Amelia Jaycen Archives – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Carbon Footprint Tramples Planetary Boundaries

November 6, 2025/2 Comments/in Amelia Jaycen, Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Limits to Growth, Pollution, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Alix Underwood

by Amelia Jaycen

The carbon footprint of an individual, organization, or country is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that must be produced to accommodate their choices: the types of transportation, heating and cooling, and diet they adopt and the manufacture and disposal of products they use. As a component of the total impact on the environment, called ecological footprint, a carbon footprint can be expressed as the amount of land or biocapacity required to absorb CO2 emissions.

Growth of an Economy, Death of a River

October 2, 2025/1 Comment/in Amelia Jaycen, Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Environment, Governance, Limits to Growth, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Amelia Jaycen

The Colorado River has a simple math problem: More water is taken out than nature refills every year. The gap between the two is also widening. Every year, an increasing amount of water is taken out of the Colorado River, as demand for water increases across the arid American West. Meanwhile, every year less water is available in the river and its tributaries as climate change and other manmade stressors cause imbalances in natural systems.

Tucker County: “Yellowstone of the East” or Appalachia’s “Cancer Valley”?

August 21, 2025/11 Comments/in Amelia Jaycen, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corruption, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Governance, KEEP Our Counties Great, Pollution, Steady State Herald, Technology /by Alix Underwood

by Amelia Jaycen

In Tucker County, West Virginia, two towns with populations of about 600 each are nestled next to the largest high-elevation wetland valley east of the Mississippi. After a long history of coal mining and logging, these tiny mountain towns found a way to reinvent themselves by creating a thriving arts district and promoting the stunning local natural landscape.

Now, the area is at risk of backtracking into heavy pollution,

Technocene Ground Zero: Counties Face Off with Data Centers

July 24, 2025/5 Comments/in Amelia Jaycen, Climate Change, Consumption, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Limits to Growth, Materials use, Steady State Herald, Technology, Water /by Alix Underwood

by Amelia Jaycen

In counties across the U.S.—rural and urban, democrat and republican—communities are living up close and personal with data centers. And the new neighbor is a real nightmare.

The number of data centers in the U.S., whether planned, under construction, or operating, is 3,897. This is by far the most anywhere in the world, and the number is increasing weekly.

We are hitting our heads on the ceiling of limits to growth.

Archive for category: Amelia Jaycen

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by Amelia Jaycen

by Amelia Jaycen