GEOG 352: Day 11

Housekeeping Items

Just a reminder about the Rex Weyler talk on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Building 180 (below the gym) in Room 134.

Field trip update – Rich and Craig… We have Chelsey and Dan presenting their

book reports, and the first debate on smart growth vs. sprawl.

I would like to finish off the slides from last week and discuss Chapter 12 from Porritt (will do on Wednesday).

Chapter 12 of Porritt

This chapter focuses on “confronting denial” and redefining environmentalism.

Porritt argues that to fully address the current global ecological crisis, political leaders and national constituencies need to radically redefine security, and to see that the real threat lies in potential ecological collapse and chronic poverty. If the resources currently devoted to militarism, the war against 'terror' and the drive to protect oil reserves, were devoted to environment and poverty issues we would be much further ahead.

Chapter 12 of Porritt He argues that the level of denial on the part of

politicians and, to some degree, various publics is staggering – that it defies all the evidence. Why the continuing denial? (Interestingly, the Pentagon is not in denial; however, they have often had to funnel information through to external 'think tanks' to get it publicized, as they have been constrained by past political masters.

We will discuss Jared Diamond's theories in Week 9 (1st week of March), but he has a number of possible explanations for eco-suicide.

Chapter 12 of Porritt

These include: --a failure to anticipate future consequences; --an inability to see trends; --creeping normalcy or the 'boiled frog' syndrome, and --the dominance of the short-term, self-serving interests of the powerful elites.

Confessions of An Economic Hit Man author, John Perkins, also cites the fact that servants of the system – he is particularly thinking of U.S. imperialism (i.e. ecological and social parasitism) – are held up as icons of success and emulation.

Which factors are most important?

Chapter 12 of Porritt

He cites Diamond to the effect that condoning and aiding and abetting ecological, and related social, inequalities and collapse will produce huge destabilizing threats for developed nations and will fuel the growth of terrorist and other movements of desperation.

In addition to the “rational bad behaviour” of elites, we are also confronted with the irrational views, already alluded to of those in power who – at least in the past – ascribed to beliefs of the imminence of the Last Judgement.

Chapter 12 of Porritt In addition to being critical of elites who promised that

growth and globalization would deliver emancipation from poverty for the “two-thirds” world, he criticizes development organizations for not giving sufficient attention to the problems of corruption in developing countries that have contributed to the limited impact of aid and suggests that, on balance, sixty years of development activity have not produced much progress on the ground. [For the U.N.'s latest targets, see the Millennium Development Goals cited in this chapter.]

And yet he cites former World Banker James Wolfensohn to the effect that “The idea that a rich world and a poor world can co-exist without dramatic implications collapsed along with the Twin Towers on 11 September.”

Chapter 12 of Porritt

The paradox: over two billion people living on less than $2.00 a day and, in the 1990s, the most-watched show in the world was Baywatch, with its images of affluence and work-free consumption.

What kind of model are we setting for a post-Cornucopian world?

Chapter 12 of Porritt One of the big challenges, especially after the

dominance of neo-liberal doctrines for many years, is getting people on-board with the value of using taxes and other means to reduce poverty and inequalities even within the rich countries themselves. The same point could be applied to taxes in support of environmental objectives. Is this opposition to taxes an insuperable obstacle for politicians?

Later on he returns to his argument that terrorism needs to be put in context.

Chapter 12 of Porritt He cites Amory Lovins to the effect that finding

alternatives to oil would be a far more time- and cost-effective way of boosting national security and economic health, and that, at any given point, the cost of oil on the open market is only a fraction of the cost of maintaining control and vigilance over the sources themselves through military means. Meanwhile the occupation of Iraq has merely increased regional instabilities.

See the figures to what could be accomplished with a little more than half what the U.S. spends in Iraq prosecuting the war in a single year.

Chapter 12 of Porritt In the 21st century, global inequalities, climate change

and competition for increasingly scarce resources will – as Gwynne Dyer points out – be the major source of military conflicts and instability.

There is also the threat posed by various technologies, some of them military in origin (e.g. forms of biological warfare) that, in the wrong hands (terrorists or misfits), could wreak havoc. This is perhaps another argument for embracing “appropriate” technology: “No terrorist is going to make governments tremble by threatening to bomb a wind turbine or release clouds of compost over our cities.”

Chapter 12 of Porritt Whether one embraces 'globalization' or not, we are, he

argues, invariably interdependent and have to address the global ecological and social challenges together. Will we be up to the task?

He notes that analysts attribute the current political paralysis to the following factors, in addition to outright co-optation by economic elites: ignorance, dogmatic allegiance to an outdated paradigm of 'materialism,' and the current interlocking complexity of issues ('wicked problems').

But Porritt argues that the complexity is being exacerbated by politicians' unwillingness to question or abandon their commitment to exponential growth.

Chapter 12 of Porritt As yet, public pressure around environmental issues is not

yet compelling politicians to act differently. Why have environmental issues gained so little traction with the electorate in developed countries?

In the rest of the chapter, he reviews the debate in the U.S. over the 'death of environmentalism,' noting that environmentalists are losing the battle for public opinion. He cites Schellenberger and Norhaus' opinion that the key problems include: -- the lack of an inspiring and positive vision; --the lack of legislative proposals that shape debate around core American values; --the radical's right control of all three branches of government (now somewhat shaken); --anti-environmental trade policies; --a politics dominated by money, and -- old paradigms and assumptions.

The Death of Environmentalism

The old modus operandi of environmentalists is characterized as follows: “the standard approach of US environmentalists has not changed much in 40 years since the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962): first, define a problem as specifically ‘environmental’; then work up a whole set of technical policy solutions to that specific environmental problem; and then persuade legislators to adopt these policies.”

This may have worked to some degree in the past, but in the meantime, the right-wing captured the ideological high ground.

Chapter 12 of Porritt He cites as an example of an alternative Amory Lovins'

vision for an oil-independent and re-energized America. However, a question that came up for me was: does one have to pander to American chauvinism to battle the right for hearts and minds of Americans?

While Lovins views businesses as the prime movers and shakers, and beneficiaries, of the shift to a sustainable economy and society, Porritt has a different take. Governments have to stop dumping their responsibility on to the private and NGO sectors, and need to provide primary leadership. It will be interesting to see if the current economic crash leads to a more positive evaluation of the role of government. Do you think it will?