For most of this
chapter, McKibben discussed the idea that slowing economic growth would help
with the current climate change problem. This concept made complete sense to
me, however I am not sure how plausible it actually is. Overall, the process of
slowing economic growth would also slow population growth among other things.
More specifically, if the economy decreased, the sale of items such as SUV’s
and other vehicles would also decrease. When this happens the amount of carbon
dioxide released into the atmosphere would also decrease. This is one of the
leading problems currently facing our planet.
The main reason
I am a bit skeptical of this plan is that slowing the growth of the economy is
not going to be an easy task. First off, the politicians and big business
companies will not like this plan at all. And as many people know, those two
things hold a lot of power not only in our nation, but all around the world.
Secondly, actually getting them, and the
United States as a whole to agree to this plan will take years, years we do not
have. Finally, how exactly would they go about slowing economic growth? The
rate at which our economy expands is ridiculous, slowing it will be a challenge
even if everyone is on the same side.
This chapter was
slightly more uplifting than the previous, and the facts comparing China and
the United States were shocking. Most specifically, McKibben states"If the Chinese, say, ever owned cars at the same rate as Americans, the number of vehicles on the planet would go from 800 million to almost 2 billion." This made me truly realize how
damaging the United States alone, is to the environment. I fear that the
process to reducing further damage will not occur fast enough, and more
gasoline will be added to the fire. Cannot wait to see what the next chapter
has in store!
I agree that slowing growth would help, but I also agree that it does not seem very plausible. People love money, and without growth, they're not going to get as much. Whether you believe lobbyists control the government or not, they definitely have a say, and they certainly would not be in approval in slowing down economic growth. Unfortunately, the selfishness and wealth of these powerful people may lead to our demise.
ReplyDelete"If the Chinese, say, ever owned cars at the same rate as Americans, the number of vehicles on the planet would go from 800 million to almost 2 billion." That is one shocking quote. I would like to say however I am not sure how America would operate without cars. We do not have enough public transportation, walking and bike riding is now always possible either.
ReplyDeleteAlso I would agree with you that slowing our economy and growth is the best way of fixing our problem but I also do not see it happening. When corporations have a huge influence on government I do not see that way to approach climate change being possible.
I do believe that slowing the economic growth will do some good for climate change. Your right though, it will take a lot to persuade our society to change, but honestly it is necessary to make that much needed change in our climate.
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad when things that could begin to solve our climate problems, such as slowing down the economy, are deemed unacceptable by those that are probably the least affected by climate change. If anyone in Big Business had an ounce of sympathy or compassion we wouldn't be in this mess.
ReplyDeleteI agree that based on this chapter slowing growth seems to be the best option and I agree that this change will not come fast enough. As you stated, this change will likely take years that we do not have. I have a feeling that we will continue to grow and continue to expand until we cannot. We are going to be forced to change our ways of growth only, we are going to have to accept that Eaarth will not support this type of growth any longer. And at this point it is already going to be way, way too late. At this point we will already be on the decline. Mckibben states in chapter 2 "[Our change is] not going to happen fast enough to ward off enormous change. I don't think the growth paradigm can rise to the occasion; I think the system has met its match".
ReplyDeleteIt is really unfortunate to actually know how much damage the US causes to the environment and how much control we have over the global economy. It almost makes me upset to say I'm from here, but instead of that we should work to say we are Americans trying to change and save the planet.
ReplyDeleteI agree that slowing the economic growth seems very unlikely to happen. Also, making the necessary changes to go green is going to be very expensive. I'm not an economic expert so maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't we want the economy to be as strong as possible before we try that?
ReplyDelete