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What ecological sustainability ought to mean

Ecological sustainability require some kind of aspiration at least to genuinely respect the limits to growth. That we as a species have already breached. (See http://books.google.com/books/about/Beyond_the_limits.html?id=0ZO4AAAAIAAJ )
 
Here's my take on how these issues, especially the Green New Deal or its successor, should be framed:
 
What we actually need I think is the kind of programme envisaged in Tim Jackson's Prosperity without growth. 'Sustainable growth' by contrast is a piece of deceptive spin. I can't sign up to it; it would be like signing up to support 'clean coal'. It would be great if there were any reason at all to believe that it is an attainable objective. There isn't (see Porritt's book for the proof, btw), and there is good reason (see the work of Herman Daly, etc.) to believe that there is a principled reason why not. Because endless growth is a delusion, a fantasy. Now more than ever, with the world's ecological limits being increasingly breached, we need I believe to be clear about this.

Comments

Tim Allwood said…
How do you reconcile this with the fact that your leader has three children?
Rupert said…
The old ad hominem (feminem) sh*te is the best ad hominem sh*te...

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