Today’s guest commentary in our series honoring the 40th anniversary of The Limits to Growth Study comes from Paul and Anne Ehrlich. Paul is, of course, famous for penning The Population Bomb in 1968. You might be interested to know that his wife, Anne co-wrote the book. She and Paul have written many more books since then, none as famous and Earth-shaking, but all very important and worth reading. I want to thank Paul and Anne for writing this specifically for our Limits to Growth blog series. I’ve encouraged them to share it as well at the web site of an important initiative they support, called the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere. GrowthBusters is also a participant in that initiative, and I recommend you explore it.
Pollyannas of Population Growth
I am a Growthbuster
Today’s guest post in our Limits to Growth 40th anniversary series is by Andrew Gaines, co-founder of Transform Australia. I spent a wonderful afternoon sitting with Andrew in a coffee shop in Sydney two weeks ago, plotting the salvation of our civilization. Andrew understands and evangelizes about the need for system change. Check out his Whole System Change Ideas Bank. I appreciate this contribution to our series from Andrew and the good work he’s doing. I expect we will collaborate a lot in the future.
I am a Growthbuster
by Andrew Gaines
Transform Australia
I challenge the myth that unlimited growth is both possible and good.
Why? Because the plain fact is that unlimited growth will kill us.
Birthing the New Economy
Our series honoring the 40th anniversary of the Limits to Growth study continues. Today, a guest post from Rick Heller. Through www.seeingtheroses.org, Rick is helping us recognize the joys of getting unhooked from our unsustainable, growth-addicted ways. Today he offers a report on the Transition to a New Economy conference.
First, let’s pick up our exponential growth demonstration. If you’ll recall, we began with a single grain of wheat in a beaker. Each day of the demonstration, we double the amount of wheat in the beaker. This is equivalent to a growth rate of just under 3% per hour. This makes it a good fast-track demonstration of what’s happening in the real world. 3% annual growth is a common economic objective. About 15 nations have annual population growth rates near or above 3%. Las Vegas, Nevada was growing faster than 3% annually until the housing bubble burst. Last week we left off at Day Nine, with 256 grains of wheat. Today let’s double that:
Join the Worldwide GrowthBusters House Party
5oo GrowthBusters Screenings Earth Day Weekend
If you’re subscribed to this blog, the daily posts will continue for just 3 more weeks – until Earth Day on April 22. As Earth Day approaches this year, I sense growing awareness that we are fast approaching Al Bartlett’s one minute before 12, and a sense that it’s time for a re-awakening. Turning off the lights for Earth Hour or pledging on Earth Day to change over to fluorescent light bulbs or hang the laundry out to dry is not enough. We need a society-wide paradigm shift – away from the expectation of MORE, year after year.
Catalyzing that shift is the purpose of my documentary, GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth. The film was intended to shake our blind faith in the benefits and possibility of everlasting growth. So if you want to do more this Earth Day, in addition to taking our Pledge to Think Small, I ask you to host a screening of GrowthBusters. The more people who see the film, the more are prepared to embrace the end of growth. It may not instantly convert all viewers, but it will at least plant a seed of doubt about the feasibility of a system hooked on growth.
The Influence of Donella Meadows and Limits to Growth
One prominent public figure was able to match Reagan’s hopefulness and ability to inspire. She was a humble writer and farmer, but first and foremost, she was a scientist who rooted her analyses in the laws of physics and ecology (she certainly never tried to gain support by resorting to fantasy-land notions such as infinite growth on a finite planet).