Economic Growth…Is It The Cause Of Our Environmental Woes?

Each year many economists join the increasing body of their peers who believe that economic growth, as defined by increased through-put of resources, yields an increasing amount of waste and pollution that is forcing us toward global calamity. 

The Earth, after all, is not inexhaustible…it is in fact finite. We have a limited amount of water to sustain life; limited land to grow our food; a limited quantity of resources from which to make things; and limited space in which to store the waste that we create. The Earth is finite…not infinite. 

And it is these facts that drive the Ecological Economists who believe that we must change our cultural and economic direction toward continued growth driven by our markets in our capitalist economic system. We need to limit, even stop growth in its tracks, and in its place we need to promote economic and political processes that will promote excellence that will enhance the quality of life for all while working to meet the sustainable demands or our current and future civilization.

There are two types of Sustainability; Strong and Weak. Strong Sustainability argues and strives for positive action that fully protects the environment and human health. In Strong Sustainability the environment is sustained, and Natural Capital is sustained. In Weak Sustainability economic growth is sustained…you see, in the weak approach Natural Capital can be consumed as long as there is a substitute for it, like manmade capital. 

Which is better? Difficult question. Sustainability is intent on supporting the Environment, the Economy, and Equity…both globally and for future generations. In the strong approach these will be maintained through positive actions that retain and share…while protecting all. In the weak approach resources and species will go away, but there will be other things left to provide for Equity.

Today’s industrial giants and their sponsors in Government fully support economic growth, so how will we reverse this centuries old trend? No answers there… that’s the point. Growth is what our institutions are engaged in, and they are not going to readily give that up. But if they don’t we will not be able to overcome the slippage that we suffer in our current programs, slippage that allows the bypassing of regulations, or the intentional refusal to comply in full by many organizations who deliver more and more pollution to our doorstep with each hour of production.

The Impact of our Faulty Regulatory Process...

The environment, and for that matter the future of Sustainability, is often addressed through laws that establish regulations that demand compliance. Once the standards are set we seem to step into a difficult process that, year after year, calls for completion of programs that industry just seems to be ill equipped to handle. As a result we tend to under achieve when measuring corporate performance to the standards.

But how bad is it…well the specifics are on record, and you should go there to check them out, but the concept is right here and it can help us to understand why regulatory compliance is falling very far from the mark.

We have many companies unwilling to meet the standards…fighting for their right to keep on doing what they have always done…pollute without regard to the environment in order to make a profit that does not pay for the impact that they generate, let alone the readily available natural resources consumed in their process…like air and water…that are almost never paid for by industry. Instead our modern political-industrial process leaves these expenses, a $400 Billion annual burden, to the government to cover with taxes and loans…debts that should have been covered by the industrial giants who caused them in the first place.

Consider this… it is all about the slip between ‘cup and lip’. If only 80% of the problem was actually covered by the regulations…leaving 20% unaddressed; and then only 80% of the companies try to meet compliance, leaving 20% nonresponsive, and only 80% of the effort was successful…another 20% still on the table, we are in real trouble. It boils down to a math problem. 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.8= ….well that is 80% of the total problem times 80% of the companies…leaving a first result of 64% of the issue addressed...then multiply that by 80%... or 0.64 x 0.8 = .512… or just over 50% compliance to regulatory expectations.

Now if that was in a static system…with no change to the volume of production nor the quantity of pollutants dumped into our environment…then we would be seeing improvements…yet in our profit driven modernistic system production rates continue to advance at near 100% per year…so our 50% reduction represents a real slippage of regulatory goals…simply stated…we are falling behind due to industrial growth and the regulatory slippage that we are experiencing because of industry’s unwillingness to step up and comply with the real requirements.

Regulator Slippage needs to be corrected…clean air and water, and GHG (that’s Green House Gases) all need to be covered effectively, and while we are at it we need to get industry to meet its responsibilities to clean what they use, or fund the cleanup in full so that it does not have to be a tax burden.

Modernist Society...and the need to transition...post 1

The world around us, and especially in the developed world, is operating within a consumer driven, capitalist economic system supported by a modernist political model in which the economic engine, with its wide open throttle for growth, has doubled the world’s economy in less than 25 years, and will double it again in less than 10.

When we look to the three columns established within the field of Sustainability we have to question if this is what is best for Planet Earth… After all, even if we reduce the per capita rate of pollution (per person / per dollar earned) the growing population and the increasing income levels associated with our economic model demand that pollution go up…The economies of the developed world are growing, and those of the developing world are demanding the right to grow along side of them.

Add to that the increasing polluting trends in the developing nations, especially China and India, and we find that the burden being placed on our planet to overstress her finite ability to absorb the toxins we are dumping on her…and to clean our air and water so that we can live longer lives…all at little or no economic charge, tax, or donation…

This growth is spewing out carbon and nitrogen at an alarming rate…into an environment that is failing, and onto a population that is living longer with most-times less quality of life, especially in the third world.

Our politicians are being driven by economic factors, sometimes greed…sometimes goals to succeed…sometimes the desire to aid our society with better perceived standards…all of which are fueling the fire.

Nitrogen Pollution...Just one US Example Among Thousands

In 2010, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services listed parts of the Bellamy River, Cocheco River, Exeter River, Great Bay, Lamprey River, Oyster River, Piscataqua River, and Salmon Falls Rivers as impaired or threatened by nitrogen pollution. Simply stated, New Hampshire’s coastal waters are in trouble, and the danger comes from people over fertilizing and causing N2 pollution in our waters.

Why is this a problem?

Excessively high nitrogen levels in a water body can trigger explosive algae growth known as algal blooms. As the algae dies, it depletes dissolved oxgyen levels in the water and block out sunlight, potentially leading to a loss of habitat for fish and aquatic plants. This deadly process is known as eutrophication.
The Great Bay Estuary is already exhibiting signs of eutrophication:

• 42% increase in total nitrogen to the estuary load in just five years
• Adult oyster populations in the estuary have plummeted from 125,000 bushels in 1997 to just 10,044 in 2009.
• 1990-2008: 65% percent decline in eelgrass habitat

Source: Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership. State of the Estuaries 2009