Geoff... there's plenty of evidence out there that increased CO2 emissions are actually good for the greening of the planet. We also know for a fact that the Earth has in its past been considerably warmer than it is today (and managed to survive just fine). One might suggest that the design of the planet (either from a creator, outside (alien) interference, or just plain old evolution) maybe has a built-in backup plan in case of fluctuations.

(Oh, and there are four other planets in our solar system with climate change... not sure how we're responsible for those... but I digress...)

Anyway, for those interested in the CO2 greening, here's a good link... and look, it's from NASA's Goddard School also... https://www.nasa.gov/featur...

So... since we're all about Permaculture here, and not politics, it would seem to me that more CO2 is, in the end-run, good for the planet...

We are all about making it easy to design abundance, we don't have to believe in anything but we do have to trust the living systems of earth and understand how we can observe and inter-act to achieve that result.

Education-wise, I would like to give a big shout out to all the Sudbury Schools out there. They are a shining example of what education can look like. Please check them out. Just Google or YouTube it.

Thanks for calling out the new US administrations' climate change denial, Geoff. This is a serious threat to us all, as it empowers other nations and corporations to ignore climate change and work solely for profit and their own national interests. Unfortunately the Earth doesn't recognize national boundaries; pollution and greenhouse gasses follow nature's laws. We are all connected.

Geoff, thanks for all the work you have done! Since it's getting political, and having just got through this clown show of a US election, I'm going to have to agree with you, ther was no good out come. This doesn't work anymore, it hasn't for a long time. We are too easily pitted agents each other over minor details, fallowing "party lines" wile the puppets distract us. I hope something better comes from all this, it's about to get really bad for many folks in the US and around the world. This is what it must have felt like in Rome around 424.....

I just finished listening to Jordan Maxwell. He is saying that knowledge is power and we feel powerless because we have no knowledge. What is happening in the world today has a background, a hidden history that we are not familiar with and which we do not understand. Nothing works like you think it works.

Therefore we must quietly resist tyranny by reading, studying and finding out as much as we can about how things really work. How does commerce work, how does the law work, how was our country founded, where does freedom come from. Then we will not be distracted by the puppets and the political shows. With the Internet, it has never been easier.

I am delighted to see so many people here awake to the plans of the New World Order and Globalism. This is all it will take to change things, a paradigm shift. It can be done peacefully, but we must have the courage of our own common sense. Who doesn't want clean air and water, an end to poverty and world peace? But we will have nothing if we don't have our freedom.

Hi Geoff.. I follow up your permaculture related materials with much enthusiasm from Sri Lanka where the word "permaculture" itself is unknown and foreign for even "agriculturists" here..Great work... Anyway, your "Friday Five" stuff is very interesting, educative and useful.. which covers environment to politics.etc. It is the nature of Permaculture, isn't it..? which seeks for an all out change in the world order and systems.. Keep it Up..!

In the latest FF, i found Shubhendu Sharma's Reforesting initiatives are commendable and amazing... where he outlines a fundamental principal for reforestation, adapted from his mentor Akira Miyawaki , that tress should be native, selected form the same area or region for a sustainable forest .. If this basic concept is undermined in reforesting effort, it has to be considered yet again as another act of transgression with the mother nature which eventually lead to calamities .. This fact is evident in the recent rampage fire in Israel which is described in this short essay http://www.gilad.co.uk/writ..... if you like, you can share it through Friday Five series pls..

In this graph http://www.bloomberg.com/gr... It basically says that Deforestation has a slight cooling effect on the climate. I get that deforested areas are cooler than forests, but what about other factors like forests making clouds, and forests capturing and holding carbon in the soil? Can anyone point me to the study that backs up the claim (Deforestation has a slight cooling effect on climate). Or maybe I'm misinterpreting the claim.

