Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "environment"

Please look at the second paragraph of "A Place Beyond Man" excerpted in My Writing here on Goodreads. I doubt if I could improve on expressing how I feel about Earth and the human dilemma. It is indeed still relevant, maybe even more so. See my web site http://caryneeper.com if you are interested in exploring ways to think about where we go from here. I may be exploring the questions here soon, if anyone is interested. Meanwhile, I would recommend "The Necessary Revolution" for a nice summary of all the good things that are happening to change the way we do things.

Wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist Brian Czech takes us on a readable and essential tour of economics—its history, its foibles, and its coming salvation, what some have called a Full-Earth Economy, one that recognizes the limits to resources in a world with seven billion Homo sapiens.

In a careful analysis of the impact of economic policy on politics and our natural world, Czech offers solutions that seem, not only reasonable, but necessary and inevitable if we are to revert to a pleasant long-term existence in a comfortable world of sharing and conservation.

In a thorough discussion of our current situation, the literature, and various reactions to economic dilemmas, Czech demonstrates that growth now erodes our ecological foundations. He doesn’t miss discussing any of the caveats, like technology as salvation. He demonstrates clearly that technology also has costs, but can be selective, developed only when it adds to the efficiency of end use.

To the charge that steady state economics is stagnation--he points out that stability and minimal throughput set us free as we share and ease back creatively, with time to live more engaged lives. This is a must-read for anyone interested in everything from the future and economics to ecology.Supply Shock: Economic Growth at the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution

The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change by Al Gore: New York, Random House, 2013, a New York times bestseller. As former Vice President and member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, as author of An Inconvenient Truth, a member of Apple Inc. board of directors, chairman of Generation Investment Management, chairman of the nonprofit Climate Reality Project, al Gore is no stranger to business, government or environmental concerns.

This latest book provides a treasure for anyone concerned about our current dilemmas. In unvarnished, direct language, Gore explores environmental, economic and political issues. He presents the facts, sometimes a brief history, and digs deep into the reasons behind our failure to agree on solutions that he believes, passionately, must be implemented soon. The consequences of inaction are made clear, and they are dire.

This book was in development for eight years by Gore, his research team, business associates and distinguished reviewers, including Jared Diamond, E. O. Wilson and Herman Daly. Besides 373 pages of compelling text, the book includes an invaluable eight pages of Bibliography, 144 pages of usefully titled Notes, and a detailed Index.

The credibility of Gore’s arguments are enhanced by his understanding of complex systems and a balanced approach to each topic. He makes his own views crystal clear while exploring relevant evidence without overloading the reader with data. An example is his description of Earth’s wind and water currents that are involved in the experience of climate change (pages 305-311). Gore argues that though we prohibit “...human experimentation that puts lives at risk...”, we are engaging in a deadly global “unplanned experiment” as we continue to dump CO2 into the atmosphere.

Of particular interest to me is his analysis of why we cannot agree on such important issues. He covers many. A brief look at the Index can tell you if your topic of concern is
covered. The range of possibilities for the future is huge, introduced in each section by extensive topic organizing diagrams. The concluding paragraphs “So What Do We Do Now?” (page 367) recap his most urgent tasks, if we face the fact that we humans are now “...a geologic and evolutionary force...” on Earth.

If the United State of America is to provide leadership to the global community, Gore insists that we must reform “...legislative rules that allow a small minority to halt legislation in the U. S. Senate” and “...limit the role of money in politics...”. The latter is a positive feedback loop, a recipe for disaster well known in physics and studies of complex systems.

Review of the Working Paper from the Post Carbon Pathways Project
Posted on 3 April 2014

Don’t miss this valuable source of useful options to move beyond growth economics. Alexander's article includes a thoughtful review of current and past thinking about classical and no-growth economics, an extensive list of references, and ten challenging prompts – read these, if nothing else – for anyone and everyone concerned with the global situation and a transition to a more rational future.

*lecturer with the Office for Environmental Programs, University of Melbourne, fellow with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and co-director of the Simplicity In

http://archivesofvarok.com/articles/r...

Eco-Economy: Building An Economy For the Earth, New York, W. W. Norton, 2001 and Plan B:Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, New York, W. W. Norton, 2003.

Our world view is changing, thanks in large part to these books. Everyday I encounter new voices in the social media that understand Lester Brown and the solutions presented by him and the several other authors, each with his own slant on the same problem.

We are capable of pulling back. We are not lemmings, each one of millions running desperately into the sea to relieve the stress of overcrowding or desperate to find relief from thirst. Not yet. At least not all of us.

Still, many of us are hungry or desperate, and some of us need to get busy using less, being more efficient and awakening to the crisis already affecting too many humans and too much life on this beautiful Eden, Earth.

