Aikido is the martial art that makes greatest use of the principle of leverage. It is also the organizing metaphor for This Place on Earth 2001: Guide to a Sustainable Northwest, a slim volume that takes on a weighty question: How can the Northwest create a way of life that can last?

Just as aikido practitioners use deflection and momentum to defeat much larger opponents, the book argues, northwesterners can find hidden pressure points to redirect the momentum of everyday actions toward sustainable ends. Part report, part reflection, This Place on Earth 2001 connects the dots: between costs and congestion, streets and streams, and granny flats and growth. Along the way, it takes readers on a tour with some of the Northwest's top "aikido masters," who are fashioning a new Northwest.

Here are a few links to key fact sheets describing reforms from This Place on Earth 2001.

• Create Markets For Conservation: Harnessing market forces for conservation.

• Make Emergency Contraception Widely Available: Why we need a Plan B, and what we can do about it.
  
• Make Best Transportation Buys First: Bus, rail, or monorail? Here's a system for figuring out which transportation solutions are the best match to a community's needs.
• Use Fuel Taxes Wisely: Using gas taxes to fuel alternative transportation.

Note: This Place on Earth 2001 is out of print, but you can dowload a pdf of the text for free here (with registration).