Geoff- You're right about the world climate. It's changing, and not for the benefit of earth's inhabitants. The globe is definitely warming; and hydrologic cycles the world over are all screwed up.
Also, the changes are not linear. They feed upon themselves, and accelerate.
There's a growing body of knowledge, however, to suggest that it's not just mankind's carbón footprint that's screwing with the weather.
It could be something far more nefarious- geoengineering. In other words, it's being done intentionally.
Of course, not everyone agrees. But there's a real smart guy in California who has done 15 years of research on the subject- Dane Wigington. And he says there's no doubt- and very little time fo planet earth if we can't stop the insanity-
Might want to check out his website
www.geoengineeringwatch.org

Dear Geoff,
thank you for doing what you do and sharing all that useful information.
I can't believe how many global warming deniers are within your followers.
And a lot of conspiracy theory going here... Shouldn't Permaculture be free
of any religious, political or whatever ideology and not be mixed with personal belief systems?
Global warming induced by human civilization is a proven scientific fact. There are tons of peer-reviewed solid studies out there that everybody can access. Plus, there is the personal experience. 30 years ago there used to be a lot of snow each winter, now there is none and temperatures hardly go below 0C. There is no snow but a lot of heavy rainfall, and summers are hotter than ever before. My personal observations where i live perfectly match the scientist's predictions. I don't intend to offend anyone, but i came to the conclusion that deniers of global warming induced by human activity must be either ideologically bound or just plain stupid.

I read a lot about permaculture and politics lately, like this excellent article:
http://permaculturenews.org...

Shouldn't we be more political? The facts are, that the world is being destroyed before our eyes. Providing alternatives like permaculture does is absolutely crucial, but will it be enough? We can live our hippie-dippie-permaculture dream on our small-scale properties, but if the world around us is being destroyed, it doesn't help much.
Shouldn't we use more offensive tactics to protect whatever is left of zone 5, the mother of all zones?
The importance of zone 5 is being discussed here:
http://permies.com/t/56225/...

Without zone 5, there will be nothing left. Or as Bill Mollison puts it:
"People must see these forests and wilderness as the greatest educational system that we have on the planet. If we could lose all the universities then we would lose nothing, but if we lose the forests we lose everything."

Derrick Jensen's sharp analysis makes it clear that if we don't act now,
future scenarios are very dim at best.
I love permaculture and i think it is important, but i believe it's not enough. We can't dismiss the facts. We must do what we can to fight the murder of the planet.
Just my opinion. Please think for yourselves...

Moar taxes.

http://www.nature.com/nclim...

NO NO NO.
We need a more widespread permaculture.

I think Geoff points out the fractious disagreement about assigning blame. Who did it and how, is not the problem. The problem appears to threaten our existence, like Nuclear Winter a generation earlier. This is something we have a part in.

As an impact or force in nature, humans reliance on fossil fuels to power machines has had a huge impact on the planet, but so has the increase in human population, nearing 8 billion and counting, that's what Goddard photos show. What to do with it? The concept is: that we can observe and change. Change is inevitable, and because of thumbs and brains, we (humans) can help make the change better for everyone or worse. In this case every individual has the ability to choose what they do.

Maybe cartoonist Gary Larson had it right when he drew that smoking cigarettes was the REAL reason dinosaurs became extinct.

I love Geoff Lawton and the permaculture movement, but please be careful of getting involved politically as a movement. The idea of Global Warming was dreamed up by a group of elites looking to make a fortune by making businesses pay for the "privilege" of polluting. If Cap and Trade legislation had passed, Al Gore stood to make $1.5 million per year. When the climate actually began to cool, not warm, this group had to change the name from Global Warming to Climate Change, which by the way, no one can argue against or deny.

No one can deny that we have treated our planet horribly and this needs to stop. Moreover we need to repair the damage that has been done. This will be done by the people, not only in their five acre permaculture plots but by demanding that laws against pollution be enforced, the punishments be severe and the remediation be done by the perpetrators, not the tax payers.

You are partially correct. The climate thing is being used by the powers that be to control the masses.. But please be willing to consider another way than what you've been told as to how it's happening. Go to www.geoengineeringwatch.org

Yes, geoengineering is also responsible and fluoride and GMO and glyphosate and prescription drugs, etc. etc. and all the ways they poison the planet. We've got a lot of cleaning up to do.

You're only partially correct too... the Powers That Be (PTB) are all heavily invested in these new "green" technologies... it's all about making a fast buck...

I've just finished reading "Behind the Green Mask," a highly recommended book about Agenda 21. This is at the local level and it's important to understand how they are hoodwinking us while they pick our pockets!

Thanks Wanda
It is possibly that the vast majority can still realise that we can be sufficient to ourselves. On mass we can take quite a seditious approach and it can be very empowering. We can believe in ourselves and design for ourselves and with permaculture we can give it our all.

