 If you're listening to this, and I hope you are, you may have thought about what the world would be like without fossil fuels. What if this entire industrial infrastructure collapsed around us? If you thought about that, maybe you've dreamed about how people could bring about this catastrophe. I was indulging in this thought experiment almost a decade ago when working as an archaeologist on a pipeline infrastructure project. I started writing about how vulnerable all this infrastructure is, first as non-fiction and then as a novel to integrate the information into a story form. Today, I'm sharing a few excerptic chapters from this work, which are coming out soon as an audiobook. This is the LowTech Podcast. Hello and welcome, I'm Scott Johnson from the LowTech Institute, your host for podcast number 60 on December 2nd, 2022, coming to you at the LowTech Institute's recording room in Cooksville, Wisconsin. Thanks for joining us. Today I'll give you a few excerpts from the audiobook EcoGorillas and information about how members of the Institute can get free, advanced access. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter. Our handle is at low underscore techno, like us on Facebook, find us on Instagram, subscribe to us on YouTube and check out our website, lowtechinstitute.org, where you can find both of our podcasts as well as information about joining and supporting the Institute and its research. Also, some podcasters and distributors put ads on podcasts, unless you hear me doing the ad, someone else is making money on that advertising. While all our podcast videos and other information are given freely, they take resources to make. If you're in a position to help support our work and become part of this community, please consider becoming a monthly supporter for as little as $3 a month through our Patreon page, patreon.com, slash lowtechinstitute. Another way to support us is to donate your used car. Anyone in the US can contact us and your used car will be picked up, sold, and the proceeds come our way. If you're interested in helping us out, like Brian and Marvie did this week, get in touch with us at info at lowtechinstitute.org. If you'd like to sponsor an episode directly, please get in touch with us through our website, lowtechinstitute.org. Today, we'll be listening to a few excerpts from an audiobook that's being released for free on all the usual podcast apps. Just search for EcoGorillas, that's two R's and two L's. Each Friday, a new episode will be made public. Supporters of the Institute, either on Patreon or traditional members, can get free early access to the episodes as they become available. If you're a member, watch for an email with information to access this for free. Graduate students Eva and Eric have been frustrated by the lack of concern the world seems to show towards the changing climate. As the environment approaches a tipping point, they gather a team of like-minded individuals committed to a livable tomorrow by any means. Their group pushes society to change through actions that call attention to problem points. They sabotage the gasoline distribution system, create a propaganda campaign turning the public against wasteful actors, destroy dams causing ecological problems, simulate the danger of nuclear plants, and demonstrate the instability of our food network. The leaders pen a manifesto to incite change and inspire acceptance of the sacrifices needed to survive what's coming. Coordinated attacks that may destroy global industrial infrastructure. This is not just the introduction to an alternative dystopian timeline, all the facts are true with citations to prove it. This narrative both rationalizes and humanizes so-called extreme environmental arguments to encourage readers to reevaluate their previous convictions. And now, onto the excerpts. Prologue, 19th of September, 2016. The power lines buzzed overhead, burning off the morning fog that draped the landscape. The crew could only see one pair of towers at a time. Looming geometric frames each holding three bundles of aluminum cables 200 feet above the ground. The corridor, hemmed in by dark pine forests, was covered by a carpet of knee high grasses, saplings, and brambles. Eva Eberhardt frowned at the trees as she paced through the corridor. Even though this area was heavily wooded, it was an artificial landscape. All the pines were the same height and age. The underbrush density was unnatural. On the drive in, she had seen tree fields that must have been planted after being clear cut the year before. It thrilled her to think what this area would look like in 20 years, after the collapse when the signs of rigid industrial production would begin to fade, or in 100 years when it might take on the appearance of an old growth forest. But that sentimentality, she reminded herself, was for another day. The crew hustled, knowing they would be hard to spot through the fog. Nevertheless, they posted two scouts, one near each of the roads that crossed the corridor near their target. The power line towers. The invisibility was welcome, but the crew was used to working in plain view. Instead of hiding their actions, they worked under the anonymity of the power line industry. Anybody in a hard hat and neon orange safety vest must be on the up and up. Luckily for the movement, those few crews that had been