Conversation Earth

100 real-world actions happening now have the potential to bring greenhouse gases back down to a level that won’t cause humans to join the ranks of the dodo and other extinct species. They just need to be scaled up. That’s the conclusion of environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken and the team of researchers, scientists, business people and political leaders he assembled for Project Drawdown.

The team spent several years cataloging and modeling feasible, real-world carbon-reducing actions. They analyzed existing technological, ecological, and behavioral solutions for their potential to reduce and drawdown greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The results were published in April of 2017 in a book edited by Hawken, Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.

In this May 2017 interview, Hawken shares details of the project, a few surprises, and his perspective on making use of this information. Paul Hawken has previously authored Ecology of Commerce and co-authored Natural Capitalism.

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Most scientists agree the current level of human population, in combination with present living arrangements, is damaging our ecosystems. But doing something about overpopulation is not high on public policy lists. It’s rarely discussed in the media or over coffee with friends. Why?

Population Media Center President Bill Ryerson discusses the obstacles preventing faster progress on solving the overpopulation problem, or even admitting there is one. This is the second part of an April 2017 interview. Bill Ryerson has worked in the reproductive health and population arena for 47 years. He founded Population Media Center in 1998. He’s also Chairman and CEO of The Population Institute in Washington, DC.

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World population passed the 7.5 billion mark in the Spring of 2017, and it could rise to 11 billion by the turn of the century. We currently add over 200,000 to the population every day. If fertility rates don't continue to drop, and we don’t suffer a “massive die-off,” that figure could be closer to 30 billion.

Population Media Center President Bill Ryerson corrects misconceptions, debunks myths, and shares a variety of surprising facts about overpopulation, population growth, fertility rates and human reproductive behavior in the first of a two-part conversation. Ryerson has spent 47 years in the reproductive health and population fields. He is also Chairman and CEO of the Population Institute in Washington D.C.

What exactly are “think tanks” supposed to be thinking about? Are some of them part of a campaign to cast doubt on science when it could interfere with profits? Author Kerryn Higgs recounted the growth-seeking activities of the corporate world in her book, Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet. Her research reveals think tanks, industry associations, and even university economics departments all play a role in advancing and preserving our society’s commitment to growth above all else, even if it means ignoring science.

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How and why did our society come to value economic growth so highly that we pursue it at the risk of our long-term survival? For some time scientists have warned that human civilization is living beyond the ecological means of our planet. Yet our commitment to economic growth is unwavering. Australian writer Kerryn Higgs chronicled this triumph of denial over science in her book, Collision Course. She shares her findings here.

We need to change the way we think if we want to extend the shelf-life of our civilization, according to Frances Moore Lappé, author of EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think and Diet for a Small Planet. In this 2017 conversation, Lappé explains some of the “thought traps” to avoid in order to effectively inspire transition from what she calls our “economy of destruction.”

She also explains how democracy is much more than just a form of government; it is an essential part of human nature. Lappé is co-founder of the Small Planet Institute. Respected around the world for her insights into world hunger, democracy and the environment, she has appeared on most major television and cable networks, and is a contributing editor at Yes! Magazine and Solutions Journal.

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We’re not living on Earth as if we want to stay, observes Mike Nickerson. In our last episode, Mike Nickerson shared his vision for, and the joy of, making the cultural shift necessary for a sustainable human civilization. In this continuation of the conversation, we explore some of the forces keeping our system stuck in an unsustainable mode.

Nickerson leads the Sustainability Project/7th Generation Initiative in Canada, a non-profit organization that collects, studies, develops and teaches ideas, information, technologies and customs that promote green values and lead toward a sustainable future. His books include Change the World I Want to Stay On; Planning for Seven Generations: Guideposts for a Sustainable Future; and Life, Money and Illusion.

“We could be having so much fun that there just isn't time to consume resources on a quantity, or produce waste on a quantity that would be problematic for the planet,” according Mike Nickerson. He shares his ideas about how enjoyable it could be to make the cultural shift necessary for human civilization to be sustainable.

Mike Nickerson has spent his career advancing sustainability. In the 1970s he founded and co-directed the Institute for the Study of Cultural Evolution. Today he leads the Sustainability Project/7th Generation Initiative in Canada, a non-profit organization that collects, studies, develops and teaches ideas, information, technologies and customs that promote green values and lead toward a sustainable future.

Nickerson wrote legislation to launch measurement of a Genuine Progress Index in Canada. The Canadian government never followed through, but an independent Canadian Index of Wellbeing was eventually developed. His books include Change the World I Want to Stay On; Planning for Seven Generations: Guideposts for a Sustainable Future; and Life, Money and Illusion. More recently Mike has been helping to build the Lanark Eco-Village in Ontario, Canada. This conversation was recorded in 2008, but is being shared now for the first time.

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Efforts to date are falling far short of achieving the greenhouse gas reduction needed to avoid catastrophic climate disruption. Bioethicist Travis Rieder shakes things up by suggesting ethical use of public policy to encourage smaller families, which would result in dramatic decrease of carbon emissions.

This is part two of our conversation with Rieder. In part one, we discussed whether couples have a moral responsibility to have just one or perhaps no children.

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With human activity disrupting the climate, do we have a moral imperative not to have children, or to have only one child? Bioethicist Travis Rieder dares to explore this bold question with sensitivity and scientific rigor.

Rieder shares his logic in the short book, Toward a Small Family Ethic: How Overpopulation and Climate Change are Affecting the Morality of Procreation. It starts with the fact that deciding not to have one child is over 20 times more effective at reducing carbon footprint than a lifetime doing the six most common “green” activities.

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