Environment Archives – Page 3 of 7 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

The Silver Lining of the COVID-Caused Recession is Fading Fast

August 20, 2020/5 Comments/in Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Madeline Baker

From February to mid-April 2020, in an early and shocking stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, greenhouse gas emissions plummeted worldwide. Nowhere was the reduction more notable than in China, the country with the highest emissions. According to Lauri Myllyvirta, the lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 25 percent from the end of January through mid-February. Also,

Joe Biden, Donald “Duck,” and a Steady-State Soul of America

August 5, 2020/10 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Joe Biden wants to restore the “soul of America.” It’s a noble goal befitting an elderly statesman combining Uncle Joe charm with Uncle Sam chops. And, it’s badly needed after four years of soulless, sickening corruption of the White House. It’s also a huge opportunity, not only for restoring but for reforming that soul.

Reform is needed because the soul of America was hardly spotless to begin with,

Book Review: Crazy Climate and Rigged Economies by Gerry Greaves

July 29, 2020/0 Comments/in Climate Change, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By Skyler Perkins

Crazy Climate and Rigged Economies begins with a story of a boy who aspires to engineer a bridge. That young boy was author Gerry Greaves, and though he never designed a bridge during his career as a structural engineer, his new book offers a conceptual bridge to a sustainable society. Greaves guides readers through the challenges of our unsustainable and rigged economy and promotes solutions to stabilize our democracy,

The Kid and the Modern American Growth Scam

July 23, 2020/3 Comments/in Consumption, Corruption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By Mark Cramer

Modified from the original published in Welcome to Fakeville! (medium.com/@WTFakeville) on May 14, 2020.

In Charles Chaplin’s classic film, The Kid, the Kid runs around town throwing rocks into windows, setting the stage for his dad, the Tramp, to show up (by chance) with window-repair equipment. The family business is based on destruction.

Between the lines, this film introduces the God of the modern era: economic growth,

To Be or Not to Be: Is the European Degrowth Movement Courting an Identity Crisis?

July 1, 2020/32 Comments/in Brian Czech, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, GDP, La Décroissance, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

To be or not to be

for lowering GDP.

Deciding is the fee

for degrowthers to be free!

(Free of confusion, that is, and degrees of self-defeat.)

In the heart of the Cold War, John F. Kennedy proclaimed, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” More than halfway to a century later,

Social Justice in the Steady State

June 17, 2020/5 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Governance, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By Brian Snyder

It is a luxury to be able to worry about future generations, biodiversity loss, or climate change, and it is only available to me because of a great deal of privilege. I don’t have to worry about affording food for my family, or finding a safe place to live, and I’m confident that my kids will inherit much of the same bourgeois life that I did. My privilege frees me to think,

Terrestrial and Solar Resources in a Steady State Economy

June 11, 2020/4 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Herman Daly

Let us consider a different slant on the current discussion about the necessity versus sufficiency of renewable energy for a steady state economy at the present physical scale.

Pursuant to the pioneering economics of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (G-R), we recognize two sources of the low-entropy flow that sustains our lives: the solar and the terrestrial. They differ in their pattern of scarcity. The solar energy source is practically infinite in its stock dimension,

The Steady Stater Stance on Renewable Energy: A Clarification

June 2, 2020/11 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By Brian Czech

Ever since my review of Michael Moore’s Planet of the Humans, some misunderstandings have come to light about the stance of myself, and by extension CASSE, on renewable energy. One such misunderstanding—spread far and wide—is that we are “against renewables.” A clarification is definitely in order.

CASSE and steady staters at large are all for renewable energy. Of course! Along with the steady state economy as the sustainable alternative to growth,

Crossroads for Planet of the Humans

May 27, 2020/31 Comments/in Brian Czech, Climate Change, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by William Rees

[Editor’s Note: The Steady State Herald first published a review of Planet of the Humans on May 1. The following review adds valuable information to the dialog.]

“It stands to reason…”

Who hasn’t heard this expression in everyday conversation? Humans tend to think of themselves as rational beings, and many people sincerely believe they are being reasonable all the time.

The Second Cold War?

May 21, 2020/0 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

By Brian Snyder

Over the past two months, there has been a great deal of talk about the environmental implications of the pandemic. Some have looked for glimmers of hope, others have predicted that we will shortly return to the status quo. I fear that the biggest outcome of the pandemic will not be its death toll nor its effects on the climate, but its impacts on geopolitics. Specifically, the deteriorating relationship between China and the USA may lead to a Second Cold War.

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by Madeline Baker

by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

by Herman Daly

by William Rees