{"id":66172,"date":"2023-11-16T07:21:24","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T12:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=66172"},"modified":"2023-11-16T07:21:24","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T12:21:24","slug":"todays-contemplation-collapse-cometh-xxviii-the-predicament-of-ecological-overshoot-cannot-be-solved-especially-via-renewables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=66172","title":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh\u00a0XXVIII–The Predicament of Ecological Overshoot Cannot Be \u2018Solved\u2019, Especially Via \u2018Renewables\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh\u00a0XXVIII<\/h3>\n

August 10, 2021<\/p>\n

Tulum, Mexico (1986) Photo by\u00a0author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Predicament of Ecological Overshoot Cannot Be \u2018Solved\u2019, Especially Via \u2018Renewables\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s very brief \u2018contemplation\u2019 is a comment I penned on an article<\/a> that discusses the limits to growth we have probably surpassed, Kuber-Ross\u2019s stages of grief (especially denial and bargaining) that the world seems to be experiencing in the wake of increasing awareness of our existential dilemmas\/predicaments, and a call for cooperation amongst the world\u2019s people to address our plight.<\/p>\n

I have repeatedly experienced the denial and anger that tends to arise when one challenges another\u2019s personal beliefs. I should know better than to present countervailing evidence\/narratives, especially given the defensive psychological mechanisms that arise to preserve such beliefs. We tend to look for confirmation of our strongly-held views by surrounding ourselves with like-minded voices, not disruptive narratives that can lead to cognitive dissonance. Such stories are denigrated and attacked (as the author of the article points out for the Limits to Growth authors).<\/p>\n

I do believe, however, that the acceptance of our limits in many aspects leads to a conclusion that degrowth needs to be not only considered and discussed, but widely pursued if humanity is to have any hope of at least some of us transitioning through the self-made bottleneck that is directly ahead of us. Pursing the \u2018wrong\u2019 path will only make our predicament far, far more challenging and greatly reduce any opportunities for at least some of humanity to survive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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As I have come to understand our predicaments better (not perfectly of course, but better), I have reached the conclusion that the best way to mitigate our situation (or at least preserve some semblance of human society) is to pursue degrowth strategies. What I have encountered along the way is a very well-meaning but somewhat problematic counterproposal (that is very narrowly focused in my view) that the best way to confront our situation is to throw everything we have at transitioning us from fossil fuels to \u2018renewables\u2019 (I put this in quotes since their dependence on non-renewable, finite resources\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding fossil fuels\u200a\u2014\u200asuggests they are not truly \u2018renewable\u2019).<\/p>\n

This approach appears to be the mainstream one and the one that seems to be getting the most support at this time probably because it is comforting in the sense that \u2018others\u2019 are responsible for seeing its funding, development, distribution, etc. and it offers a means of maintaining our complexities without much disruption; at least that is the narrative\/perception (but also likely because there is much profit to be made in the attempts to completely replace the fossil fuel-dependent technologies currently employed).<\/p>\n

Increasingly, however, this storyline is showing many plot holes: energy-return-on-energy-invested close to zero or even negative; non-renewable, finite resource limits; environmental\/ecological destruction to procure needed resources; dependency upon the fossil fuel platform for the procurement and processing of necessary materials as well as the distribution, maintenance, and afterlife disposal\/reclamation processes. As I attempt to point these roadblocks out to the advocates of \u2018renewables\u2019 and suggest degrowth is a more realistic path given the biophysical limits of living on a finite planet, I am quite chagrined with the variety of personal attacks I am subjected to. From being a climate change \u2018denier\u2019 to a shill for the fossil fuel industry, the anger\/denial that is displayed is quite something.<\/p>\n

So, if we are hoping for cooperation and discussion to help us confront our existential dilemmas, there is much, much work that has to be done. What I am experiencing is not unique to those who have accepted our limitations and predicaments. The \u2018clean\/green\u2019 energy crowd seems unwilling to accept that their \u2018solution\u2019 and convictions may in fact expedite, or at least contribute to, the further degradation of the planet and result in the exact opposite of what they believe. I fail to see how this can be resolved in a timely manner when so much of the propaganda we are exposed to by our world \u2018leaders\u2019 cheerlead it as a means to continue expanding our growth and ensuring prosperity for all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh\u00a0XXVIII August 10, 2021 Tulum, Mexico (1986) Photo by\u00a0author The Predicament of Ecological Overshoot Cannot Be \u2018Solved\u2019, Especially Via \u2018Renewables\u2019 Today\u2019s very brief \u2018contemplation\u2019 is a comment I penned on an article that discusses the limits to growth we have probably surpassed, Kuber-Ross\u2019s stages of grief (especially denial and bargaining) that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,5,6,7],"tags":[12372,67,150,1330,22093,31469,15442,7943,33955,5833,30370,33947],"class_list":["post-66172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-energy-2","category-environment","category-geopolitics","category-liberty","category-survival-2","tag-bargaining","tag-beliefs","tag-collapse","tag-denial","tag-ecological-overshoot","tag-predicaments","tag-renewables","tag-solutions","tag-stages-of-grief","tag-steve-bull","tag-todays-contemplation","tag-todays-contemplation-collapse-cometh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66173,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66172\/revisions\/66173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}