Lester Brown’s Worldwatch Institute gave us the first warnings year after year with real data. And the 2001 book Eco-Economy gave us a reliable guide to the policies needed to secure the future.

Recent books echo Brown’s 2003 Plan B. Some refine the detailed options, but all agree on the ever more desperate need for the world view that requires an ecologically honest cost/benefit analysis. We still tout economic growth as a panacea for all our economic ills when in fact it is costing us and the Earth far more than it is worth.

The solutions outlined by Brown should be blatantly obvious: Our resource base must be analyzed in relationship to projected population growth. Our barriers to family planning need to be removed. Ecology and efficiency must trump short-term economic gain. Protecting our remaining world resources like water and forests is now urgent, as is the upgrading of our cities.

We can do this, as Plan B and Eco-Economy and other recent books make crystal clear. The solutions have been studied and refined since the 1970’s. It’s not magic, just political will and corporate greed that stand in our way. People in developed countries need to use less. We need to shift the tax and subsidy codes; get off fossil fuels, coal and plastic; increase efficiency in electrical grids and automobiles; and redo urban transport. (I have a vivid childhood memory of the rails being torn up in Oakland, California.)

The media can help, as can the wealthy and writers of fiction. Brown tells the tale of soap operas successfully illustrating how individuals can make a huge difference. Fiction can be a powerful paradigm changer.

We cannot buy our way out of overusing the planet, nor the lemming-like desperation of overcrowding that threatens human populations throughout the world. We’re all in this together.

The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality by Richard Heinberg, BC Canada, New Society Publishers, 2011.

I have never understood why mainstream economic theory ignored the impact of a huge population. Even as that impact has grown, classical economists continue to use outmoded theories of macroeconomics, ignore effects of the flow of capital, and refuse to acknowledge that there could be a limit to the resources so many billions of people use or need—like water. Isn’t that a requirement for life? Like air. Will they be selling clean air next?

Heinberg makes the case that we have seen the end of growth because it is doing us more harm than good. It is not a panacea for jobs and well-being. The nations that now have stable populations have an excellent opportunity to implement policies that will insure quality in living, find relief from the rat race, and enable the growth of knowledge and innovation within Earth’s limits.

In reviewing this paradigm-changing book, the most useful review I could write would be to provide a simple list of short quotes from the experts whose reviews appear in Heinberg’s book:

[He presents] “...the big three drivers of inevitable crisis—resource constraints, environmental impacts, and financial system overload...one integrated systemic problem...” Paul Gilding

“Our coming shift from quantity of consumption to quality of life is the great challenge of our generation...” John Fullerton

“The end of conventional economic growth would be a shattering turn of events—but the book makes a persuasive case...” Lester Brown

“...the beginning of a new era or progress without growth.” Herman Daly

“...analysis of the reality of ecological limits...very readable...paying attention to nuance and counterarguments.” Leslie E. Christian

“Heinberg has masterfully summarized and updated the case against economics, and its fraudulent scorecard—GDP...we all can still grow in wisdom and ...knowledge...as we transition to the Solar Age. Hazel Henderson

“...crammed full of ideas, information and perspective...for the perplexed...” James Gustave Speth

“...the sooner we have this critically needed conversation...the better...” Annie Leonard

“...clears away many...mistaken assumptions...” Bill McKibben

[He tells us that] “...the expectation of unending growth dominates public policy—and how ephemeral that goal is likely to prove.” Michael Klare

The series is now up to date. E-books are available for the rewrite of A Place Beyond Man. It is called The View Beyond Earth, and includes a new beginning and corrections in copyediting, as well as updates on how we might actually relate to friendly aliens who live too close to ignore. Start with this one if you like backstory--who are these characters?

The award-winning book The Webs of Varok is the second book in the series. It focuses on issues portrayed on an alien planet--issues that could impact our long-term future. They do not deny our need for facing very tough choices. Falling back on old -isms won't work; we need to recognize the limit to resources.

The Alien Effect is the third book in the series. Like the others, it follows the mixed alien-human family in time, but is a standalone if you don't need extensive backstory. Set on Earth, the family faces some of our most troubling cultural issues.

Getting Green Done—Hard Truths From the Front Lines of the Sustainable Revolution by Auden Schendler, Philadelphia, Public Affairs Perseus Books Group, 2009.
Author Auden Schendler, an "outdoorsman" for 15 years, worked for the Rocky Mountain Institute, and is now Executive Director of Sustainability at the Aspen Skiing Company. He states up front that his book "...represents a departure from business as usual...and yet we need to do this on a global scale." The inside cover summarizes his thinking by saying, "...many...are still fiddling with the small stuff while the planet burns. Why? Because implementing sustainability is brutally difficult [,even though] "...business consultants say going green is easy and profitable."

