Steady State Herald – Page 5 of 23 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Growth Battles in Chittenden County

January 25, 2024/4 Comments/in Dave Rollo, Economic Growth, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

by Dave Rollo

Vermont takes its name from the French Monts Verts, or Green Mountains, the state’s rolling hills that host maple, birch, and beech forests in the south and spruce and fir in the north. Quaint towns and farms, many retaining their historic structures, are nestled in the mountain valleys. Lakes, streams, and wetlands are plentiful. And farms are everywhere: Vermont consistently ranks as one of the top states in the nation for local food production.

Redesigning Business for Sustainability

January 18, 2024/8 Comments/in Daniel Wortel-London, Economic Growth, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Gary Gardner

by Daniel Wortel-London

Can businesses become sustainable? Certainly—at least in theory. In recent years, new business models have emerged that attempt to place business on an ecologically healthy footing. The doughnut economy, the regenerative economy, sufficiency enterprises, and postgrowth and degrowth businesses: These and other experiments represent ways of doing business that not only create customer and firm value, but address social and environmental needs as well.

How to Avoid the Scarcity Scare

January 11, 2024/17 Comments/in Consumption, Gary Gardner, Materials use, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

by Gary Gardner

In congressional testimony last November, Isabel Munilla, an official from the Department of Energy, gave an alarming assessment of U.S. reliance on foreign minerals. For 31 of 50 critical minerals, she warned,”…the U.S. relies on other countries for more than 50 percent of our requirements…Our reliance on non-allied foreign sources for these materials is neither sustainable nor secure.” Munilla employed what we might call the “scarcity scare”—the panic that supplies of critical minerals may be insufficient for all nations to participate in the transition to clean,

Conservative Idaho: Poised to Resist Sprawl?

January 4, 2024/10 Comments/in Dave Rollo, Economic Growth, Food and Agriculture, Population, Steady State Herald, Water /by Gary Gardner

by Dave Rollo

The USA, Canada, and other countries have long recognized sprawl as a vexing dimension of urban development. Especially challenging is the difficulty creating the public consensus needed for political and planning responses to the problem.

But growing numbers of residents today are expressing their distaste for sprawling approaches to development and are primed to resist it. Perhaps surprisingly, sprawl afflicts a U.S. state better known for its natural beauty and its potatoes: Idaho.

It’s Time to Ban Earth-Damaging Ads

December 28, 2023/6 Comments/in Consumption, Daniel Wortel-London, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

by Daniel Wortel-London

Advertising works. A recent study by the Advertising Association finds that every dollar of ad spending drives up sales by $21. Ads get us to recognize brands and hum jingles even if we are annoyed by pop-ups. They are particularly effective in driving the kind of unsustainable consumption that is destroying our planet.

This begs a question: Should advertising be limited for the sake of the environment?

Approaching the Energy Cliff

December 21, 2023/17 Comments/in Dave Rollo, Energy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

by Dave Rollo

Warn anyone in the USA about the coming energy crisis and you’re likely to see eyes roll. “What energy crisis? That was half a century ago! Markets and technology won. Today we’re back among the top oil suppliers!”

All true, but the response gives a false sense of security that has policymakers and publics sleepwalking toward a cliff. An energy crisis is likely ahead, no matter our rank (currently third) among oil supplying nations.

Time to Make a Material Difference

December 14, 2023/4 Comments/in Consumption, Gary Gardner, Governance, Materials use, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Gary Gardner

by Gary Gardner

Well, COP 28 ended yesterday with (seeming) agreement to (sort of) walk down the fossil fuel ladder toward a (not for a while) sustainable future. Geez! It’s almost 2024, more than half a century since Limits to Growth was published, and the human family is in a pouting mood. Why is it like pulling teeth to do the right thing, sustainability-wise? Why are we sleepwalking toward a cliff?

Christ Didn’t Shop for Christmas Presents (Much Less Jets and Guns)

December 8, 2023/8 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

Editor’s note: This essay originally appeared December 23, 2020 and is slightly modified.

by Brian Czech

With Christmas two weeks out, folks are making tough decisions about Christmas presents. The public is rattled by inflation, credit card debt is through the roof, and gift-giving is a real strain for many. My advice for anyone stressing out over Christmas presents is simple: Take a break from the shopping!

Learning from Las Vegas: The Costs of Growth

December 1, 2023/2 Comments/in Daniel Wortel-London, Economic Growth, Governance, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Water /by Gary Gardner

by Daniel Wortel-London

Since 1998, the City of Las Vegas and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have been gambling with nature. By auctioning off public land from the BLM for development and using the proceeds to preserve natural areas, policymakers and federal officials have bet that development and conservation can go hand-in-hand.

But it hasn’t worked out that way.

As the Las Vegas region has grown from 1.3 to 2.7 million people since 1998,

The Imperative—and Peril—of Density

November 9, 2023/5 Comments/in Biodiversity, Dave Rollo, Environment, Governance, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

By Dave Rollo

The transition to a steady state economy—in which humans, their operations, and their artifacts are nested harmoniously within the economy of nature—is fundamentally about reconciling human needs with the needs of nature. Leaving space for habitat and the functioning of natural systems is critical to our survival and the survival of myriad other organisms.

Natural and traditional agricultural ecosystems are autotrophic (‘self-feeding’), meaning they are capable of regenerating resources and assimilating wastes.