caught had been working under the cover of darkness. And nobody yet suspected that the infiltration of the nation's infrastructure had taken place in broad daylight. Eva and her team were good at their jobs. Ostensibly, they're a part of the environmental surveying crew that was required to monitor power line and pipeline corridors for impacts on their surroundings. They all consider this job description a joke. Even if the pipeline did not rupture in the modified vegetation of the corridor did not disrupt local wildlife, the continuous of fossil fuels and electricity would destroy the environment on a global scale. The influence held by energy corporations guaranteed that reasonable proposals to curb global climate change and a mass extinction would be ignored. They joined the movement because the time for being reasonable was over. Even with absolute economic and political power, the energy industry could not survive without its infrastructure. People did not think they could survive without either. But after the collapse, they wouldn't have a choice. Most of the teams working around the country were independent of one another. Few knew the names of anybody outside their immediate group. Most of the crew chiefs communicated with one another and the core leadership group through code names. Eva was unusual. Unbeknownst to her crew, she had started the movement. She had led the team on their proof of concept missions helping to identify the most vulnerable points of the industrial world's infrastructure. They would be shocked to learn they were working with the mastermind of the Glen Canyon Dam demolition. She had helped write and edit the manifesto, wrangling the scattered thoughts of a group of what were then called eco-radicals and later eco-terrorists into a coherent persuasive argument. All that her crew knew was that Eva had a preternatural ability to be selected for the most difficult and dangerous tasks. As they approached the towers, she pulled out her radio and tried out her drawl. Hey, Bobby, you out hunting for quail? He wasn't really, but she couldn't ask him if he was in position as a lookout over open radio frequencies. Yep, but no luck so far. How about you, Ted? No luck here, said another voice. She looked at her crew. All clear, five minutes, everybody sprang into action. Erin scurried up the peg ladder on an outside corner of the first tower. Once she got to the first main crossover beam, she made her way to the side of the tower facing its twin. She pulled out a small packet. It had two lumps, each the size of a small candy bar. One was the explosive and the other was a single-use cell phone. They were mounted on a triangular bit of metal, the size and shape of the bracket used to reinforce the connections of the towers struts. She slotted the packet into place and called down. Ben, how's it look? Ben looked up from his large ratchet. Can't even see it, Erin. Ben was using a large wrench to back the nuts off the bolts that anchored the outer legs of the tower onto their concrete footings. As he got enough slack, Genevieve inserted a long pry bar to force the foot up a half an inch off the pad. Ben slid a small sheet of plastic explosive under the pad, attaching a wire to a small receiver. This wouldn't be enough to blow up the footing, but it was enough to shear the bolts. Okay, let it down, Gen. Ben started tightening the nuts back down. Meanwhile, Erin had continued to install three more explosive packets on the inside struts of the tower. The idea was that the upper explosives was caused one side of the tower to fail, the side facing its neighboring tower and creating catastrophic dominoes. These towers had been chosen because they were on the turn in the corridor, a deflection where the weight of the power lines would pull a hobbled tower over. The contact between the power lines would create a surge, followed by a short circuit for everybody connected to this line. As Erin started to come down from the tower, Ava's radio crackled with Ted's voice. Hey, I got two pheasants, I'm coming in for a bite. Shit, thought Ava, feeling panic rise, shit, shit, shit. Calm then flooded over her. Okay, get ready for visitors. Everybody dropped their backpacks on the grounds. They zipped their usual equipment into hidden pockets and pulled out clipboards, a camera, sample bags, and a GPS. By that time, Ted and Bobby had sneaked back to the group. Ava held her clipboard full of maps, satellite images, and tables of species inventories. All ready? Go! The crew spread out in the quarter. Erin and Erin, who still had a tower's worth of explosives in their bags, went to the edge of the clear cut and slipped into the underbrush of the planted pines. Even with their reflective orange vests, they couldn't be seen under the thickets. The rest busied themselves with field work, as they heard the vehicles approaching. A sheriff's deputy maneuvered his cruiser down the two-track corridor road, followed closely by a pickup truck with oversized tires. Ava pretended to be engrossed in her paperwork until they were close. She looked up, feigning surprise, and gave the interlopers a wave and a smile. She started walking toward the sheriff's vehicle. Morning! Morning to you, said the deputy, stepping out of his vehicle and appraising the situation. Ava's crew all wore similar versions of what