Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of

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56 politics and governance
this one has always worked better in theory than on Main Street.
The many mistakes that led to the economic collapse of 2008,
in Joseph Stiglitz’s words, “boil down to just one: a belief that
markets are self-adjusting and that the role of government should
be minimal” (2009). Downsizing government removes any countervailing
power to that of corporations and leaves the public
defenseless to face, as best it can, the many problems generated
by unfettered capitalism, such as unfair distribution of wealth,
unequal legal protection, exposure to pollution, inadequate and
expensive health care, lack of emergency help, and unavailability
of basic services. Libertarian ideas appeal most strongly to those
who are wealthy enough to buy their own services and live in
well-defended enclaves isolated from the larger society.
A second and more realistic possibility is to reduce the need
for government by redesigning energy systems, buildings, communities,
manufacturing, farming, forestry, transportation, infrastructure,
and waste handling in ways that mimic natural processes
and radically increase local resilience. The result would be communities,
societies, and eventually a global civilization running
on sunshine and wind without pollution from the combustion of
fossil fuels; towns and cities designed to work with natural processes;
manufacturing systems that mimic natural processes and
emit no pollution; and localized food systems built around sustainable
farming and powered by sunshine. The agreeable result
would be to eliminate the need for a great deal of environmental
regulation and government interference in markets while making
society more resilient in the face of climate change, oil shortages,
terrorism, and economic turmoil.
In fact, a design revolution is gathering steam: solar and wind
technologies are being deployed rapidly, the U.S. Green Building
Council and the American Institute of Architects have adopted
the goal of building only carbon-neutral buildings and communities
by the year 2030, the application of biomimicry is helping a
growing number of companies to eliminate waste and pollution,