Schendler applauds individual efforts because government needs examples of what to do. He goes on to note that "...only government action—on a global scale—can drive the level of change at the speed we require." "Climate change threatens every business on the planet, and business is the primary cause of it." Therefore, "...what is needed is government leadership and comprehensive economic policies."

Solutions mentioned include Green Energy and LEED, which doesn't emphasize energy enough, so should not be used as a guide. What is needed, he believes, is to raise local building codes so that homes can be remodeled to save 50% energy. An Environmental Service Corp makes sense, as does education in passive solar possibilities—insulate, face south and add thermal mass. It's not difficult.

Unfortunately, when the economy tanks, the environment is the first to get cut. The U,.S. should lead in putting efficiency to work at every level and "force markets to reflect the true price of power". The author goes into some detail about nuclear power and its problems, its cost, and its "insoluble waste problem."

In the end we need to face the question "How will we become—and then remain—inspired for the long slog ahead? This battle will take not just political will and corporate action—it will also require an unyielding commitment and dedication on the part of all humanity...Most of our grandparents lived in a sustainable world...what we need to do is that close, that real, that personal...that possible."

The End of Normal: The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth by James K. Galbraith, New York, Simon and Schuster, 2014.
This book came out at the same time steadystate.org was making a strong case that "Enough Is Enough." A book with that title by Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill was published at the same time we released our fictional portrayal of how no-growth economics might work—the award-winner The Webs of Varok (http://archivesofvarok.com).

My shelves are full of excellent non-fiction written in the last four decades by experts in many fields that agree that we must learn to pull back, stabilize populations, and conserve resources—that economic growth is not sustainable in the long run.

Nowadays, no one dare talk about population limits, but it cannot be reasonably separated from our concern that resources are limited. We are already seeing water shortages. Surely we can now agree that classical economics is faulty in neglecting to apply resource availability and scarcity in their equations. Galbraith makes the detailed case, sharing how the equations lead to false conclusions.

He reviews the Soviet Union's demise and how it sends a shadow of parallel concerns with America's loss of post-World War II's booming economy. Things have changed, and we cannot expect to see business as usual. In the end, Galbraith preaches "slow growth," assuming that some economic growth is necessary because human greed and power drives must be assumed.

Given that assumption, I don't see much hope. I believe he is wrong. We are smarter than that. We know that nothing real grows forever. Given the chance for a decent existence, the human being is a remarkable creature, capable of selfless reasoning and brilliant creativity. Capable, even of saying, "Enough is enough."

We can understand how a population of germs can grown and prosper in a closed test tube filled with liquid nutrients. We seed the test tube with a few multiplying bacteria. We watch the population grow until the resources—the nutrient broth—is used up. We can understand why the population growth of the bacteria then slows, then drops to zero as the death rate increases. For a while a few mutants survive on the wastes, then they wink out.

Earth is our test tube, but we are know now that our resources are finite. Therefore, with willful restraint, we can keep them available over millennia by recycling and keeping count, by being watchful, resourceful and efficient in maintaining a comfortable status quo.

Already our population overload may seem overwhelming. It's true that technology will help, but only if it adds to our efficiency. It can't save us if we squander what Earth supplies. Growth—even slow growth—is not a long-term solution.

Neither is escaping to some other planet, for all but very few of us. Again, realism raises hard-to-grasp concepts. The time, energy and distances required to travel through the galaxy--even if we invent speed-of-light buses—are huge. We must take care of planet Earth, and tame our baser instincts to reproduce beyond reason.

TIPPING POINT FOR PLANET EARTH: How close are we to the edge? By Anthony D. Barnosky and Elizabeth A. Hadly, New York, St.Martins Press, 2015.

This is a reminder, not a review of a book that has already had a significant impact. Given recent political distractions, I’m afraid the urgency of this book’s message is getting lost. Time is running out. We need to get busy doing the most difficult work we have ever understood to be essential. Simply put: we need to act now in every way we can imagine to reduce our overuse of resources and the impact of our wastes on planet Earth.

The way forward has been described and developed over the last 50 years by many experts who assure us we can achieve an equitable steadystate. Technology can help, as can the billions its inventors have raked in. Leveling the playing field will help, but we all need to pitch in. Check out the authors’ #We Know Enough To Act.

The proof of the threatened TIPPING POINT for Earth is clearly stated in this book—the personal experience, the statistics, the current news, observations and general interactions and their complex nature seen already in “resource wars for remaining space, food, oil and water.”. We have another decade or two to get busy—all of us.