Thanks for responding, Geoff. They want us to depend upon government, so we need to depend upon ourselves. They want us crowded in cities, in high-rise condos with no earth in sight, so we need to resist that push. They want us to take their vaccines, so we need to say no. They want us to eat their poisoned food and drink their poisoned water, so we need to supply ourselves with the cleanest food and water we can find. They want us to submit to all their regulation and control, so we need to demand freedom. They want us dumbed down, so we need to seek knowledge.

Maxwell Jordan said "I see no advantage in confronting power; any time you confront power, you will pay for it." We need to be more clever. We need to learn how things really work. Read, study, find out as much as you can about the way the world works. Put your new knowledge to work in your own life. Permaculture is a wonderful beginning. To everyone who wrote anything on this blog: keep up the good work!

Michael Becker has middle schoolers who are independent thinkers and problem-solvers. One insisted the high school math teacher assign harder problems--clearly the opposite of what big-media wants. I encourage anyone upset with elite behaviors to stay connected with permaculture to learn of such things as Hood River Middle School programs--so heartening in such difficult times.

I have already signed up to do the Online PDC with Geoff and each Friday Five I read, I am assured that I have made the right decision. Thank you Geoff, for continuing to equip me with the skills and the knowledge that are enabling my husband and I to take responsibility for our own future. You are an inspiration, and IMHO, the work you are doing is most definitely a part of the solution to the challenges we face.

Thanks Lesley
We have an incredible line up for you, definitely the best by far that I have ever produced, I am proud to say.

"And for the tiny number of you that believe man-made climate change is all some kind of “mainstream conspiracy theory,” kindly consider these set of facts put together by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies."

I looked at the link provided, but what do we do with this information?

http://principia-scientific...

http://www.forbes.com/sites...

I am not trying to be a smart-alec here. In my 50 years, I've seen the global cooling change to global warming change to climate change so I am skeptical. The only conclusion I can come to right now is that it is a power grab by some group. I don't doubt that man can alter the environment, and at times do a massive amount of destruction. I look at the work done by Allan Savory:

https://www.ted.com/talks/a...

To save some of you the bother, I will also give this link:

http://www.slate.com/articl...

We've all seen the benefit that animals have on our little patches of land so I am more inclined to lean in favor of Allan Savory. In the end, you guys take care of your environment to prevent global warming, and I will take care of my 10 acres to be a good steward of the small part of God's creation that I have been entrusted with.

The Earth has gone through climate changes up and down for at least the past 500 years and none of it was human caused. Human caused "global warming" is a myth, conjured up by the "Powers That Be", who are the ones who really run (ruin) the world. The "Powers That Be" have a plan of world conquest and part of that plan is to cut the world's population in half! Controlling the energy we use is going to have the same effect as rationing food... people are going to freeze and die from heat exhaustion. The "Powers That Be" have caused every war since 1700 and it was Albert Pike (a 33rd degree Mason) who stated in 1875 that the last war will be fought between Islamism and Zionism, which meant that both WWI and WWII were planned and as they say, "the devil is in the details", for which was brought out by William Guy Carr's book titled, "Pawns in the Game", 1958 and an update version in a book I have just published, "What Difference Does It Make?!" and can be found here; www.createspace.com/6554305 or on Amazon. If nothing else remember this quote from FDR; "Anything political is planned!"

My next book is nearly ready for publication and it has to do with going back to an agrarian society, but we can still have the same technology we have today, but we need to do two things... 1) Take on self-responsibility and 2) get rid of human greed. The first one can be done, but the second one is not going to happen and I would bet the farm on that one!

I know I am going to get some "hate mail" on what I have just posted here and I say this... bring it on! Because I know far more than what I am saying here, but if you want to get a flavor of what I am all about, go to my personal blog here; whatdifferencedoesitmak.blo...

Hi Mark
With all due respect to those who see it differently, climate change is a fact. We’re living in an age, though, where it is easy to find “proof” for anything. When I googled “moon landing hoax,” I got over 4 million results. There are entire sites dedicated to debunking “urban legends” and that try to discuss complex issues in an impartial manner (to see some of these as they relate to climate change, this is one of the better resources: http://www.snopes.com/searc...

I’ve seen the research, met with top scientists from the around the world, and have been working “with the Earth” my entire life. I believe that the evidence for man-made global warming is overwhelming.

