GLOBAL WARMING AND THE END OF GROWTH
GLOBAL WARMING AND THE END OF GROWTH, by Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero
http://ww4report.com/node/12716
EXCERPT:
We must talk about stopping the growth of the global economy, with the same zeal and passion that we talk about economic justice and equity. Fortunately, degrowth—decrecimiento in Spanish and decroissance in French—is not a new proposal. It has already been developed and proposed for years by leading figures in the field of ecological economics, such as France's Serge Latouche, Catalonia's Joan Martinez-Alier, and USA's Herman Daly, among others. More recently a couple of new voices have entered the fray, economists Tim Jackson and Peter Victor, from the UK and Canada respectively, who are inviting us to consider prosperity without growth.
The ecological critiques of economic growth come not only from economists but also from political groupings, such as the Greens/Green Party USA. Only months ago, the GPUSA published "A Deep Green Alternative," an economic and political manifesto which questions the compatibility of economic growth with environmental protection and renewable energies. It points out that at an annual 2% growth rate: "In 200 years the economy would be 256 times what it is now. This would flood the world with toxins, collapse biodiversity, and cause uncontrolled climate change. Suggesting that solar and wind power can meet not only all household energy needs but 100% of current industrial needs is a fantasy. Suggesting they could do so for an economy that is 256 times as large is silly."
The solution to the global ecological and energy impasse cannot be reduced to the replacement of bad technologies with good technologies, no matter how environmentally sound these might be. Without radical changes in economic models, renewable energy sources of energy will amount to barely more than temporary patches that will not prevent the collapse of the natural and social systems that make human life possible.
EXCERPT:
We must talk about stopping the growth of the global economy, with the same zeal and passion that we talk about economic justice and equity. Fortunately, degrowth—decrecimiento in Spanish and decroissance in French—is not a new proposal. It has already been developed and proposed for years by leading figures in the field of ecological economics, such as France's Serge Latouche, Catalonia's Joan Martinez-Alier, and USA's Herman Daly, among others. More recently a couple of new voices have entered the fray, economists Tim Jackson and Peter Victor, from the UK and Canada respectively, who are inviting us to consider prosperity without growth.
The ecological critiques of economic growth come not only from economists but also from political groupings, such as the Greens/Green Party USA. Only months ago, the GPUSA published "A Deep Green Alternative," an economic and political manifesto which questions the compatibility of economic growth with environmental protection and renewable energies. It points out that at an annual 2% growth rate: "In 200 years the economy would be 256 times what it is now. This would flood the world with toxins, collapse biodiversity, and cause uncontrolled climate change. Suggesting that solar and wind power can meet not only all household energy needs but 100% of current industrial needs is a fantasy. Suggesting they could do so for an economy that is 256 times as large is silly."
The solution to the global ecological and energy impasse cannot be reduced to the replacement of bad technologies with good technologies, no matter how environmentally sound these might be. Without radical changes in economic models, renewable energy sources of energy will amount to barely more than temporary patches that will not prevent the collapse of the natural and social systems that make human life possible.
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