Transcript CREATING A SUSTAINABLE WORLD

Copyright © 2009 by Keith H. Adkins
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Because of our phenomenal success!
The Industrial Revolution changed the way we
lived, and the impacts on our quality of life
were undeniable.
But downsides were accumulating from the
start.
Air pollution in the late 1800s created
London’s infamous “fog.”
Other side effects were unseen, like invisible
CO2 emissions.
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Regenerative resources are being harvested
more rapidly than they can replenish
themselves (e.g., fish, and trees).
Non-regenerative resources simply cannot
replenish themselves (e.g., oil, and coal).
Despite growing awareness, things are going
from bad to worse worldwide.
Global warming is the bell tolling the end of
the Industrial Age.
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Oceans are acidifying.
Glaciers are melting.
Weather is becoming more extreme.
Forests are threatened.
One billion people could be forced from their
homes by 2050.
Want some evidence? A picture is worth a
thousand words:
The most startling evidence yet…
 Plant
trees.
 Use solar energy.
 Put up wind turbines.
 Promote and use mass transit.
 Great slogan: “I eat local because I
can.”
The Industrial Age Point of View.
Society
Environment
Economy
The Post-Industrial Age Point of View.
Economy
Society
Environment
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Over the next 40 to 90 years we will exceed
the capacity of earth to supply our needs.
The morality simply comes from the eighth
commandment: Thou shalt not steal—even
from future generations.
Humanity is now between a tipping point in
climate change and a point of no return.
There is an urgent need for someone to
invest in the development of carbon capture
technology.
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We must cut carbon dioxide emissions
globally by 80% in the next twenty years.
We need to drastically reduce our
consumption of water and energy.
We all have to be a part of the solution. In an
interconnected world, it doesn’t matter whose
end of the boat has a hole.
So how do we do it?
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1. The path forward must consider future
generations by living in the present in
ways that do not jeopardize the future.
2. Institutions matter. We got into trouble
collectively, not individually, and the path
out will be through acting interdependently.
3. Change is grounded in new ways of thinking.
We all need to work together differently than
we have in the past.
1. From a Limited Worldview
to Seeing Sytems.
2. From Isolation
to Collaborating Across Boundaries.
3. From Reactive Problem Solving
to Creating Desired Futures.
1. Energy and Transportation.
2. Food and Water.
3. Waste and Toxicity.
But how does this come together?
INDUSTRIAL AGE
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
FOOD
AND
WATER
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
NATURE
INDUSTRIAL AGE
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
FOOD
AND
WATER
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
90% of our energy
comes from burning
fossil fuels.
NATURE
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
FOOD
AND
WATER
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
INDUSTRIAL AGE
NATURE
90% of our energy
comes from burning
fossil fuels.
Life has flourished for 2
billion years on one
source of energy:______
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
FOOD
AND
WATER
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
INDUSTRIAL AGE
NATURE
90% of our energy
comes from burning
fossil fuels.
Life has flourished for 2
billion years on one
source of energy: solar.
INDUSTRIAL AGE
NATURE
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
90% of our energy
comes from burning
fossil fuels.
Life has flourished for 2
billion years on one
source of energy: solar.
FOOD
AND
WATER
Our food often
travels thousands of
miles to get to us.
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
INDUSTRIAL AGE
NATURE
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
90% of our energy
comes from burning
fossil fuels.
Life has flourished for 2
billion years on one
source of energy: solar.
FOOD
AND
WATER
Our food often
travels thousands of
miles to get to us.
Most food is local
(although seeds can be
carried a great distance).
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
INDUSTRIAL AGE
NATURE
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
90% of our energy
comes from burning
fossil fuels.
Life has flourished for 2
billion years on one
source of energy: solar.
FOOD
AND
WATER
Our food often
travels thousands of
miles to get to us.
Most food is local
(although seeds can be
carried a great distance).
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
Society generates
enormous amounts
of waste.
INDUSTRIAL AGE
NATURE
ENERGY
AND
TRANSPORTATION
90% of our energy
comes from burning
fossil fuels.
Life has flourished for 2
billion years on one
source of energy: solar.
FOOD
AND
WATER
Our food often
travels thousands of
miles to get to us.
Most food is local
(although seeds can be
carried a great distance).
WASTE
AND
TOXICITY
Society generates
enormous amounts
of waste.
In nature there is no
such thing as waste.
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Nature must not be systematically deteriorated
(e.g., deforestation, loss of top soil).
Substances extracted from the earth’s crust
cannot be allowed to increase in nature (e.g.,
fossil-based emissions).
Substances produced by society cannot be
allowed to increase in nature (e.g., CFCs).
People are not subject to conditions that
systematically undermine their capacity to meet
their needs (e.g., lack of access to education or
clean water).
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Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution
to the buildup of materials taken from the earth’s
crust. This includes fossil fuels and their
associated wastes.
Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution
to the buildup of synthetic substances produced
by society.
Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution
to the ongoing physical degradation of nature.
Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution
to conditions that undermine people’s ability to
meet their basic needs.
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They seek to contribute to the health and
well-being of living systems.
They reject the notion that the sole purpose
is to make a profit.
They regard their quality of relationships as
the true indicator of success.
They live out the root meaning of company,
com panis, “the sharing of bread.”
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
Climate Change 2007 (Cambridge, 2007).
Peter Senge, The Necessary Revolution
(Doubleday, 2008).
Tim Flannery, NOW or NEVER (Atlantic
Monthly Press, 2009).
www.nasa.gov
www.RealClimate.org
www.climatesafety.org
www.newscientist.com