And in the event that I (and countless others) are wrong, isn’t it better to assume there is a problem that we can take steps to fix and then attempt to do so, rather than to assume we have no role or responsibility in “big history climate patterns,” and sit by passively as things spiral out of control?

Again, irrespective of what you believe, In any case, my job here is to help train a generation of kind-hearted people how to take control of their own lives, their own food supply, their own happiness, and their own livelihoods; and permaculture provides us all the tools and know-how we need to take full responsibility for our own lives.

Hi Geoff, the movement for permaculture is not only laudable, but necessary for a growing population and hopefully to squash to even to a small degree, the pollution brought upon us by greedy people. However, one can hardly believe that one or two degrees of "global warming" is so alarming, as to cause a near world-wide panic. The so-called "scientists" who tout "human caused" global warming are mostly government employees and as far back as 1995 when all this began, those government employed scientists who did not believe in "human caused" global warming were instantly fired! That sir is a tattle-tail sign that "human caused" global warming is politically motivated for the sake of the "Powers That Be".

In addition, computer models are only as good as the data is fed them. There are mitigating factors and possible anomalies that might be missing, such as mathematically, they still do not know why helicopters and bubble bees fly! Mr. Spock was correct when he stated, "The universe still contains infinite unknowns." Any truthful scientist will plainly admit that is a true statement, despite the fact it came from a fictional tv series.

It is a scientific fact, when the Earth warms up, more clouds form to cool it off. Planet Earth has built-in correcting factors and it could take years if not decades for it to normalize, for whatever "normal" is supposed to be. It is interesting to take careful note that doctors define "normal" as to what the entire population is experiencing and grade it on a curve. When the human race gets sicker and sicker, so-called "normal" can mean having a low degree of disease, compared to what was normal say 50 years ago? I think the point is well taken if you view television now as compared to 20 years ago and see how Big Pharma has defined "normal" by being on some kind of drug for even the slightest problem that is simply corrected by proper nutrition. There is an old axiom, that if something needs to be advertised you probably do not need it. All one has to do is listen carefully to all the "side effects" and make the logically determination that the "relief" (not cure) could be worse than the disease.

All those who read this, please be aware that I am not arguing, I am a researcher and have been since grade school and have cultivated writing skills in the past 15 years. What good is research if one cannot share it with those who need it? I am also prodding my readers to be a little more thoughtful and be skeptical, especially when it comes from a government. I say this for the simple reason that once a government gains power, it will not give it up easily. Well.... we do know something about that as to what happened 240 years ago. Well brace yourselves for a “carbon tax” place upon what has become a basic necessity, just as tea was going back to the “Tea Party”.

The following is an excerpt from a book I had recently published about the so-called “Tea Party”: Although the crates were marked “East Indian Tea Company”, there was much more than “tea” in those crates, but the school textbook writers had to make sure our children would not be exposed as to the much of the true cargo in those crates… it was cocaine; you know, the stuff that was in those “snuff boxes” used by our Forefathers? So do not fool yourselves in believing that we are any better than our Forefathers, but use a straw instead of a “pinch”.

I agree about the New World Order. I listen to the Alex Jones Show and see other people's observations. I wish that Geoff Lawton would mention the control of the New World Order in pushing a world-wide carbon tax to fund its plan of world domination and murder of the population. I hope that Geoff Lawton is not hoping for a world dictatorship and murder. The New World Order controls the media, so maybe Geoff Lawton has not woken up because of the deception from New World Order media.

We need an agrarian society. In the United States in schools, they push sports instead of growing plants. Sports are all right for fun, but growing plants, from a vegan perspective, is necessary for life. Growing polycultures instead of monocultures is also necessary.

Hi Christopher, I can understand growing "vegan", however there is something that many people in general do not know or understand. There are two different kinds of protein; 1) vegetable protein and 2) animal protein, for which without animal protein one is not feeding the muscles of the human body. A true vegan would quickly shy away from eggs, cheese, etc., but are short changing themselves from protein and minerals that are essential for muscles, for which the heart is all muscle and hungry for minerals, some of which come from animal protein.

