Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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governance S 31<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> evidence <strong>of</strong> mounting constraints imposed by <strong>the</strong> global<br />
drawdown <strong>of</strong> natural capital <strong>of</strong> soils, forests, and resources, and<br />
<strong>the</strong> larger ecological effects <strong>of</strong> waste disposal on <strong>the</strong> atmosphere<br />
and oceans. The faster economies grew, <strong>the</strong> greater <strong>the</strong> cumulative<br />
damage. Finally, <strong>the</strong> idea that <strong>the</strong> global economy can grow<br />
continually in <strong>the</strong> 21st century requires one <strong>to</strong> believe that we<br />
will make a seamless transition from a pr<strong>of</strong>l igate consumer-driven<br />
economy <strong>to</strong> an era <strong>of</strong> natural capitalism, that decision makers will<br />
choose wisely, and that corporate chiefs will act for <strong>the</strong> long-term<br />
good—not that <strong>the</strong>re will be what appear later <strong>to</strong> be mistakes,<br />
greed, panic, and a mad scramble <strong>to</strong> seize whatever one can get<br />
while <strong>the</strong> getting’s good. The effect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> boom years was a kind<br />
<strong>of</strong> success trap in which we built economies on <strong>the</strong> shifting sands<br />
<strong>of</strong> illusion, greed, ill-will, and fear.<br />
Economic growth, as presently conceived, cannot be sustained<br />
nor should it be. The economy, in Herman Daly’s words,<br />
“is now reaching <strong>the</strong> point where it is outstripping Earth’s ability<br />
<strong>to</strong> sustain it” (2008). As Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter<br />
Lovins argue in Natural Capitalism, <strong>the</strong>re is a better economy <strong>to</strong><br />
be created that does not depend on drawing down natural capital,<br />
imposing costs on <strong>the</strong> poor or our posterity, confusing prosperity<br />
with growth, and risking global catastrophe (1999). But <strong>the</strong><br />
development <strong>of</strong> that economy will require clarity about <strong>the</strong> fair<br />
distribution <strong>of</strong> wealth and risk and shrewd public policies. 24 It<br />
will require us <strong>to</strong> relearn <strong>the</strong> arts <strong>of</strong> frugality, sharing, and neighborliness.<br />
It will take a bit <strong>of</strong> ingenuity <strong>to</strong> craft what Howard and<br />
Elisabeth Odum call a “prosperous way down” (2001). But as <strong>the</strong><br />
largest deb<strong>to</strong>r nation in world his<strong>to</strong>ry, we have less <strong>of</strong> a cushion <strong>to</strong><br />
s<strong>of</strong>ten <strong>the</strong> effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> downturn than had been presumed. The<br />
Congressional Budget Offi ce forecast <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> U.S. debt in 2050<br />
cited above does not include <strong>the</strong> likely costs <strong>of</strong> <strong>climate</strong> change<br />
and damages from drought, s<strong>to</strong>rms, and degradation or loss <strong>of</strong><br />
ecological services that we take for granted. Nor does it include<br />
<strong>the</strong> costs <strong>of</strong> possible terrorist events in <strong>the</strong> United States.