Growth Illusion: How Economic Growth Has Enriched the Few, Impoverished the Many, and Endangered the Planet
by Richard J. Douthwaite
ISBN-0-933031-74-2
Douthwaite’s book raises a fundamental question that we should have considered from the start of civilization, that is, whether or not the path of economic development that we are on is improving the quality of life for ourselves and for our future generations. The common opinion held by most economists is that growth and development spur increases in individual income levels and this, in turn, results in a better quality of life for all; but is this true for ALL of humanity? The ideas presented in Douthwaite’s book offer a contrary opinion to that of common economists. The overall implications of current economic policies being enacted by governments around the world may increase national income levels, but only for a select few. The end result of current capitalistic policies is the consumption of more resources, and as the population of the planet increases, we will push up against the limit of global resources available within one generation. While we have pursued unsustainable production methods since the inception of American capitalism, recent innovations have allowed us to begin to produce many of our consumables on a sustainable basis. Douthwaite’s book acts as a warning for us by making the claim that humanity has been running backwards, and that we are currently living on borrowed time. This idea that our economic system is not sustainable as it currently exists is becoming a more mainstream idea in business communities around the globe. As different sectors of the consumption economy feel the crunch of globalization, international standards, and overpopulation, more interest will develop around the creation of sustainable economic policy.
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Environmental Disasters: A Chronicle of Individual, Industrial, and Governmental Carelessness
by Lee Allyn Davis and Lee Davis
ISBN:0816032653
This book is offered here together with Growth Illusion to not only show the environmental costs of the unsustainable economic policy pursued over the course of the last century, but also to propose the question, how much longer can the planet sustain ‘our way of life’? Weill we heed the warnings blaring all around us, or will we fade into the dust of the earth like every great civilization of the past?
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Many businesses today are only beginning to sense their relationships to the natural resources of the earth. For example, computer manufacturing giant Dell (and many other Fortune 500 companies, particularly the oil and coal industries) are beginning to realize the potential of greenwashing their image; this is the idea of initiating marketing campaigns to change the public perception of business as usual. Dell recently announced that its company had gone carbon neutral. This means that for all of the pollution Dell emits through the production and use of its products, they have made efforts to offset their carbon emissions through planting trees and buying carbon credits. The truth of the matter is that they, along with the oil and coal industries, are nowhere close to carbon neutral.
While the standards for evaluating carbon neutrality are anything but uniform, the trend of companies caring about their environmental impact is an important step in the evolution of American capitalism. Greenwashing, however, is a smokescreen and needs to be addressed through international standards before any real progress can be made, but humanity has begun its progression toward sustainability.
Even the big oil companies in America and beyond are beginning to acknowledge the limits as well as the pollutive nature of their resource, and they are starting to realize that their industry is not sustainable in the long-term. Companies like BP are realizing the potential of renewable energy sources and are beginning to pursue investments in the industry. IBM is beginning to focus on creating the computer servers capable of handling the demands of a smart grid. This realization by Big Business that sustainable processes ARE the future is becoming, more and more, a sound business strategy, and the more foresighted companies are building the bandwagon by beginning to pursue renewable energy technology in the form of wind, solar, biofuel, smart grids, battery, and geothermal development.
The idea that our economy as it exists today is tied to depleting our natural resources is something completely contrary to the principles upon which our whole economic system was founded; limitless resources and continuous progress is what our nation is built upon. The notion that our entire economy is intimately connected to the natural world is a new generational concept, and it will become the dominating philosophy of the future. The population explosion of the last century has led us to the realization that we need to find a balance located somewhere within the borders of sustainable progress. This is the most important discovery of the twentieth century, and it can only be ignored at our own peril. We will either listen to and heed the warnings we are being given from the living planet, or we will enter a period of prolonged economic decline before the ultimate collapse of the entire economic system upon which we have built our civilization.
