Is the divine presence a Republican? Or is He/She/It running an inter-galactic fossil fuel conglomerate?...whatever the explanation may be, the Paraclete appears to be as determined as any terrestrial corporate frontman to prevent a successful conclusion to the climate talks. How I know? Because every time anyone gets together to try to prevent global climate breakdown, He swaths the rich, densely habited parts of the world with snow and ice, while leaving obscurer places to cook.

If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.

Soil is an almost magical substance, a living system that transforms the materials it encounters.

War and pestilence might kill large numbers of people, but in most cases the population recovers. But lose the soil and everything goes with it.

The corporations are powerful only because we have allowed them to be. In theory, it is we, not they, who mandate the state. But we have neglected our duty of citizenship, and they have taken advantage of our neglect to seize the reins of government.

Change arises from conviction. Stop voting in fear. Start voting for hope.

It does not matter whether we burn fossil fuels with malice or with love. As far as the atmosphere is concerned, it is not concerned. It is a collection of gases.