Chelsea Green Publ. Co.

2052; a global forecast for the next forty years.

In The Limits of Growth (1972), coauthor Randers (climate strategy, BI Norwegian Business School) cautioned that unless humanity changed its ways, the planet's future looked unsustainable. In this report to the Club on Rome commemorating the 40th anniversary of this landmark book, he and a new group of prognosticators forecast scenarios about population, consumption, production, energy use, and a counter-globalization trend for the next 40 years for the US, China, and other regions. Supporting figures and maps are drawn from a statistical database, computer models, and other tools. (Annotation ©2012 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Slow democracy; rediscovering community, bringing decision making back home.

Clark, a writer and citizen activist, and Teachout, a historian interested in American civic culture, make the case for what they call slow-democracy. Slow here is a relative term, deriving most of its meaning from a rejection of the sped up technocratic world of "fast food." They argue that much of what we've learned about democracy has probably been focused on national politics, but that this distorts our ability to see the potential efficacy of local civic participation. To get there they make a lengthy comparison to the slow food movement and its critique of centralized, privatized industrial food production. The book is organized into four parts on why we need slow democracy, why we need it now, a "recipe for slow democracy," and several reflections in the end about local meetings and slow democracy. Several appendices provide helpful rules for approaching slow democracy organizing as well as resources. (Annotation ©2012 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Top-bar beekeeping; organic practices for honeybee health.

Crowder, a beekeeper, and Harrell, an organic farmer who studies multiuse permaculture plantings, show beekeepers, orchardists, gardeners, and permaculture practitioners how to keep bees naturally without using antibiotics to kill bacteria, comb fumigants to kill wax moths, miticides to kill mites, or fungicides to kill chalkbrood fungus. They explain the use of top-bar hives, their pros and cons, and design; the characteristics and roles of bees; beekeeping basics, including smokers, obtaining bees, hive placement and removal, and transfer from a Langstroth hive to a top-bar hive; hive management, including removing old comb, killing bees, and feeding; what happens in each season; honey, beeswax, and other products; evaluating and raising queens; problem-solving; and planting for bees. (Annotation ©2012 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)