The earlier on in this process that we adopt sustainable principles into our economic system, the better off we will be and the more prepared America will be to lead the world through the twenty-first century. The warnings we are being given are coming from every corner of the earth; whether it be from the melting glaciers, the acidification of the world’s oceans, the dying coral reefs, the increase of toxic algae blooms, the spreading of the earth’s deserts, the mass extinction of the planet’s animal populations, the rampant deforestation and loss of animal habitat that is occurring, the spread of disease, the frequency of war, or the lack of available space to dispose of our collective waste, the warnings we are being given are LOUD and CLEAR!
Let’s take a look at the forestry industry as an example of an industry making efforts to responsibly manage their resource. We can all agree that without forests there would be no forestry industry; so for this reason alone, forestry officials have the incentive to protect the resource. We also can agree that to continue clear-cutting the forests of the earth on the scale that we are will lead to the ultimate collapse of the entire ecosystem. Without healthy forests, CO2 levels in the atmosphere will spiral out of control and more animal populations will become endangered and ultimately go extinct; the entire web of life that our economic and physical survival depends upon will be in jeopardy. It makes no sense to destroy one of the fundamental building blocks of life on earth, or to destroy one of the pillars of the foundation of the entire global economic system. Upon realizing this, regulations for forest management began to be put in place, and forestry officials actually created an industry standard handbook in order to try to achieve their goal of adopting sustainable forest management practices. We are still clear-cutting forests and are in danger of destroying the bedrock of biodiversity, but the blueprint for the bandwagon has been drawn for future generations to begin construction.
After beginning to realize the rate at which forests were being clear-cut worldwide, the logging industry went through the process of changing itself into the timber management industry. Was this simply an act of greenwashing? Only time will tell, but the main difference between these titles is that a timber management company cares about the shape the forest is left in after the logging is complete. There is no reason why every industry within our economic system should not go through a similar metamorphosis. Shouldn’t utilities be concerned about efficiency regarding the transfer and use of electricity? Shouldn’t the automobile industry be concerned about the diminishing availability of petroleum?
To consider the limits of an industry’s feedstock is sound business strategy. If forest management practices are not employed, the industry itself runs the risk of depleting its main resource.
As the forestry industry continues to mature, timber management companies are beginning to value the forest as a whole, not as its parts that can be cut up and sold. This is good for the planet, the people, the animals and plants, and our capitalistic economic system. To deplete the entire ecosystem in one generation and leave future generations with an economic system that is unsustainable is, simply put, irresponsible
Fifty years ago, sustainable business practices were virtually unheard of. The echoes from the 1960s in America echoed throughout the seventies, eighties, and the nineties. We were given the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act by our government as tools to help ensure that the future would provide future generations with the same opportunities that our predecessors had. We are the future generations!
Since these Acts were passed by congress, corporations have hired their expensive lawyers to find loopholes and ways to get around the principles that ensured clean air, clean water, and the biodiversity necessary to sustain life on this planet. People who voiced concern for the planet over the course of the past several decades were labeled hippies, treehuggers, irrational, non-realists, and the like. We have come a long way from the beginning days of our industrial revolution, and the tide is beginning to shift once again. It is becoming more and more mainstream to care about the planet, and those who strive to preserve biodiversity are being hailed as heroes; I don’t see Big Oil or Big Coal winning any international awards, I see them fighting for their very survival as their empire begins to crumble beneath their feet.
Over the past decade, sustainable economics has moved from an obscure concept that was developed solely in Ecology and Environmental Science academic centers to now, where it is at the center of discussion in big business’ development strategies. Companies like IBM, GE, BP, (even Dell) and the like have begun to see a strategic advantage in developing renewable energy and sustainable business practices (or at least talking about it). They say that change happens slowly, and perhaps, it could be that we need to talk about this concept for two decades or so before we begin acting on the principles being discussed here.
The question being sounded by scientists and economists alike is whether or not we have time to waste. On a global scale, America and China are systematically beginning to position themselves to be the worldwide leader of clean energy. We fought the cold war against the Soviet Union to fight back communism in the past, and now we are seemingly allowing communist China to position itself at the forefront of the clean energy revolution while America clings to the dirty industrial habits of the past. It is only a matter of time before sustainable business is the global standard, and if America sits on its hands much longer, other countries in the world will seize the massive fortunes that will pour into the clean energy industry as the next generation matures and comes into power.
