A colleague of mine recently put forth an interesting hypothesis about the sustainability of human life: Because the capitalist economic model relies on continuous growth, he argued that such a model conflicts with the reality that the Earth has finite resources.
If we all agree that global warming is an existential crisis, which we apparently don't, everyone should be working together to declare war on "greenhouse gasses". We can't even get the fossil fuel industry to stop funding the "disinformation campaign". Most Americans don't know or even believe there has been a well funded unpatriotic political campaign for 35 years modeled on the tobacco company's campaign to confuse the issue on smoking. Smoking is an existential threat for people who smoke and the people around them. "Global Warming" is an existential threat for all the people on Earth. If in 1985 the fossil fuel industry had been honest with the people on Earth, and said "Our research has discovered that the use our products "burning of fossil fuels" will likely cause the warming of the Earth and the possibility of the collapse of civilization as we know it. We are sharing our research with our shareholders and the world and will cooperate fully with efforts to reduce the release of greenhouse gases in our operations and by the public's use of our products around the world." The world today is in a much different place than if the war against "Greenhouse Gases" had started in 1985. Furthermore, the fossil fuel industries are explaining that their support for a "carbon tax" is dependent on their exemption from responsibility for "Global Warming" and it's consequences. Who else knew? That's what the pursuit of "Continuous Exponential Growth" on a finite planet has done. A delay caused by very profitable industry and it's many related and dependent industries have made it very likely that the affluent countries around the world will have a reduction in their standard of living instead a slower increase. It is not likely that even one fossil fuel executive will be jailed or lose money over the decision he or she made. That's how capitalism works.
If we all agree that global warming is an existential crisis, which we apparently don't, everyone should be working together to declare war on "greenhouse gasses". We can't even get the fossil fuel industry to stop funding the "disinformation campaign". Most Americans don't know or even believe there has been a well funded unpatriotic political campaign for 35 years modeled on the tobacco company's campaign to confuse the issue on smoking. Smoking is an existential threat for people who smoke and the people around them. "Global Warming" is an existential threat for all the people on Earth. If in 1985 the fossil fuel industry had been honest with the people on Earth, and said "Our research has discovered that the use our products "burning of fossil fuels" will likely cause the warming of the Earth and the possibility of the collapse of civilization as we know it. We are sharing our research with our shareholders and the world and will cooperate fully with efforts to reduce the release of greenhouse gases in our operations and by the public's use of our products around the world." The world today is in a much different place than if the war against "Greenhouse Gases" had started in 1985. Furthermore, the fossil fuel industries are explaining that their support for a "carbon tax" is dependent on their exemption from responsibility for "Global Warming" and it's consequences. Who else knew? That's what the pursuit of "Continuous Exponential Growth" on a finite planet has done. A delay caused by very profitable industry and it's many related and dependent industries have made it very likely that the affluent countries around the world will have a reduction in their standard of living instead a slower increase. It is not likely that even one fossil fuel executive will be jailed or lose money over the decision he or she made. That's how capitalism works.