Green Social Thought

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Tag: economic growth

  • Green Party of St. Louis Endorses Howie Hawkins for President

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    by

    fitzdon
    in

    n August 10-11, 2019 Green Party members in St. Louis joined others from across the state to hear from the leading contenders for the party’s nomination for President: Dennis Lambert, Dario Hunter, David Rolde, and Howie Hawkins. All had a very clear understanding that it would be futile to support a Democrat, because, even though…

  • World Scientists Call for Global System Change to Address Climate Emergency

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    by

    rsburke

    “Our goals need to shift from GDP growth and the pursuit of affluence toward sustaining ecosystems and improving human well-being by prioritizing basic needs and reducing inequality.”

  • Human wellbeing threatened by ‘unprecedented’ rate of biodiversity loss

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    by

    fitzdon

    Nature loss is accelerating worldwide at an unprecedented rate, with grave impacts for human wellbeing, according to a major report approved by more than 130 of the world’s governments. The report, launched in Paris, France on Monday, says fundamental changes are needed to everything from farming and fishing to private investment and governance to ensure the…

  • How We, the People, Can Save the Planet

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    by

    fitzdon

    The recent release of the proposed Green New Deal is a template, an outline identifying some of the most crucial issues facing the nation regarding climate change and a wish list of measures to address those issues. But there are plenty of legitimate criticisms too, and progressives would be wise not to let their desire…

  • Neocornucopianism and the Steady State: Part I

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    fitzdon

    Perhaps the main reason people reject the need for a steady state economy is some form of cornucopianism, the belief that technological progress will overcome all ecological and physical limits, allowing endless economic growth into the indefinite future. Cornucopianism has several flavors, and I will describe three: mainstream economics, eco-modernism, and singularity theory.

  • A Not-So-Nobel Prize for Growth Economists

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    fitzdon

    How ironic for the Washington Post to opine “Earth may have no tomorrow” and, two pages later, offer up the mini-bios of William Nordhaus and Paul Romer, described as Nobel Prize winners. Without more rigorous news coverage, few indeed will know that Nordhaus and Romer are epitomes of neoclassical economics, that 20th century occupation isolated…

  • Decolonisation and Degrowth

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    fitzdon

    Why do degrowth scholars use the word “decolonise” to discuss the process of changing the growth imaginary? Isn’t decolonisation about undoing the historical colonisation of land, languages and minds? How do these two uses of the word relate? This blog post is the result from a discussion held between some participants at a Degrowth Summer…

  • After Peak Oil, Are We Heading Toward Social Collapse?

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    by

    fitzdon

    Several years ago, Glen Sweetnam, director of the International, Economic and Greenhouse Gas division of the Energy Information Administration at the Department of Energy (DOE), announced that worldwide oil availability had reached a “plateau.” However, his statement was not made known through a major US mainstream media outlet. Instead, it was covered in France’s Le…

  • How to Kick the Growth Addiction

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    fitzdon

    Physics in the mid-1980s in the UK was a difficult and unfulfilling place. I found no joy in the academy, which was not interested in the ideas to which I was drawn. At that time, I also had a passion for playwriting, and the BBC picked up some of my work. After completing my PhD,…