http://blog.metasd.com Don't just do something, stand there! (Sometimes good policy in complex systems is counterintuitive) Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:19:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This informationisbeautiful graphic is pretty, but I don't find it informative. The y scale is nonlinear, and I don't know if the x scale conveys anything. It's hard to work out the timing of inundation, which is really the key. The focus on the low points of big cities in ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/sea-level-chartjunk/ Next week I'm off to the EMF Snowmass conference on climate change impacts and integrated assessment. I'm more excited about the great minds than the great venue, though I can't complain about the latter. Except this: "to ensure your safety, the steep road winding its way from the mountain’s ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/my-head-may-explode-from-the-irony/ Democrats have pulled the plug on a sweeping energy bill this year. There is no heir apparent. This is not cause for panic. In climate, as in education, there are no emergencies. However, the underlying reasons may be cause for panic. It seems that voters are unwilling to accept any policy ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/cap-trade-est-mort/ The temperance movement may have won the prohibition war (temporarily), but a minor battle was lost just down the road from here, in Butte. Despite the reformers' best efforts, Butte's demimonde was larger and seedier than ever by 1910. That year the federal census recorded Butte's highly transient population at more ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/hatchetations-interrupted/ Prohibition was a personal triumph for Carrie Nation, and a disaster for the American nation. In her Smith College commencement address, Rachel Maddow translates that into some great personal advice. She makes the case very nicely for ethics that help us transcend short term pressures and build a future we ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/personal-triumphs-are-overrated/ Complex systems find many ways of resisting or evading pressures, resulting in policy failure, backlashes, whack-a-mole games and other unintended consequences. Some great examples just wandered by my desk: Via Economist's View: Immigration reform has a long history of unintended consequences: More than two decades of increased enforcement since the passage of ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/policy-resistance/ That's really the only advice I can give on models and copyrights. Nevertheless, here are some examples of contract language that may be illuminating. Bear in mind that I AM NOT A LAWYER AND THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. I provide no warranty of any kind and assume no liability for ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/get-a-lawyer/ Oct 19-21, 2010 -- Boston Mass USA Climate Interactive and SEED Systems are offering a powerful three-day workshop for innovative climate, energy, and sustainability leaders from business, non-profit, government, and university sectors, led by Drew Jones and Sara Schley. Attend to develop your capacities in: • Systems thinking: Causal loop and stock-flow diagramming. • Leadership: Vision, ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/leaders-for-a-new-climate/ What do you do when feasible policies aren't popular, and popular policies aren't feasible? Let's start with a joke: Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev are travelling together on a train. Unexpectedly the train stops. Lenin suggests: “Perhaps, we should call a subbotnik, so ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/the-emerging-climate-technology-delusion/ Or, Friends don't let friends work for hire. Image Copyright 2004 Lawrence Liang, Piet Zwart Institute, licensed under a Creative Commons License Photographers and other media workers hate work for hire, because it's often a bad economic tradeoff, giving up future income potential for work that's underpaid in the first place. But ... http://blog.metasd.com/2010/07/models-and-copyrights/