Personally I have noticed some of those shopping in natural food stores to look like "death warmed over" and in my opinion these people are not consuming any animal protein and I can cite one particular example... A woman who was 100 percent vegan for 20 years and one day decided to consume some meat and exclaimed she never felt better! The key to consuming anything is moderation and not extremism. In the defense of those who consume just vegetables would be correct when doing perhaps a "cleansing", but only for a specified time. In addition, one might remember the HBO special, "Supersize Me", when one man decided to only consume MacDonald's food for 30 days. On the 22nd day, he visited his doctor and the doctor told the patient that if he continues with that diet, he will die! In my opinion, the patient picked the wrong "fast-food joint", because as far as nutrition is concerned, MacDonald's is on the very low end. I must admit that before my re-education, I enjoyed a "Big Mac" and I do think about it at times, but because I know better, I quickly dismiss the thought.

Now to address the "New World Odor"... many people simply do not understand how the world really works. There is no doubt that "Permaculture" is the way to go, in regards to taking responsibility, even in a small way. God said to Adam about the garden "to dress it and keep it" and that responsibility has been passed on to all humanity and most of humanity has ignored those instructions and look where we are because we did not heed those vital instructions!

This is very important to understand and I do not care whether anyone believes it or not, but I am only the messenger... consider Matthew 4:1-10, especially verses 8 and 9. It presupposes does it not that no one can give something away they do not already own? This is Satan's world, until the near annihilation of humanity, therefore all the evils that exist will soon trump all good works, but that does not give those who know better an excuse not to accept responsibility for at least their own little corner of the world.

Yes, we can have a better world, but that is simply not going to happen in the general sense. The "New World Odor" has a very tight grip on nearly every government on the planet, for which the IMF supplies money to these governments. The IMF belongs to the Banksters, as in "gangsters", which is the Illuminati and the agenda of a "New World Order", for which the United Nations is their mouth piece who have promulgated "global warming". Now is this making more sense as to how the world works? And remember that this is Satan's world and he knows his time is nearly up, which is the curse put upon Adam nearly 6000 years ago, when the 6000 years are up, so will Satan's ruler ship, but not without the entire world suffering at his hands and that can be found in several places in your Bibles, especially Daniel 11, Matthew 24 and the entire Book of Revelation. The Bible is a jig-saw puzzle and you may have heard the phrase "here a little and there a little", which comes from the Bible and is one of the secrets of discovering prophecy. There is so much more to understand, but I must leave that to those of you and your digression.

I do not have much time now to write because I am going to a raw vegan potluck. One owner / founder of Raw Food Central, Berlin, CT has been raw vegan since the 1980s. I have been vegan since 2001 and raw vegan since 2011, so this is my sixth year of being raw vegan. I starting to get faster at pushups, up to about 20 to 30 in a set. I will do a set now. Hold on. I just did 40 pushups. My goal is to get stronger and younger as I get older. Age is just a number. I have to work on my other muscles to fill in my thin body.

I agree with you about the Bible. I am Christian. I am going to prepare for the raw vegan potluck.

Hi Christopher, whatever you are doing seems to be working for you and as they say, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". However, I did see some Internet chatter about a "raw diet" being detrimental to the teeth. Perhaps it might be worth at least a look. I have been aware of "raw diets" from a friend of mine in New-Mexico and who had eaten raw meat. I helped him build his Earthship 13 years ago and has been doing Permaculture for several years now. He is quite self-sufficient and doing well even with a modest income.

I am also in Connecticut at this time, with my mom and younger brother. Dad died more than 2 years ago and my family needed my help. Connecticut has been my home State, but New-Mexico is my favorite location. Live long and prosper my friend.

I am in Manchester, Connecticut. Where are you? My mother died in 2007. That was before I knew about how being raw vegan allows the body to heal itself. If my mother switched to raw vegan ten years before 2007 and avoided toxic cancer treatments, she would probably be alive now.

I just stopped going to the dentist because the dentist wants drill and fill. I watch my teeth carefully so that I can see if they need drill and fill. They have been strong, despite cavities. The dentist never asks about diet and lifestyle.

I am in Norwalk. Dad died from Alzheimer's after being diagnosed 7 years prior. Chemo is "Draino", a quote from a nurse I know in California. Chemo is so toxic that if any is spilled, one has to dress up in an environmental suit to clean up the mess. And what I do not understand is that Chemo has a 1.5 percent success rate, so how can a judge force anyone under that venue to take Chemo? The biggest lobby in Washington D.C. is Big Pharma and the FDA is maned with former executives of Big Pharma!

