Caption: "Sadly, the only proven way to achieve global GHG reductions so far has been economic recession." Comment: Fortunately, shifting to 100% renewables would catalyze the global transition to durable prosperity and community well-being in a way that would eliminate GHG production AND grow the economy <<continued>>. (See also: strategic sustainability, natural capitalism, its four strategies, and RMI's Reinventing Fire [energy] Program.)
Quick access to key sustainability resources from an emerging whole systems and critical-path perspective: pioneers, leaders, powerful ideas, path-breaking initiatives, beyond best practices, important events. Comment. Search. Go to the Sust-Clips Index of categories. See also: the State of Sustainability (SOS)TM Journal for commentary.
November 30, 2008 at 05:23PM Will Berkeley's Solar Plan Go Viral? Cisco DeVries, who came up with the innovative financing plan, is trying to convince cities nationwide to join the solar revolution. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/will_berkeley_s_solar_plan_go_viral_/Content?oid=868408
November 17, 2008 at 08:18PM In this OpEd piece, Al Gore illuminates a practical path to the seemingly impossible, shifting society to a sustainable economy based renewable energy in ten years or less and simultaneously solving the global financial crisis along the way. Now THAT's thinking out of the box!
By AL GORE Published: November 9, 2008, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09gore.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=opinion
The inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he — and we — must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis. . . .
The world authority on the climate crisis, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, after 20 years of detailed study and four unanimous reports, now says that the evidence is “unequivocal. . . .”
Here is the good news: the bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis. . . .
Economists across the spectrum — including Martin Feldstein and Lawrence Summers — agree that large and rapid investments in a jobs-intensive infrastructure initiative is the best way to revive our economy in a quick and sustainable way. Many also agree that our economy will fall behind if we continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign oil every year. Moreover, national security experts in both parties agree that we face a dangerous strategic vulnerability if the world suddenly loses access to Middle Eastern oil. . . .
Here’s what we can do — now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing 19th-century energy technologies that depend on dangerous and expensive carbon-based fuels with 21st-century technologies that use fuel that is free forever: the sun, the wind and the natural heat of the earth. . . .
What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis — and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced. . . .
This year similarly saw the rise of young Americans, whose enthusiasm electrified Barack Obama’s campaign. There is little doubt that this same group of energized youth will play an essential role in this project to secure our national future, once again turning seemingly impossible goals into inspiring success.
November 12, 2008 at 09:30PM -----Original Message-----
From: Stockholm Seminars [mailto:stockholmseminars@albaeco.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 3:28 AM
To: Scott Edmondson
Subject: Porter Nov 20: Globalised Agroecosystems - play, fast-forward,
rewind or pause?
------------------------------------------------------
THE STOCKHOLM SEMINARS:
FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE AND POLICY
------------------------------------------------------
We have the great pleasure to invite you to the seminar:
Globalised agroecosystems - play, fast-forward, rewind or pause?
Prof. John R. Porter
Department of Environment, Resources and Technology,
University of Copenhagen
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 14.0015.00
Linné Hall, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,
Lilla Frescativägen 4, Stockholm
Download the seminar announcement as a pdf-file at:
http://albaeco.com/htm/pdf/porter1120-08.pdf
Please, post or circulate the announcement among your colleagues or put it
on the note board. The seminars are open for all interested and free of
charge. No registration needed.
Very welcome!
---
ABSTRACT:
The talk examines four scenarios for possible future agroecosystems and
examines the issue of ecosystem services in agriculture and how they may be
improved.
ABOUT PROF PORTER:
John R Porter is Professor of Agroecology, Head of the Department of
Environment, Resources and Technology at The University of Copenhagen. His
integrative, multi-disciplinary and collaborative research and teaching is
on the response of arable crops, energy crops and complex agro-ecosystems to
their environment with an emphasis on climate change and ecosystem services.
He has published over 90 papers in reviewed journals and has received four
international prizes for research and teaching. In 2007, he was one of the
scientists honoured by the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1995.
ABOUT THE STOCKHOLM SEMINARS: FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE AND POLICY
The Stockholm Seminars cover a broad range of perspectives on sustainability
issues and are focused on the need for a sound scientific basis for
sustainable development policy. The Stockholm Seminars is arranged by seven
interdisciplinary institutes to communicate scientific results on
sustainable development. The seminars are given at the Royal Swedish Academy
of Sciences and are visited by a large audience, including scientists,
students, media and policy makers in the public and private sector.
