On Mar 15, 2006, at 5:52 AM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Nick Palmer wrote:
I first heard it when I was talking to one of the politicians
(Economics Minister) in my own fair Jersey about 10 years ago when
he metaphorically patted me on the head and (paraphrasing) said
"don't you realise, little Green person, that we need more
economic growth to pay for the environmental clean up that you say
is needed"! This is a bit like a drug user saying they need even
more drugs to get their life back in order...
That's true. That's the point I was trying to make. We need less
economic activity, not more. A large fraction of "economic
activity" is annoying waste that nobody really wants: things like
traffic jams, and overly-bright street lights that interfere with
sleep and disrupt nocturnal species.
With the right policies we can have have economic activity like never
before - and all to the good side. Vehicle replacement with energy
efficient vehicles is a huge economic opportunity. Building a new
energy infrastructure is a huge opportunity, especially in housing
retrofits. Manufacture of renewable energy generation systems, not
just for a few countries, but for the world, is a colossal
opportunity. We have the opportunity to make the WWII boom look like
a minor blip. Before this can happen, unfortunately, the people have
to wake up to what is going on, what could happen depending of
courses of action chosen, and what it all means to them directly.