they called an unofficial uniform. Leather work boots, double-fronted car-heart pants, old t-shirts under long-sleeve button-up flannels. Usually they topped off the look with ratty baseball caps, but today they were wearing full-brim, forestry hard hats, and orange safety vests in order to appear more official. Hi, I'm, she started, but was interrupted by the man driving the truck. He had jumped down and hurried towards them, his face red from exertion and excitement. Just what the hell are you doing on my land? The deputy stepped in front of Ava, facing the man. Hold on, Jimmy. I said you could come, but you had to let me do the talking. We don't want to repeat a last year now, do we? At this, Jimmy looked away, embarrassed. I thought they were poaching. They snuck in here, looking all around, like they didn't want no one to see them. Ava stepped out from behind the deputy. We're here completing an ecological survey of the power line quarter, as per the agreement you signed when you gave Georgia Electric an easement on your property. They must have told you this would happen from time to time. I'm Dr. Morales with Tree People, here's my card. She handed them both a business card. And here's the number for the Georgia Electric Landowner Relations Hotline. They'll be able to answer any questions you have. She gave them another card with the number that rang to a non-descript office building outside of Washington, D.C. Although the office houses a group of people working to bring down Georgia Electric, and every other power concern, if he called the number, he would speak to a sympathetic representative who would commiserate about the government's pesky environmental regulations and apologize profusely for those quote-unquote tree-huggers intruding on his property. But few landowners ever made the call. The deputy was eyeing the crew, who was scurrying around the corridor, crouching, photographing, consulting field guides, and scribbling notes on their clipboards. It would look legitimate, even to somebody who knew about ecological survey, because they had all been involved with field work in some way before joining up. What exactly does an ecological survey entail, miss, Morales was it? Dr. Morales, actually, she began. And it's a basic census of what species of plants, animals, and insects are present in and near the corridor. We compare this to censuses taken before, during, and after the installation of this power line. The deputy rolled his eyes. Uh-huh, I see. And tree people? Is that some sort of joke? Is it a hippie commune or a business? I didn't make up the name. She smiled and what she hoped was an ingratiating way. And everybody works for somebody, right? Huh, yeah, well, I guess. The deputy turned back to Jimmy. See just some egg-ass out, counting trees and bugs. The next time you'll take a deep breath and count to ten before flying off the handle about people creeping around on your property, they'd be the worst poachers I'd seen dressed like that anyway. Jimmy grunted, turned on his heel and stomped back to his truck, and backed out of the corridor, spraying gravel and dust behind him. Don't mind him, said the deputy. He's just sore, because he was given a warning for pulling a gun on some other people he thought were poaching on his land last year. Turned out to be game warrens, and he got a free night's accommodation and county lockup. Oh, it's no problem. We're glad you were here this time, though, deputy, Ava's smiling, but only on the outside. He gave her a longer look, taking in her blonde hair tied back in a loose bun, her face pretty but not beautiful, and the rest of her fit from years of hiking and working outdoors. When do y'all finish up today? I mean, could I ask? This is our last day in Georgia. We gotta be in Tennessee by tomorrow morning. Eva tried not to rush her rejection. Aha, well, I guess I'll let you get to it. Stay safe out here. With that, he stepped back in his cruiser, backed out of the corridor, and sped off. Aunt and Bobby both took their paintball guns with pepper spray balls from where they had held them underneath their clipboards and slid them back into their concealed homes. Ava hadn't drawn hers, but she had popped open the snap on the pancake holster hidden in the small of her back. She closed the snap now. Next time, don't be directly opposite one another with them between you. You could hit one another trying to get them. One of you should be a bit farther behind. Otherwise, good work, everybody. Gee, thanks, doctor, or more Alice, said Bobby, eliciting guffaws from the rest of the crew. Ava rolled her eyes, although she knew the mistake wouldn't be repeated. To herself, she thought, that could have gotten ugly if the deputy had paid more attention to the FBI wanted lists. But then again, who would expect to see such a quote-unquote dangerous terrorist wearing an orange vest and a hard hat in a foggy field in rural Georgia? Chapter two, deeper ecology, the green manifesto. The following excerpts describe the theoretical underpinnings of the group known colloquially as the eco-guerrillas. We refer to ourselves as deeper ecologists or deep greens and pine for the day when we can leave the shadows and thrive in a society that values and respects its position on this planet. As our opponents seek to characterize us as quote-unquote