Natural Resources

by Brian Czech

Limits to growth are all around us. Global heating, resource shortages, and biodiversity collapse are linked at the hip with stagnating productivity, inflation, and crippling debt. Little by little, citizens and politicians are waking up to ecological limits and the economic linkages.

The awakening is painfully slow for those who have long lamented society’s obsession with growth. After all, economic growth entails a growing human population and ecological footprint,

The post Steady-State Talking Points for Democrats and Republicans appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

by Gregory M. Mikkelson

Like a doctor measuring a patient’s vital signs, environmental scientists use various indicators to assess the health of the global ecosystem. These planetary vital signs are reckoned in a variety of units, such as tons of greenhouse gas emitted or hectares of land deforested. Meanwhile, conventional economists try to measure everything in terms of dollars (or other currencies). For example, they assign monetary values to the “ecosystem services”

The post Tons, Hectares, or Dollars? Measuring the Pressure Exerted by the Economy on the Biosphere appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

by Gary Gardner

Last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued what Greenpeace International called the “final warning” in the global effort to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. After three decades of increasingly insistent wake-up calls, the Panel laid out the sobering reality: Meeting the temperature goal set by the global community in 2015 is impossible without an immediate response, “a quantum leap in climate action,” in the words of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The post A “Final Warning” on Climate appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

by Gregory M. Mikkelson

Just as it does for a certain “old man on a green bike,” my commitment to car-free travel often drives me to greater levels of exercise, and more vivid experiences of nature, than one would get behind the wheel of a car. Unfortunately, economic growth has progressively degraded one such experience. Trips to my partner’s lake cottage begin with a commuter train in Montréal and end with an hour-long walk on a dirt road through the countryside.

The post Bulldozing the Planet appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

Peru has large reserves of copper, gold, zinc, silver, lead, iron, and natural gas. After a coup overthrew left-wing President Pedro Castillo, the US ambassador, CIA veteran Lisa Kenna, met with mining and energy ministers to discuss “investments”. Europe is importing Peruvian LNG to replace Russian energy.

The post Peru’s Natural Resources: CIA-Linked US Ambassador Meets With Mining and Energy Ministers to Talk ‘Investments’ appeared first on scheerpost.com.

by Gary Gardner

The recent news that scientists moved a step closer to fusion energy was greeted with enthusiasm and awe in much of the media, a bright spot of cheer amid the ongoing drumbeat of existential global threats. Only the most cynical of curmudgeons could pooh-pooh this hopeful development—right?

After all, energy is the foundation of human development. Civilizational advance is a tale of ongoing successes in shaping energy for human ends.

The post Fusion Energy: A Different Take appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

by Brian Czech

With COP15 coming up, it’s time to don the old conservation biologist hat and proffer a primer on the relationship between economic growth and biodiversity conservation. The last thing we want is a COP15 devoid of discussion about the fundamental conflict between growing the economy and conserving biodiversity. In fact, the 800-pound gorilla—GDP growth—ought to be front and center.

For the uninitiated, COP15 is the UN Biodiversity Conference,

The post A Primer on Economic Growth and Biodiversity Conservation for COP15 appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.