Subject: Climate change - Prosperity without Growth?

Posted by Linda Booth Sweeney on 12/6/2009

Message:

Hello all,

I will keep this short as I have little ones, ready to make gingerbread cookies, knocking at my door.

First I must thank you all for this rich and inspiring conversation. Thank you Jay for reminding us, once again, about the distinction between wrestling with symptoms and dealing with real underlying causes.

Dan Proctor asks how to persuade a community to “oppose economic and population growth or to embrace sustainability?” I think an answer lies in reframing the question from either/or to both/and. What if we the question were framed as “how can we have prosperity and sustainability?”

At a recent meeting in Hungary, I heard Tim Jackson, U.K. professor and Economics Commissioner at the Sustainable Development Commission talk about this very subject. I encourage you all to take a look at his report -- “Prosperity without Growth?: The transition to a sustainable economy.” http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/redefining-prosperity.html.

You’ll see Jackson talks in systems. I’ve begun to map some of the essential causal relationships in his proposal. If anyone wants to join me in this effort, please let me know.

Linda

Follow Ups:

Climate change - Prosperity without Growth? - Terren Suydam 12/7/2009 
Climate change - Prosperity without Growth? - Diana Fisher 12/7/2009
Climate change - Prosperity without Growth? - Terren Suydam 12/8/2009
Climate change - Prosperity without Growth? - Karl North 12/9/2009
Climate change - Prosperity without Growth? - Niall Palfreyman 12/10/2009
Climate change - Prosperity without Growth? - Stuart Kermes 12/7/2009
Climate change - Prosperity without Growth? - Gene Bellinger 12/6/2009