the five most important things about growth learned over the course of my career
TRANSCRIPT
Most people are captives of a cultural story that equates growth with
progress.
A cultural story that asserts growth as inevitable, necessary, desirable, and
possible.
#1
Daniel Quinn’s 1995 novel Ishmael:
A culture is a people enacting a story.
We are currently enacting a story that compels us to destroy the world in order to live.
Growth is inherently unsustainable
• Growth cannot be continued indefinitely.
• The term “sustainable growth” represents a moronic oxymoron
#2
“It is development that can have the attribute of sustainability, not growth.” Herman E. Daly
CASSA: Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
Position statement: There is an inherent conflict between economic growth and environmental protection based on the ecological principle of competitive exclusion
US Society for Ecological Economics The Wildlife Society North American Section of the Society
for Conservation Biology
More than two decades of mounting evidence confirms existent ecological limits to growth.
#3
The current level of human demands on earth’s ecosystems represents unsustainable behavior that
can only be maintained over the short term.
The collective ecological footprint of humans is degrading and destroying global ecosystems and
their essential life-support services.
1991: Ecological Society of America
Declared the existing scale of the human enterprise was “threatening the sustainability
of Earth’s life-support systems”
Ecological life-support services: Maintain a benign mix of atmospheric gases Control climate Regulate the hydrologic cycle Purify air and water Decompose wastes Regenerate soil nutrients Provide pest control and pollination Create and maintain biodiversity
1991 & 1992: Paul Ehrlich & Edward O. Wilson
Warned that under current trends fully 50 percent of species on the planet could be
eliminated by 2050
1997: Research on per capita ecological footprints
Revealed the footprint of humanity already exceeded the planet’s ecological capacity
to sustain the human enterprise
2005: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Reported some 60 percent of the ecosystems that support life on Earth are being degraded
or used unsustainably
2007:Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Called for a reduction of 80 percent in global emissions from 1990 levels to avert
“dangerous anthropogenic climate change”
IPCC Conclusions: A “safe” level of warming lies at 2° C (3.6° F) Even the 1° C (1.8° F) warming to date
represents significant risks Most models suggest doubling carbon dioxide
will lead to a temperature rise of 3° C (5.4° F) With feedback processes a 2010 study suggests
a doubling would produce an increase of 9.6° C (17.3° F) with disastrous consequences
2009: Exceeded “planetary boundaries”
Humanity has already pushed 3 of Earth’s 9 biophysical processes beyond the planet’s ability
to self-regulate, with current trends leading to “catastrophic consequences”
Planetary Boundaries: Boundaries for the rate of biodiversity loss,
climate change, and human interference with the nitrogen cycle have already been exceeded
Boundaries for the phosphorus cycle, stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, global freshwater use, change in land use, atmospheric aerosol loading, and chemical pollution are rapidly approaching
2010: 8th Living Planet Report
Declared the collective ecological footprint of humankind exceeds Earth’s biocapacity by
50 percent
2012: Threat of a “state shift” in global ecosystem
Global ecosystem rapidly approaching a planetary-scale critical transition or “state shift” as a result of
human interference, with threats to the planet’s ability to sustain us and other species
The pro-growth stance of the planning profession impedes the necessary paradigm shift to a no-growth and
degrowth future.
Growth-management supports the growth imperative.
The smart-growth movement represents continued professional planning support for growth.
#4
Current growth-management programs
Growth management represents an institutionalized form of support for the growth imperative
Management programs endorse inevitable, normal, realistic, reasonable, responsible, proper, sensible, legitimate, balanced, and smart growth
Members of the management movement condemn no-growth initiatives as inefficient, unjust, and irresponsible responses to growth
Adoption of no-growth and degrowth strategies
Reject current growth-management programs due to their growth-accommodation orientation
Implement political, economic, and planning and regulatory strategies to stop growth
Devise a sustainable no-growth future, i.e., likely social, political, economic, and physical features of no-growth communities
Strategies to stop growth Political: eliminate the pro-growth focus
of local government by election or initiative Economic: stop public subsidies
for infrastructure Planning & regulatory: modify
community comprehensive plans and land-use regulations in ways that close out options for further growth
A sustainable no-growth future would be possible under community economics
and new urbanism lifestyles.
Features of community economics: needs-based economies directed at self-sufficiency through a diverse
set of import-substitution businessesFeatures of new urbanism: urban places downsized and
redesigned to levels that are ecologically sustainable within the capabilities of their bioregions
#5
Prospects for realizing no-growth communities
Bioregionalism Voluntary Simplicity Slow Food Ecovillages Take Back Your Time Transition Town Degrowth