There are a number of cancer cures out there, they just have to be sought out and none of them involve Big Pharma! All this info can be found in my most recent book that is nearly ready for publication, "Growing Your Own Groceries". My email address is; mark.debarbieri@gmail.com

I will send an email to you from christopherspaulin@yahoo.com. I agree with your ideas. I will be going through Norwalk, CT on Wednesday to drop of my landlord at John F. Kennedy Airport on Long Island, NY, starting at 8 PM. It would nice to meet you sometime.

My idea of health is that you provide the cellular environment with diet (low-fat raw vegan) and lifestyle, and the body heals itself. The exceptions are permanent damage, when the body is beyond repairing itself, and emergencies, when the body does not have enough time to heal itself. I believe that all diseases are the same, which is toxicity and deficiency. Disease is a symptom of (secondary to) the cellular environment.

I wrote Donald Trump myself to talk to him about Permaculture

I believe that what lots of people call the climate change HOAX is the fact that the UN uses climate change to promote and experiment with CHEMTRAILS, which are financed with the money that every country gives the UN. I am hoping that if we cut the funding for any projects will be that one...

I hope we understand that Climate change has to be fought through a philosophical level, questioning how our practices in small and large levels can have a positive (or negative) effect on the earth and the people.

I was intending to signup and do an Online Permaculture Design Certificate Course with Geoff, but after reading this diatribe by Geoff Lawton against the only man out there who is fighting against the Globalists scourge of George Soros and the New World Order, I realise that Geoff might be part of the problem and not the solution. I intend to look elsewhere.

Hi Frank
With all due respect to those who see it differently, climate change is a fact. We’re living in an age, though, where it is easy to find “proof” for anything. When I googled “moon landing hoax,” I got over 4 million results. There are entire sites dedicated to debunking “urban legends” and that try to discuss complex issues in an impartial manner (to see some of these as they relate to climate change, this is one of the better resources: http://www.snopes.com/searc...

I’ve seen the research, met with top scientists from the around the world, and have been working “with the Earth” my entire life. I believe that the evidence for man-made global warming is overwhelming.

And in the event that I (and countless others) are wrong, isn’t it better to assume there is a problem that we can take steps to fix and then attempt to do so, rather than to assume we have no role or responsibility in “big history climate patterns,” and sit by passively as things spiral out of control?

Again, irrespective of what you believe, In any case, my job here is to help train a generation of kind-hearted people how to take control of their own lives, their own food supply, their own happiness, and their own livelihoods; and permaculture provides us all the tools and know-how we need to take full responsibility for our own lives.

Geoff, being an agent of change in your own area of expertise is one thing but as soon as you start stepping out of that in order to use your new found celebrity to influence in areas outside your area of expertise, such as politics, global warming, drugs, abortion, etc in which most folks are largely emotionally driven and follow authority figues rather than simply doing their own research and reason, then you are going to start losing folks.
I depend upon you for your Permaculture expertise but if you plan to start using the "Friday Five" as your personal soapbox/bully pulpit OUTSIDE of that area of expertise, then I will be unsubscribing. Most folks are unlikely to do you the courtesy of letting you know they feel similarly, so if your ... popularity begins to wane, maybe you can chalk it up to that.

I believe that climate change does fall into Geoff's areas of expertise. He travels all over the planet observing and talking to people about their changing ecosystems and weather patterns. I'd wager that he has spoken personally to more climate scientists then most. He lives outside of the US political bubble and represents the global consensus that climate change is indeed a very real and most serious threat, especially for the vast population of the planet who are subsistence farmers and rely on stable weather patterns for their very survival. I'm sure there are global elites who would take advantage of climate change for their own personal gains and agendas. But that does not mean that climate change is a hoax. Just ask the Fijian ambassador who just respectfully invited Trump to come visit their island and see the rising seas for himself: https://www.theguardian.com...

By your logic, although I am not an MD, I qualify as a medical expert simply because I've talked to a lot of Doctors.

You demonstrate the exact problem of operating according to one's beliefs and faith in authority figures - your BELIEF Geoff is a climate change expert simply because he has rubbed shoulders with some outside the USA - rather than using facts, logic and reason to guide one's decision making.