radicals, terrorists, and in one case quote, fringe nut jobs, end quote, we thought it would be appropriate for us to speak for ourselves instead of letting the enemies of human survival continue to misrepresent our message. Section one, ideas, deeper ecology. The environment has played a prominent role in the rise and fall of civilizations throughout history and will have an outsized effect on industrialized society. But people's raising awareness of problems with greenhouse emissions, fossil fuels, the Arctic, dams, rainforests, and endangered species are dismissed as alarmists. We, the deep greens, have a firm grounding in earth sciences and understand the factual dangers facing our world. Unfortunately, most scientists speak in measured tones about climate change. Climate change deniers and other groups with vested interests in maintaining the status quo are willing to use hyperbolic language, air tactics, and outright lies to discredit the careful words of climate scientists. We choose to set aside the measured language of science and speak from the heart. Climate change is real, we are the cause, its effects are terrifying, and we have passed the point of nowhere to turn on global warming, and we must stop emitting greenhouse gases immediately in order to protect the survival of most species adapted for life on this planet, including humans. Environmentalists are painted with a broad brush. To many, these tree-huggers can seem more concerned with the lives of salamanders and polar bears than people. But the situation is more nuanced. We would like to call attention to a cleft in the environmental monolith. In 1973, a Norwegian ecologist and philosopher, Arne Nass, divided the environmental movement into two halves, the shallow and the deep. See Arne Nass, the shallow and the deep, long-range ecological movement, a summary, 1973. The essays in George Sesson's Deep Ecology for the 21st century, 1995, and Nass's 1989 Ecology, a Community and Lifestyle Outline of an Eco-Sophie, 1989. Eco-Sophie is the term he uses to describe his ecological philosophy. End of note. Shallow environmentalists are those interested in preserving the Earth and its creatures to create a more comfortable habitat for human beings. They would say, don't pollute that water, I drink it. And in contrast, a deep environmentalist would decry the pollution because of the thousands of species that depend on each body of water. Deep ecologists, as they are called, recognize the interconnectedness of all life on Earth and that all organisms have an intrinsic right to exist. They champion ecological diversity and symbiosis as well as classless, democratic, self-sufficient, small-scale, and autonomous communities. End of note, Nass, 1973. End of note. Their critique of mainstream environmentalism and conservation for the benefit of humans is central to our future as inhabitants of this planet. As we are willing to take a catastrophic role in dismantling the forces that are destroying our planet, we re-surverge to ourselves as deeper ecologists or deep greens. Section 1.0.2. Anthropocentrism. Anthropocentrism, or the belief that we, as humans, or worse as a specific group of humans, are special, is our biggest problem. Buddhists and deep ecologists got it right. We are just bits of carbon on a little speck of real estate on the outskirts of a massive universe. Furthermore, our time here lasts but the blink of an eye compared to the four billion years that life has existed on this planet. We do not say this to make you feel inconsequential, but to remind you to think beyond yourself, your family, your friends, and acquaintances, and even beyond everybody alive today. Although we as individuals are rather inconsequential, we must recognize that together our actions affect other humans, animals, plants, and ecosystems. Humans' ability to think and understand the world is profound, but with greater knowledge comes the responsibility to live within our resources. If you want to hear more, subscribe to EcoGorillas in whatever podcast app you're using right now. Otherwise, join the institute and get early access to all episodes. That's it for this week. The Lotech Podcast is put out by the Lotech Technology Institute. The show is hosted and co-produced by me, Scott Johnson, and co-produced and edited by Hina Suzuki. This episode was recorded in the Lotech Institute's recording room. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, and elsewhere. We hope you enjoyed this free podcast. If you'd like to join the community and help support the work we do, please consider going to patreon.com slash Lotech Institute and signing up. Thanks to our forester and Lansdour level members, Sam Braun, Marilyn Skirpon, and the Hambuses for their support. The Lotech Institute is a 501c3 research organization supported by members, grants, and underwriting. You can find out more information about the Lotech Institute, membership, and underwriting at LotechInstitute.org. Find us on social media and reach me directly at Scott at LotechInstitute.org. Our intro music today was Light at the End of the Tunnel. Off the album, Forage, or Part 2 by Halizna. That song is in the public domain, and this podcast is under the Creative Commons Attribution and Share Like license, meaning you're free to use and share it as long as you give us credit. Thanks and take care.