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We Asked for Science. We Got Sustain-a-Babble.

Editor’s Note

CASSE encourages members and readers to hold their government agencies to account on the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. Last week, Brian Czech presented Gag-Ordered No More to the Canadian Association for the Club of Rome, concluding with recommendations for engaging agency directors. We follow up this week with a letter from the Qualicum Institute (British Columbia) to Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change,


Prospecting for a Steady State in North America

by Gregory M. Mikkelson

In late summer of 2001 I moved from the USA to Canada, where my rose-colored glasses paradoxically made the grass look even greener. While President Bush had just reneged on the Kyoto Protocol, Prime Minister Chrétien stood by it, having been one of the first to sign. Two years later Chrétien withstood the pressure to join Bush’s disastrous war against Iraq.


The Parliamentary Prospects of Steady-State Politics

by James Lamont

In August steady staters enjoyed a victory worthy of reflection. Following May elections, the Scottish Greens struck a power-sharing deal with the Scottish National Party (SNP), bringing the Greens into a national UK government for the first time.

Buried beneath the media chatter about what this partnership could mean for Scottish independence (both parties are in favor) is the fact that a party explicitly against infinite growth is now in power in the UK.


Guess What Trudeau Said About Growth?

By James Magnus-Johnston

In an appeal to Mr. Trudeau’s philosophical musings, I’ve written a letter to him listing five ways Canada can foster a better, more sustainable economy.

 

 

“There are a lot of people out there, environmental thinkers like Herman Daly and others, who talk about the fact that maybe endless growth within a finite system is not either possible or even desirable.


When Growth Trumps Freedom: the Chill in Canada Comes from our Government, not the Weather

Some politicians will go quite far to cling to an aging growth-at-all-costs narrative.


Oil and Real Estate Bubbles in Canada: What Goes up Won’t so Smoothly Come Down

Magnus-Johnston explains how these investments are funded, and how it exacerbates our economy’s growth imperative.


Fresh Water, Growth, Degrowth, and the Steady State Economy

by Geoffrey Matthews

In Our Common Future, the 1987 report of the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable development is described as a process of change which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and aspirations. To achieve this objective, the report suggests a series of goals that should underlie national and international action on development.


An Open Letter to Peter Kent, Canada’s Minister of the Environment

James Johnston sees through what could only be described as a hoax by Canada’s Minister of the Environment.