I believe that Geoff has some authority to speak about climate change after I saw him give this speech in London:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

You are making my case for me. The primary reason you believe Geoff is a climate change expert is because he reinforces your prejudices.
There is enough contrary evidence available (this is just one: https://www.cfact.org/wp-co... ) to convince a truly scientific mind (valid expert) that the matter is FAR from certain.
A secondary but important issue to resolve is that even IF there is significant man-made climate effects, there are ZERO valid viable solutions that we could employ that would have any effect short of mass population reduction and perhaps not even that given other considerations.
The biggest impact we COULD make but are too hidebound, superstitious, and emotional to do so would be to promote the use of presently existing safe Nuclear energy production technology.

Dan,
Thanks for your respectful conversation. I hear what you are saying. It's true that if climate change is primarily caused by CO2 emissions, there are very few viable options to slow this runaway train and keep industrial civilization afloat any where near it's current level of consumption, save nuclear energy, which obviously has it's own potentially catastrophic outcomes. And the article you sent makes a valid point that there are hundreds of factors which govern climate change. A big one that comes to mind my is deforestation, because forests help to regulate rainfall and the circulation of atmospheric moisture. So I agree that placing the full blame of climate change on CO2 alone is myopic.

And then there's the basic consensus of the global scientific community that human made CO2 emissions are warming the planet and the millions of links I could post here that affirm that belief. I do not believe that CO2 driven climate change is a giant hoax with the entire world body of climate scientists as co-conspirators. That's just too far fetched to imagine that so many independent thinkers and organizations are all complicit in falsifying a body of knowledge with such vast sets of data proving the association of CO2 emissions and global temperature rise.

I believe my prejudices are valid, and are overwhelmingly backed up by world scientific bodies, like the International Panel on Climate Change. Geoff affirms my prejudices as well, and my prejudice that Permaculture is one of the most potent tools we have to address climate change and the myriad other associated issues we face including water depletion, pollution, deforestation, desertification, poverty, and hunger.

So whether we can agree or not that CO2 emissions are causing warming is irrelevant if we can agree that Permaculture is a solution to the complex issues that we face together as humans. Then the work looks the same regardless of beliefs.

Ditto. It IS a nice change to have a civil conversation regarding a topic that is usually so emotionally charged.

I think the "fact" that there is a consensus among true scientists (as opposed to pundits, activists, media, self-styled experts, and well intentioned but out-of-their-area-of-expertise academes) is largely an illusionary belief that continues to be promulgated by those who are CERTAIN (ie; non-scientists, true scientists know that certainty is based in either ignorance or hubris).
https://www.heartland.org/_...

I choose to try to neither "believe" in uncertainties nor authorities absolutely and thus my own study of the extant data (uninterpretated, unmassaged) using my own logic and reason has lead me in a different direction.

I think it is dangerous in the extreme to lend absolute/avid support to a "movement" that will impact so many lives without doing one's own due diligence PERSONALLY rather than abdicating responibilty for that to some authority figure to decide FOR ME.

Most folks of average intelligence are capable of educating themselves on this and most other matters enough to make an informed decision but we'd rather be "golfing".

I think such lazy abdication of personal responsibility for decision-making is part of the reason the USA finds itself in its present situation. We should either inform ourselves or abstain/refrain from influencing others and supporting legislation/actions that we KNOW will likely have resounding impact.

Quit relying on largely self-styled experts and celebrities to inform, think, and decide for us and "get in the game".

Yes, I think we can agree that self-motivated, INDIVIDUAL, non-mandated application of some aspects of Permaculture may offer part of the solution to limiting negative human impact upon bounteous Mother Earth.
finis

Okay this is finis :-)
"... skeptics who disagree with the IPCC’s proclamations don’t say humans are not “causing global warming,” because they acknowledge that agriculture, building roads and airports and water treatment plants, and emissions of various kinds (including carbon dioxide) may indeed affect regional climates and may even be enough to have a discernable impact globally. But is it enough to “disrupt the Earth’s climate”? There is no evidence that it is." - http://climatechangereconsi...

Just reading the little bit of info at that link should be enough to give ANY reasonable, open-minded person a bit of . . . pause in any absolute certainty they may FEEL regarding this topic.

One thing you CAN be sure of: if your mind is made up and no longer open to new data regardless of the "side" it falls on, then you know you ain't a (true) scientist.
okay, now finis :-)