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The Bulletin: August 13-19, 2025
The Bulletin: August 13-19, 2025 This past week’s articles of interest… CLICK HERE If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview. Science Snippets: Connecting War with Climate Change The Forgotten Skills of Dying and Grieving Well: How Engaging with Loss Can Help Us Live More Fully You Can’t Make This Shit Up – […]
The Green Growth Delusion
THE GREEN GROWTH DELUSION Advocates of “Green Growth” promise a painless transition to a post-carbon future. But what if the limits of renewable energy require sacrificing consumption as a way of life?A tree is surrounded by solar panels in Los Arcos, Spain, on Feb. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos, File) In the annals of industrial […]
The decoupling canard won’t die…
The decoupling canard won’t die… aka, ‘Green Growth is an oxymoron’! I keep coming across people contending that decoupling will allow continued economic expansion, whilst reducing emissions. I put together this summary of rebuttals: This is a great starting observation from Tim Morgan at Surplus energy economics: “At the same time, we should dismiss the […]
‘Green growth’ doesn’t exist – less of everything is the only way to avert catastrophe
‘Green growth’ doesn’t exist – less of everything is the only way to avert catastrophe It is simply not possible to carry on at the current level of economic activity without destroying the environment ‘Combined impacts are laying waste to entire living systems.’ A dead North Atlantic right whale washed up on a beach in […]
The idea of ‘green growth’ is flawed. We must find ways of using and wasting less energy
The idea of ‘green growth’ is flawed. We must find ways of using and wasting less energy As countries explore ways of decarbonising their economies, the mantra of “green growth” risks trapping us in a spiral of failures. Green growth is an oxymoron. Growth requires more material extraction, which in turn requires more energy. The fundamental […]
Aggregate green growth is a mirage: we need to take a more scientific approach to societal wellbeing
Aggregate green growth is a mirage: we need to take a more scientific approach to societal wellbeing In the spring of 2020, the new Irish government announced its desire to develop new measures of well-being and progress in Ireland. The idea was given some prominence in the Programme for Government, ‘Our Shared Future’. This is exactly […]
A Response to McAfee: No, the “Environmental Kuznets Curve” Won’t Save Us
A RESPONSE TO MCAFEE: NO, THE “ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE” WON’T SAVE US A number of people have asked me to respond to a piece that Andrew McAfee wrote for Wired, promoting his book, which claims that rich countries – and specifically the United States – have accomplished the miracle of “green growth” and “dematerialization”, absolutely […]
Is the Green Deal a card shuffle trick?
Is the Green Deal a card shuffle trick? (NOTE; this is not an analysis of the US New Green Deal, it is about the “green growth” narrative with the European Green Deal as the point of departure.) The European Green Deal is a ”growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous […]
I’ve seriously tried to believe capitalism and the planet can coexist, but I’ve lost faith
I’ve seriously tried to believe capitalism and the planet can coexist, but I’ve lost faith As the Productivity Commission confirmed this week, Australia’s economy has enjoyed uninterrupted growth for 28 years straight. Specifically, our output of goods and services last financial year grew by 2%. Economists obviously see the growth of a national economy as good news […]
Decoupling is dead! Long live degrowth!
Decoupling is dead! Long live degrowth! If making the degrowth case was like baking a cake, disproving the plausibility of green growth would be the equivalent of turning the oven on. Decoupling is only “a myth” or “a fantasy,” some would say, a notorious fallacy that requires as much attention as the confabulations of Flat […]
That Green Growth at the Heart of the Green New Deal? It’s Malignant
That Green Growth at the Heart of the Green New Deal? It’s Malignant A burgeoning save-the-climate effort called the Green New Deal, explains Vox’s David Roberts, “has thrust climate change into the national conversation, put House Democrats on notice, and created an intense and escalating bandwagon effect. … everyone involved in green politics is talking about the […]
That Green Growth at the Heart of the Green New Deal? It’s Malignant
That Green Growth at the Heart of the Green New Deal? It’s Malignant Longview, Washington. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair. A burgeoning save-the-climate effort called the Green New Deal, explains Vox’s David Roberts, “has thrust climate change into the national conversation, put House Democrats on notice, and created an intense and escalating bandwagon effect. … everyone […]
Here’s a Simple Solution to the Growth/De-Growth Debate
HERE’S A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE GROWTH/DE-GROWTH DEBATE A number of high-profile economists – people like Carlota Perez and Michael Liebreich – have recently come out swinging in favor of “green growth” theory, trying to assuage mounting public concerns about the fact that climate change and ecological breakdown are being driven by capitalist growth. What’s […]
Why Growth Can’t Be Green
Why Growth Can’t Be Green New data proves you can support capitalism or the environment—but it’s hard to do both. Warnings about ecological breakdown have become ubiquitous. Over the past few years, major newspapers, including the Guardian and the New York Times, have carried alarming stories on soil depletion, deforestation, and the collapse of fish […]
