Editor’s note: This op-ed is by George Plumb, the executive director of Vermonters for Sustainable Population. He lives in Washington, Vt.
The 41st anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd provides us the opportunity to reflect on how well we are doing in protecting the Earth and what we should be doing now. According to scientific data most aspects of our environment are in much worse shape now than in 1970. From declining Vermont forest cover for the first time in decades to increasing global warming gasses in our atmosphere our environment is facing disasters now that we were not even aware of in 1970. Even politically sensitive Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, recognizes that, “…we have to get off of oil or our planet won’t be livable for future human beings…”
It has become clear in recent years that the piecemeal and silo approach to dealing with our environmental problems is not working. We need a paradigm shift where we recognize that infinite economic growth with finite resources is impossible. There are four closely related things that need to happen to make this paradigm shift. Fortunately there are grassroots movements already under way to help us make this paradigm shift.
First, we need to change what we measure because what we measure is what we get. We have been measuring our well being using GDP or gross domestic product. If it measures what is making life better then why, when U.S. GDP has grown by 206 percent since 1970, has the percentage of people in poverty also grown by 71 percent during the same period and the number of people living in poverty now is about 45 million? GDP also does not take into account the environmental impacts of growth. We need to change to a new indicator that actually measures improvement in human well being and takes into account the environment. The movement to make this happen is based right here in Vermont and is called the Gross National Happiness U.S.A. (www.gnhusa.org)
Second, we need to change from a global/growth/military oriented economy to a local, steady state, peace-based economy. This type of economy says that we spend more of our money supporting local enterprises, stabilize both our consumption and population so that they fluctuate only mildly, use primarily renewable resources and in a sustainable manner, and we stop wasting so much money on military expenditures. The movement to make that happen is just beginning in Vermont. It is called The Peace Economy Project and is organized by Vermont Action for Peace.
Third, we need to stabilize our population. We are already in overshoot of our long-term carrying capacity with the U.S. having an ecological footprint of 22.3 acres per person but a biocapacity of only 10.9 acres leaving a deficit of 11.3 acres per person. A growing population only results in sprawl, congestion, a surplus of labor with more people competing for jobs, increasing generation of greenhouse gas emissions, loss of species diversity, rising food prices, and a whole host of other problems. Chris Martenson PhD, in the newly published book, The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment, states, “We cannot beat around the bush on this ‘third-rail’ topic any longer. We need to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained. If we don’t then nature will do it for us, and not pleasantly, either.”The Vermont movement working on this issue is Vermonters for Sustainable Population.
Finally, individually we need to make a personal commitment to truly live more sustainably. This must involve major changes in our lifestyles but particularly in using the least amount of fossil fuels possible. We need to evolve to a cultural norm where we think very carefully about every single gallon of fuel we use and whether or not it is essential. This includes, as a few examples, giving forethought to what temperature we keep our thermostat at, how much we drive and fly, how big our lawn is, and where we grow our food. There are several movements working on this in Vermont. To demonstrate your personal commitment to living more sustainably you may take a strong 10-point pledge at www.vspop.org.
The most active movement locally is the Transition Town movement where they focus on “re-skilling” our lives to learn to grow more of our food and live in other ways without cheap fossil fuels.
It took a long time for human kind to change its thinking that the earth is not the center of our solar system but the sun is. Now we need to quickly change our thinking and realize that a growth forever economy has outlived its usefulness and we can get better while not getting bigger. I urge you to support one or more of the exciting Vermont grass roots movements.
