Thursday, June 27, 2024

Could Sanity Prevail?

 

I heard a report on NPR the other day where former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy offered that, in our culture, you don’t get people to change behavior by asking them to sacrifice but rather by convincing them that the change is good for them. I guess on the face of it that sounds practical. But there is a throbbing force within me that challenges that notion.

It would seem to me that by employing that strategy one reinforces the self-centeredness that is, at its base, the scourge of our time.

This “me” focus is accentuated in the gross growth of income by celebrities and others. The highlight recently was Elon Musk’s annual salary of $46 BILLION. But we can also look to Taylor Swift’s almost $2 BILLION for 2023, or the 5-year contract for $275 MILLION recently signed by football star Trevor Lawrence. See more in a recent NYT piece on sports salaries following the Caitlyn Clark signing. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5491137/2024/05/16/caitlin-clark-wnba-salary-comparison/

How much is enough, with 8 billion people living on a single planet under stress, largely because of the appetites for more? August 1 this year is expected to designate Overshoot Day. Earth Overshoot Day is computed by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year) by humanity’s Ecological Footprint (humanity’s demand for that year) and multiplying by 365, the number of days in a year.

What does it tell us about ourselves that our culture keeps urging us to consume more, to get the newest, fastest, biggest thing; that constant advertising entices us to be unsatisfied with what we have and that to be truly fulfilled we need more, bigger, better?

The median household income for Michigan in 2023 was $64,488. That’s for a family of four. The super rich, such as those mentioned above, make a lot more money than their annual salaries, as they have investment income that is taxed at much lower rates than median workers’ income. This is a driver of national debt, because it shrinks government revenue while benefiting the already wealthy. It’s also why we can’t seem to afford to pay teachers more, provide health care for all, or seriously invest in addressing climate destabilization.

In 2002, Robley George wrote a little reviewed or read book, Socio-Economic Democracy: An Advanced Socioeconomic System.

 

 

  While the title may seem a little heavy, its message was really straightforward: Why don’t we have a system that democratically determines what a minimum livable income should be as well as a maximum allowable wealth? He elaborates on these issues over some 200 pages with uncanny insights. The kicker is how to balance these extremes democratically, which he does nicely. It would be fascinating to have local communities vote their preferences and see where they set those limits!! I suspect you would see a significantly reduced gulf between the top and bottom, perhaps akin to studies that show people’s perception of wealth gaps and the reality. Check this out

Serendipity intervenes. Just noticed after I drafted this that a new book has come out by economist Peter Victor, Escape from Overshoot: Economics for a Planet in Peril

 

 

I got my fingers on a copy and read the forward, prologue, intro and first chapter this morning. You can read the prologue and first chapter here. It is an incredibly lucid text with tons of graphics to help make the points. The prepub accolades are numerous and impressive-

Uses sound economics to map a path out of overshoot. Highly recommended.
―Herman Daly

An excellent primer on key insights and questions in ecological economics from a celebrated pioneer of the field.
―Jason Hickel, author, Less is More

Peter Victor provides a state-of-the-art overview of the drawings for the economic rocket humanity needs for a safe landing on Spaceship Earth. In our turbulent times, with multiple planetary boundaries breached and tipping points approaching fast, Escape from Overshoot provides the perfect launch pad for new economic thinking that reconnects the world with planet Earth.
―Johan Rockström, Professor, Earth System Science; Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research; and co-author, Earth for All

The title of Peter Victor's important book says it all: the planet is in peril and a major factor is a global economy too big for nature to flourish. Human beings are animals and thus, like all other species, constrained by nature and nature's laws. An economy unfettered by the needs and limits of nature and propelled by a fool's goal of endless growth has created the twin ecological crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. All who care about the kind of world we are leaving to our grandchildren and what we can do to bring the economy into harmony with nature must read this vital book.
―David Suzuki, emeritus professor and grandfather

No one pulls it all together as well as Peter Victor. His Escape from Overshoot covers climate and other key issues with a compelling clarity. I highly recommend this book.
―James Gustave Speth, former Dean, Yale School of the Environment, and author, America the Possible

Victor draws a plausible pathway that nicely intertwines with a growing body of evidence and proposals for new economic models from across the globe. This book is timely and gives cause for hope!
―Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president, the Club of Rome, and co-author, Earth for All

Erudite and lavishly illustrated, Peter Victor's Escape from Overshoot is a sweeping analysis of the flawed economic mindset that has pushed us to the brink and an inspired prescription for the new economics needed to help pull us back.
―William Rees, professor emeritus, University of British Columbia, former director of the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), and co-author, Our Ecological Footprint

I own hundreds of books, all carefully curated. But I reserve one short shelf for books that I think everybody needs to read right away in order to grasp the human condition and what needs to be done. Peter Victor's Escape from Overshoot is now at the front of that shelf. It is clearly and entertainingly written and elicits an aha! on every page. Escape from Overshoot would be a great book on those merits alone, even if it weren't the key to our collective fate.
―Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute, and author, Power

An absolute must read― I could not put it down and read it in one sitting. Peter Victor masterfully ties the threads of economic thought together to demonstrate why― and how― we can collectively do our best to avoid climate and ecological breakdown.
―David Miller, managing director, C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy

Escape from Overshoot is a tour de force of the latest research in ecological economics from one of the top researchers in the field. In a highly accessible style, with a helpful figure or illustration on almost every page, Peter Victor explains how the current economic system works, how it has pushed us to the precipice of environmental collapse, and how a post-growth economy could pull us back from the edge.
―Dan O'Neill, Associate Professor in Ecological Economics, University of Leeds, and president, European Society for Ecological Economics

If you want to enable the next generation to build a successful future, ditch the textbooks from the past and get this one instead.
―Mathis Wackernagel, Ph.D., founder and president, Global Footprint Network, and author, Ecological Footprint

I urge you to read it and think about how to live the rest of our remaining lives….

