The Earth is ringing—it is ringing off the hook. I feel like we’re in a dream and we’re moving through molasses to answer it. We’re heading for an evolutionary knothole. If we are to get through that knothole—and if we are to bloom on the other side as a keystone species and not an ecological dominant—the way we live our lives needs to make it possible for other species to live their lives. The first thing we have to do is to quiet human cleverness. Life survives through an accurate reading of its context. It takes a deep, deep listening.

A path-breaking new report concludes that the U.S. could develop a sustainable energy policy -- one that is both carbon-free and nuclear- free -- in 60 years or less.

The book-length study by Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) in Takoma Park, Maryland offers a detailed plan for powering the nation's economy with zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and no nuclear power plants. The study resulted from a joint project of IEER and the Nuclear Policy Research Institute.

Over the past several decades we have begun decoding and deciphering the inner workings of nature. We are discovering in its teachings the principles of ecological design upon which we will be able to change the way we live. With nature’s operating instructions, we can evolve a technological and social framework that can heal the earth and support all beings, including humans, in a symbiotic harmony. By learning from the workings of the natural world—the ecological knowledge that transcends human intelligence—we can cultivate a new generation of stewards of the earth.