environmental protection Archives – Page 2 of 4 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

[Book Review] Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline

September 19, 2019/2 Comments/in Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Max Kummerow, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Max Kummerow

by Max Kummerow

In Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline (Crown Publishing Group, New York, 2019) Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson argue that population decline will bring many social and economic changes—some good, some bad. They assert that “In three decades, give or take…global population starts to decline.”

Note that their title is a bit misleading. World population will probably rise to over 10 billion before the slow decline would begin.

The Green New Deal: What’s Really Green and What’s Really New

February 14, 2019/6 Comments/in Brian Czech, Climate Change, Consumption, Corporate Reform, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By Brian Czech

Ask Americans what the Green New Deal is all about, and you’ll get two basic answers. Most often you’ll hear, “It’s about moving to renewable energy in order to fight climate change.” You’ll also hear, from a camp further right, “It’s all about socialism!” Either way, the really green, really new feature is overlooked. What the Green New Deal is really about is the transition to a steady state economy. At least, that’s what it must be about, to be truly green and new. Let’s start with green. “Green” connotes environmental protection. Some may view it naively as a tree hugger’s agenda, but ultimately, it’s about economic sustainability. That’s because economic activity starts from deep in the environment; namely with the agricultural and extractive sectors.

NGOs Challenged to Back Up Their Rhetoric

September 18, 2018/5 Comments/in Biodiversity, Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Environment, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

The Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) has sent a letter to the presidents of the top ten environmental NGOs challenging them to a debate. The debate will center around one question: “Is there a conflict between economic growth and environmental protection?”

A Sustainable True-Cost Economy Promises an Escape from Massive Water Pollution

August 26, 2015/2 Comments/in Brent Blackwelder, Economic Policy, Environment, Steady State Economy, The Daly News /by Brent Blackwelder

by Brent Blackwelder

A year ago, I wrote about how a true-cost steady state economy would deal with water pollution. Last August, the alarming green slime at the west end of Lake Erie was so bad that it shut down Toledo’s water supply for half a million people. Who would pay the tremendous damages caused by the green slime? Certainly not the industrial agricultural interests who were responsible for about two-thirds of the problem!

Thoughts on Pope Francis’ Laudato Si

June 23, 2015/17 Comments/in Books and Articles, Consumption, Economic Growth, Environment, Herman Daly, Population, Poverty Alleviation, Steady State Economy, The Daly News /by Herman Daly

by Herman Daly

As a Protestant Christian my devotion to the Catholic Church has been rather minimal, based largely on respect for early church history, and for love of an aunt who was a nun. In recent times the Catholic Church’s opposition to birth control, plus the pedophile and cover-up scandals, further alienated me. Like many others I first viewed Pope Francis as perhaps a breath of fresh air, but little more.

Preempting a Misleading Argument: Why Environmental Problems Will Stop Tracking with GDP

May 13, 2015/1 Comment/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Economic Growth, Environment, Population, Steady State Economy, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

Brian explains how GDP growth will eventually stop tracking with environmental damage–but the reasons may not be what you’d expect!

Adjusting the Fifth to a Finite Planet, Part II

March 18, 2015/2 Comments/in Environment, Eric Zencey, Steady State Economy, Sustainability, The Daly News, Uncategorized /by EricZencey

In part two of two, Eric Zencey explains how American Constitutional case law has come to value private property over the interests of other citizens.

Who Moved Obama’s Win-Win Cheese?

February 4, 2015/10 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Steady State Economy, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Whether or not you like President Obama or his policy preferences, you have to acknowledge his consistency. Even those with “zero regard” for the president confess, “At least Obama is consistent.”

But not consistently. There is one issue, at least, on which he hasn’t held still, moving in and out like an octopus in a sunken ship. That issue is the relationship between economic growth and environmental protection.