Over the past decade, America has used its resources to attack the clean energy industry; instead of seeing the transfer of power as an opportunity, the establishment sees it as a threat, but this generational shift in the tide of economic philosophy can not be held back. The future generations are beginning to fight back.
Under attack are some of the most prominent myths perpetuated by old-school thinking. Among them is the idea that increasing production in new industries associated with renewable energy requires additional resource use. Established businesses use this argument when lobbying government as the main reason for not supporting sustainable energy policies. This may be true at first, but long-term projections prove this concept wrong. For example, developments in the solar industry will require use of silicon and other industrial chemicals in the industry’s first years of development, but once established, solar cells can deliver energy with no pollution and relatively low maintenance costs compared with the fossil fuel and coal industry that we are currently dependent upon to meet our energy needs. Reductions in CO2 emissions alone, over the lifetimes of solar cells, is reason enough to abandon the oil and coal industries entirely.
The myths that are centered on regulating pollution are also false. Any efforts to reduce pollution will affect the bottom line negatively, we are told. Environmental issues are best dealt with through public relations campaigns; this is how Big Oil and Big Coal choose to deal with the problem. Marketing is the best way to change the public perception of the crisis we are in; this is what many companies today are basing their business strategies upon. This is a short-sighted strategy that will lead to the ultimate collapse of the entire economic system within one generation. If we begin to figure into the bottom line of oil and coal companies the cost of pollution, it is a simple accounting problem that will bankrupt the entire American economy. Business as usual has brought us to the precipice that we now stand upon.
It is time for America to begin its transition to a clean energy economy; it is time to encourage innovation. Whether it is a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system, American business will be better served on its march toward innovation by regulating carbon. Regulating carbon will finally put a fair value on our most precious resources, and it will punish those who seek to destroy life on earth and hope in the future for the ensuing generations. It is always better to innovate than it is to hold on to the errors of the past as though they were dogma (as it always has been); to hold on to the past is to admit failure. The future generations of this country should always remain the most treasured resource we have, and their prospects should be protected with every breath we take. To fight his fight is to be a true patriot, as well as a global citizen.
Globally, the movement of economic policy toward sustainable business practices is well under way. In 1992, the United Nations hosted the Earth Summit. At this meeting, a global environmental bill of rights was drafted, which detailed ‘principles for economic and environmental behavior of peoples and nations.’ (UN) The topics of most concern at the 1992 meeting were forest management, climate, and biodiversity. Since then, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has evolved to draft a global treaty signed by a majority of the nations on earth; albeit the largest polluters on the planet refused to sign (the United States, China, and India). The global climate treaty signed in Kyoto, Japan was a step in the right direction for the planet, the people, and our entire economic system. It forced businesses to innovate towards better efficiencies. America chose to stick to its guns, defending the industries of pollution, inefficiency, and waste.
The world as a whole is moving toward sustainability. Globally, many national governments have created their own research channels into sustainable development that are responsible for ‘integrating the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in policy-making at international, regional, and national levels coordinating efforts between all sectors of society.’ (UN) Countries that fail to adopt sustainable methods of development, for the time-being, are still included in the global marketplace, but the time is coming when tariffs and regulations will be put in place that will leave them far behind the rest of the world that takes the initiative to innovate now.
In the United States, because of backward thinking involving energy policy over the past decade or so, individual states have banded together in regional treaties and have adopted their own sustainable economic plans in direct opposition to federal policy regarding environmental regulations. Regional agreements in New England, the Midwest, and the West Coast have been implemented to foster renewable energy development and sustainable policies through a carbon emission regulation marketplace. Combined, member states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Northeast), the Western Climate Initiative (Northwest), and the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord (Midwest) and their observers contain a majority of American States who are ahead of the national curve. These agreements made by individual governors have allowed America to begin its clean energy revolution in spite of opposition from the federal government, who seemingly have been bought off by industrial lobbyist insiders.
