07 February 2010

What To Do ?

This discussion paper rejects the response of Ross Garnaut and the federal government, as well as the majority of environmentalists, for reduction of C02 atmospheric pollution. They are all seriously wanting : not only would they fail to significantly reduce the problem, but they fail completely to tackle the underlying causes of human "overshoot" : overpopulation and living way beyond our means.

Rapid social transformation is rarely desirable. The enormous expansion of technologies from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, which sped up greatly following World War Two, lead to social disruption and dislocation. However, the luxury of incrementally introducing the required radical shifts to a conserver society and no-growth economy is no longer available. There is now no longer any choice but to make these enormous changes, and to do so over a very short time.

William Catton in his book Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change (1982) believes that "our best bet is to expect the worst". "Believing that crash won't happen to us", he says, "is one reason why it will. The principles of ecology apply to all living things". And, that includes us.

Therefore, as a first step we must
  • Respect the limits inherent within all natural systems

    Economic development by its very nature involves further increasing the impact of our activities on the world of living things and on its atmospheric environment. Even, a 2% growth rate of GNP would result in a roughly 8-fold increase in the size and impact of our economic activity on the environment and atmosphere. Edward Goldsmith, founding editor of The Ecologist says that, "This (growth rate) is not even remotely tolerable." We must, therefore, stop believing that economic growth in a finite world is a source of all benefit when, in fact, it is destroying life. Economic growth is no longer an option. We must, therefore,
  • Shift to a zero-growth economy

    (No sectors should be exempt: government, military, science etc)
  • Stop seeking to blame China, India and Brazil and ecognize that they will change when the developed nations take the lead

    It is necessary to make these major shifts in our value system, while at the same time adopting the following proposals, so as to rapidly curtail pollution levels and assist the restoration of the biosphere.
  • Move towards self-sufficiency at the community, regional and national levels
  • Ration all basic requirements just as in war time

    Many proposals have been put by others for the provision of energy entitlements and whether or not they should be tradeable. However, it is necessary to limit consumption to a much wider range of necessities, e.g. water, than is usually proposed.
  • Reduce consumption in Australia to one-tenth of present levels
  • shift to renewablo energy sources, giving priority to direct solar, g,& hot water collectors, and microsystems that benefit from the dispersed nature of wind and solar sources
  • stretch the supplies of fossil fuels as long as possible instead of competing and fighting wars to hasten their consumption
  • fund the above changes from a windfall tax on fossil fuel corporations

    Recognising that the problem of climate change is inseparable from other planetary crises, and that we can only make effective changes if they are holistic, we propose that we:
  • rein in the over-sized "too big to fail" financial institutions instead of bailing them out so as to prop up further growth
  • shift to diversified and organic farming practices (James Lovelock estimates that industrial agriculture reduces the carbon-storing capacity of soils by 40 percent.)
  • strictly enforce all measures for the conservation of land, water and biodiversity revegetate large tracts of pastoral and agricultural lands
  • remove all financial incentives for having children, and remove subsidies for high-tech reproductive technologies. Aim to stabilize our population, promote zero-population growth and greatly reduce levels of immigration
  • foster non-consumptive modes of human enjoyment, and
  • develop an ethic based on simplicity and frugality. (Catton considers that our indispensable hope lies in human self-restraint both individually and collectively)
As fear and panic about the future well-being of the planet's life-support systems, not surprisingly, becomes more prevalent, planetary-scale, geo-engineering proposals are increasingly being put forward: shooting Large quantities of reflective particles into the upper atmosphere etc. Precipice rejects all proposals to engineer the earth's climate. Such `solutions' are no more likely to buy us time to make other changes, if the will to make such changes does not exist. Furthermore, they are a continuation of the same large-scale, arrogant and wreckless interference in the biosphere which has got us into this problem in the first place. The side-effects of such experiments are unknown -and unknowable. For example, proposals to pump tiny sulphate particles into the atmosphere to create a 'sun-shade" have been shown by computer modelling to dramatically destroy the none layer. Postscript: Since the first edition of this brochure in 2008, the `big recession' has pre-occupied governments around the globe as they grapple with a financial meltdown which they failed to predict and which they fail to understand. The urgency, passion and panic with which most political leads address this economic mess is in stark. contrast to. their approach to climate change. They have failed totally to link the various crises or to see that Keynesian-style policies will only deepen our many problems.
Ally Fricker 2008-2010
This is produced by the group PRECIPICE
(People Representing Ecological Consciousness and Integrity of the Planet Instead of Committing Ecocide)
Phone (O8) 8581 8255.
International Phone (61) 8 8581 8255.
Write:
Ally Fricker
RSD 3
ROBERTSTOWN SA
5381
AUSTRALIA