hand forced in that instance to provide the data and got a court ruling that allows them in the future to not retain that data. I would trust them.

IMO its a “meh”. Oil production is currently at an energy neutral state(amount of energy needed to extract is equal to the energy provided), in a decade or so its going to hit energy negative(energy needed to extract is more then energy provided). What should be happening is slow/begin halting extraction and storing all of that oil in the ground just in case we might need that energy surplus at some point in the future but that hurts quarterly profit returns so the oil executive solution to it is “suck it dry, not my problem”.

Because he is not an actual progressive. Hes just a spoiled rich kid who like to pretend to be a progressive.

I mean IMO Raspberry Pi cluster are the future. Low power, cheap CPU’s/Ram that are capable of running containerized workloads.

So the barbiturate addict who is partially brain damaged doesn’t understand something that requires him to be open to changing his habits? Shocking! 😐

They don’t call it Grand Teton National park for nothing.

Proper shit post

This is awesome. I love how this city is changing.

People know whats going on and the reactions are numerous to count. Nihilism/apathy tend to win out not because we don’t have solutions already on the table to solve it but because those solutions are not consumer based and easy. We are not going to solve this via a magic bullet, fusion power isn’t going to solve the underlying problem of consumerism/neo-liberal capitalist economics.

We are not powerless to make the change, thinking that way only empowers those who have no problem with killing the planet for profit. There are millions of people all over the world actively working on changing the economic conversation away from GDP growth and consumerism to something else, however they don’t get the broadcast airtime in the US. There is degrowth, postgrowth, environmental socialism, doughnut economics, etc all with different ways/ideas to build an economy without consuming the planet in the process.

Honestly the best action an individual can take is join a group or organization that is actively trying to shift the conversation. Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future are just a small sample of the millions of organizations and groups who are actively trying to build a better future, find a local group where you live and join in-person. The work is going to be long and hard but the hardest part requires individuals to put their own ego in check and do the work not for their own personal benefit but for the benefit of the collective and generations to come. We are powerful together, but divided and stewing in our own misery and loathing about the hand we have been collectively dealt doesn’t solve anything. If anything it makes it worse. What works is getting involved with your local community, talking to people, building networks of support and collective activism. The more we do that the better shot we have at staving off the worse possible future.

It’s because of how they are financed and evaluated. Their investors/financiers expect a constant return on investment as well as yearly financial growth to justify their high stock values. It doesn’t matter if they have big enough or are already producing max profit. Gotta keep growing to match inflation which is also tied to growth. All powering a runaway train in which there is no conductor.

IMO I think the “doom and gloom” messaging has backfired into apathy and nihilism. Yes we should be honest with the seriousness and severity of the situation but I think it’s more important to provide and message hope. Also provide solutions, alternative economic systems, simpler and happier lifestyles, and especially pathways to off-ramp from the consume till we die society that we currently live in.

I like the writers observation that using environmentally safe products but then consuming more of them still lands us back to the same problem of not enough resources to provide such consumptive lifestyles. I disagree with the point that Doughnut Economics is just greenwashing because it’s not explicitly “degrowth”. Doughnut Economics is about Degrowth, it just makes the point that no matter how much you shrink the economy there are some basic services you need to provide for everyone. Doughnut Theory calls them the social foundations and you can’t go bellow that. How the book addresses shrinking the economy but still providing enough for the social foundations is by “decentralization” of power, finance and ownership.

Open Source Society University https://github.com/ossu/

Oh yeah at this time vertical farming is not suitable for staple crops. However because fruits/veggies lose a majority of their nutritional content when being transported growing them indoors closer to population centers makes more sense. Also would like to mention that the energy and carbon cost to an indoor farm are currently high right now however lots of work is being done to reduce those costs. Not saying it will ever be 0 but we can get closer. Like 3D printing hydroponic towers using recovered and repurposed plastic, integrating them into aquaculture systems to do aquaponics to provide a protein and high quality fertilizer source, placing them in skyscrapers with open walls to take better advantage of natural sunlight, etc. The current strategy of using climate control systems and LED lights is not the way forward IMO but hell it’s a start in a field of agriculture that hasn’t been touched in decades.

There is also the fact that they consume a lot less water. In regions where solar and wind energy are a surplus but fresh water is scarce, indoor farming makes more sense.

Just to let you know a left-libertarian is called an Anarchist.

This is a subject I am a bit interested in. Been reading Ministry for The Future and watching Foundation, so the idea of religion being used to change peoples behavior is an interesting one. I am apprehensive to it as I grew up Mormon but now a firm atheist so the notion of religion in general makes me cringe. However I have been convinced enough through conversations with colleagues that a good way to short circuit human behavior is through religion, us humans we can’t get enough of it we love a good mythical story. So the question is what kind of story do we tell, one of connection to our natural world or one of dominance of our own mortality? I have been interested in the idea of Religious Naturalism, using religion as a means to appreciate the natural world and our understanding of it through the scientific method.

So in that spirit I will share what some may call a “religious” experience. I was in Badwater Basin in Death Valley National park this past New Years. Now Death Valley is a desert that was formed as an ancient ocean dried up so you can see the history of the earth on the rocks going down into the valley. Badwater Basin is in the lowest elevation of death valley, it sits below sea level and once in a while when the West has a wet enough season the basin fills up and this briny lake forms in the basin. There is an area where people can park their cars and go into the water so my partner and I did. Feeling that salty briny water on my skin was amazing, I felt a need to touch the water and feel it on my face(will admit I was also smoking a joint on the way down). But touching that water and knowing that millennia ago our single celled ancestors formed in hot briny pools like the one I was standing in, evolved, adapted, grew up and matured enough to begin to understand the infinite and finite nature of its own existence is nothing short of a miracle in its own way. I also felt this deep connection to the earth that allowed for the opportunity for complex life to form and a deep sense of sadness of how one of its creations is currently treating it. I felt I was in a sacred place and it was beautiful. I now wonder if others could feel that sense of connection just once maybe we would be more careful and respectful of the natural resources we take for granted.

I have been studying Doughnut Theory. IMO its all about metrics/measurement and Doughnut Theory gives a robust way to measure the actual health of an economy/society. You got your social foundations which you have to ensure everyone gets, and you have your ecological ceilings which are your limits on natural resource use/extraction. So the challenge is how do you build business, finance and law to do that.

https://anarchosolarpunk.substack.com/

I mean water amount on the Colorado river is one problem of the Colorado Compact. There is a whole lot of other problems that make the whole compact nonviable in the 21st century that are going to need to be worked out in some sort of Western States congress.