While every region of the United States is beginning to regulate emissions, we will use the Northwest region as our example here to highlight some of the language and societal changes that will take place over the course of the next several decades. The city of Portland has required ‘all of its bureaus and agencies to integrate sustainable principles into plans that impact transportation, housing, land use, economic development, energy use, air quality, water quality and supply, solid and hazardous waste, and many other areas.’ The city also broadcasts its acceptance of policies that ‘maintain a stable, diverse and equitable economy, protect the quality of the air, water, land and other natural resources, conserve native vegetation and fish and wildlife habitat as well as other ecosystems, and minimize human impacts on local and worldwide ecosystems.’ In addition, ‘elected officials and staff are encouraged to develop connections between environmental quality and economic vitality, promote development that reduces adverse effects on ecology and the natural resources, and include long-term and cumulative impacts in decision making that protects the natural beauty and diversity of the city for future generations.’ (City of Portland, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability) This is sound government policy!
The overall theme shows the direction that many of America’s largest cities are beginning to head. This path toward sustainability, over the coming decades, will be lined with opportunities as businesses adapt to the environmental regulations of the twenty-first century. As the federal government comes more into line with the individual states’ policies, America as a whole can then begin the business of exporting these new technologies that will come about from our environmental regulations. If we just have the courage to innovate and evolve our economic system toward sustainability, the United States can become the world leader in renewable energy technology, and we will be able to secure the American economy for the entire duration of the twenty-first century. We have the talent and the resources; all we lack is the political will. It would be a shame to allow the greed from one generation of Americans to take away opportunities from several successive generations of Americans.
This transition to sustainable economics is not limited to America. The European Union’s renewable energy industry has been growing for nearly a decade now. China is beginning to innovate towards sustainability. Brazil has reached energy independence. Russia, on the other hand, is frantically trying to secure oil and natural gas resources in the regions surrounding the country. We, here, in America have a choice. We can either see this trend toward sustainability and move to the front of the innovation curve, or we can hide our heads in the sand and prepare to fight more and more wars in the future as dwindling resources are controlled by fewer and fewer players. If we hide our heads in the sand, we are dooming future generations of Americans to failure, and this should be an inconceivable concept in a country that is founded on the principles of opportunity.
There has been plenty of research published in the last decade that has pointed us towards the conclusion that is being drawn here; that is, now is the time to act. A democracy allows the voices of the majority to drown out the lobbyists and industrial insiders. If America is a democracy, then we investors have the opportunity to put our money where our children’s and grandchildren’s mouths and futures are. The dissenting voices on climate change and ecological pollution are beginning to wane. The blueprints have been drafted and the bandwagon is being constructed. As the former generations of the past century lose their grip on power, and the younger generations reach maturity, America will choose nothing less than hope, prosperity, and optimism (like we have done throughout our past). The age of fossil fuels is coming to an end over the course of the next century, and clean energy and sustainable business practices will become the new standard. Innovation will, at first, be encouraged through governmental policy, but as it has been in the past, once capitalism take hold of an idea, individuals will use the free market to drive the innovation curve to maturity.
Many foresighted businesses have seen this trend and have already begun to adopt sustainable practices. This initiative, now being picked up by many of today’s most successful businesses, is beginning a ripple effect that is traveling all the way through the halls of Washington D.C. United States Federal Policy is beginning to change. The coming Clean Energy Revolution has the potential to not only allow the world’s ecosystems a buffer period in which to recover, but it also provides a path for America to retain it position of leadership in the world.
_____________________________________________________web recomendation
The Center for American Progress
www.americanprogress.org
CAP was founded in 2003 and has a progressive slant. The ideas and discussions pursued by this organization are meant to challenge the conservative agenda. This think-tank is dedicated to restoring America’s global leadership, developing a clean energy economy, and delivering universal health care. While progressives are often termed idealistic by conservatives, CAP is realistic in its agenda; the thought that America is a land of unlimited possibilities is essentially American. The reports put out by CAP will become more influential in an Obama Administration and will serve as good preparation for foresighted investors seeking to secure their investments for future generations.
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