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Reducing Our Waste, Securing Our Future

Reducing Our Waste, Securing Our Future

The Evolution of Waste Reduction

When the first Earth Day was celebrated some half century ago, the new platitude was “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. While some small steps have been made (the # Rs have been expanded – “Refuse, Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle, Rot”) we’re clearly now in over our heads in waste.

In December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution at its seventy-seventh session to proclaim 30 March as International Day of Zero Waste, to be observed annually. The International Day of Zero Waste encourages sustainable production and consumption habits and aims at increasing awareness of how zero-waste projects accelerate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) facilitate the observance of the Day

Research evidence continues to accumulate on human transgression of key planetary geo-bio-chemical boundaries, which threaten our collective futures irreparably. The evidence has been forewarned over decades of our denial. Our choosing to deny this reality not only doesn’t make it disappear, it accelerates its arrival. This is a global hairball, not solvable by one nation, one industry, or one community. Hence, the Sustainable Development Goals agreed to by all member states of the United Nations in 2015.

Addressing Systemic Issues

While it is perhaps somewhat easier to measure our geo-bio-chemical boundary transgressions, they clearly are simultaneously embedded in the social, economic, and political systems we humans have constructed. This is the essential theme of the recent scientific paper from late 2023 in the journal, Science Progress. This concern has been raised before, perhaps most thoroughly in a global review from 2018 by the International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP). In its three-volume study, IPSP laid out in much detail a possible direction to head. IPSP is an international effort of more than 200 social scientists from every continent representing all the social sciences to try to find a way forward for the entire human family together.

Goals for Social Progress

A Manifesto for Social Progress: Ideas for a Better Society, which is a shorter overview of this colossal enterprise written by some of the principal leaders of the effort offers this:

“We cannot simply undertake minor changes, small fine-tuning of policies, and avert the looming crises. A more fundamental transformation is needed. We believe that this transformation is possible… Three main goals must be pursued and achieved in conjunction, and they relate to three fundamental values:

       Equity: reduce inequalities of development between countries and social inequalities within countries;

       Sustainability: put the planet back on a track that preserves ecosystems and the human beings of future generations;

       Freedom: expand and deepen basic liberties, the rule of law, and democratic rights for all populations.”

(A Manifesto for Social Progress, Cambridge University Press, 2018, p.85)

The authors immediately concede, after pointing us in this direction, that there will be a natural tendency to attempt to work on any two of the three goals. They go on for several pages with scenarios for any combination of two goals sought while one is missed, whereby all of the scenarios end badly. While there is consensus in the “direction” the human family should go for true social progress for all, the route they agree on must be worked out. But even getting our communities to support these basic three goals would be a huge step forward.

Understanding Waste

Waste is a word that can be used as a verb, a noun, or an adjective. As a noun, an accepted definition from the American Heritage Dictionary is commonly understood – “An unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product:”. But the term can be used in many ways. We waste not just material goods but time, talent, human energy, money, landscapes, opportunity, …

The Impact Equation

Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb almost 60 years ago, came up with the I=PAT formula - I(Impact) = P(Population) x A(Affluence) x T (Technology). The (A) has often been replaced by (C) Consumption in more recent iterations. If two of the three variables remain the same but one increases, then the total impact will increase. Surely if two or more variables increase the Impact increases exponentially. Technology is a wild card in that it can either increase impact (automobiles, plastics, etc.) or decrease it (i.e., replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs, renewable energy with fossil fuel energy).

We have yet to realize the power of this equation especially given population increases (world population in 1940 was about 2.3 billion; 2.5 billion in 1950; 8+ billion today). But of course, the developed world and higher income individuals in the developing world are consuming many times more than we were in 1950. So given the transgressions of planetary boundaries, shrinking the global consumption while also making distribution more just, requires significant reductions from those of us in the developed world while increasing consumption for the poorest members of the human family. Waste needs to be reduced in every portion of the supply chain, from production, distribution, consumption and end of life. Eco-designers William McDonough and Michael Braungart urge to design not for the typical cradle to grave, but “cradle-to-cradle”.

Climate Justice Requirements

As just mentioned, the disparity driven by global inequality needs to be faced. Perhaps this is made most visible in recent studies looking at inequality and climate. The following graph depicts the nature of a just response to the disparity of responsibility for the excess of CO2 in the atmosphere.



Note that the wealthiest 10 % need to reduce their consumption by 90% by 2030!  That’s most of us, folks. A couple in the US with combined annual incomes of $50,000 would rank in the top 7% globally. These disparities must be addressed.

Rethinking Waste

Our culture refuses to face this reality, thus even the slowing of growth will not be enough to prevent further transgressions of the planetary boundaries we need to live within. The International Day for Zero Waste must help us pause to consider all that we waste while many among us suffer from not enough, not to mention the theft from future generations our over-consumption ensures. Sufficiency must be a partner with efficiency. But let’s expand how we think of waste beyond what we put into our trash for the landfill. How much do we waste energy, regardless of how it’s produced – car idling, lights left on in vacant spaces, areas heated/cooled when absent. And let’s not stop there. Let’s look at waste more broadly?

How, for example, does pouring trillions of dollars into making nuclear weapons that we can’t possibly use without making the world unlivable for many, anything but waste? What of the culling of scientific minds to research more efficient means of killing people and destroying communities rather than working to heal all that is broken?

Maybe beginning to think more deeply about Zero Waste can steer us away from annihilation of ourselves and the community of life we share it with. That is surely the hope of recognizing International Day of Zero Waste. There is no time to waste.