The lectures are free of charge and open for all interested. For more
information: contact Albaeco (08 - 674 74 00) or e-mail: info@albaeco.com,
or www.albaeco.com/sthsem
ARRANGED BY:
- The Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences
- The Stockholm Resilience Centre
- The Stockholm Environment Institute, SEI
- The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, IGBP, the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences
- The Stockholm International Water Institute, SIWI
- The Swedish Biodiversity Centre, CBM, at the Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences and Uppsala University
- The International Foundation for Science, IFS
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Albaeco 2008, http://www.albaeco.com
November 11, 2008 at 08:58PM Cross-Post from: http://hansonbridgett.com/edms/grn_newsltr_2008-11/article2.html
Article "My Company Just Started a Sustainability Department. What Do I Do Now?" By Daniel Winokur, Daniel Winokur is a strategic sustainability consultant pursuing his MBA in Sustainable Management at the Presidio School of Management. He has consulted for multiple businesses looking to start a sustainability department or initiative. Currently, he is working with Red Bull of North America, helping them to reduce their carbon footprint through fleet MPG improvements and a solar array. You can email him at dwinokur@presidiomba.org with any questions about this article.
November 11, 2008 at 08:05PM Cross-Post from SFSU NetImpact Group Meeting 11-12-2008
Joel Makower recently published a new book, entitled "Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business" (http://www.makower.com/book.html).
Visit http://www.makower.com/for more information on Joel Makower and his endeavors. "For more than 20 years, Joel Makower has been a well-respected voice on business, the environment, and the bottom line. As a writer, speaker, and strategist on corporate environmental practices, clean technology, and green marketing, he has helped a wide range of companies align environmental responsibility with business success.
His balanced, realistic, and credible approach to sustainable business and clean technology has helped senior managers in a variety of companies and sectors create strategic roadmaps, make the business case, articulate a vision internally, form meaningful partnerships, and communicate with a broad range of stakeholders.
The Associated Press has calledhim"The guru of green business practices."
Joel is co-founder and executive editor of Greener World Media, Inc., which produces GreenBiz.com and its sister sites, ClimateBiz.com, GreenerBuildings.com, and GreenerComputing.com. He also serves as a senior strategist at GreenOrder, a sustainability consultancy, as well as co-founder and principal of Clean Edge Inc., a research and publishing firm focusing on building markets for clean energy technologies. From 1991 to 2005, Joel was editor and publisher of The Green Business Letter, an award-winning monthly newsletter he founded on corporate environmental strategy. In 2005, he was appointed a Batten Fellow at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.
Joel has helped a wide range of companies improve their environmental strategy and communications -- including Clifbar, Gap, Hewlett Packard, Levi Strauss, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Stonyfield Farm -- as well as advising more than a dozen early-stage companies focusing on environmentally sustainable products and services.
A former nationally syndicated columnist, Joel is author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including his latest, Strategies for the Green Economy. Previous books include Beyond the Bottom Line: Putting Social Responsibility to Work for Your Business and the World, about the profit and potential of socially responsible business practices; The E-Factor: The Bottom-Line Approach to Environmentally Responsible Business, on how companies are responding to environmental challenges in positive and profitable ways, and The Green Consumer, a best-selling guide to the environmental marketplace.
In addition, he is author of an oral history of the Woodstock music festival, published in 1989, which Rolling Stone called "the definitive history of the mega-event."
Joel has been a featured commentator on environmental topics for public radio's "Marketplace" and appears frequently in both broadcast and print media (read recent clippings here). He serves as a board member or adviser to a range of for-profit and nonprofit organizations and lectures regularly to companies, industry groups, and business schools around the world." (www.makower.com)
November 10, 2008 at 08:30PM Cross-Post: Union for Concerned Scientists http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/feed/feed-november-2008.html#2
Contents
1. USDA regulations would allow pharma crops to threaten food supply
2. New organic rules guarantee pasture for grazers
3. MRSA associated with food animals
4. Organic farming in Africa wins over chemical methods
5. California voters pass initiative to modernize food animal production
4. Organic farming in Africa wins over chemical methods. A major study from the United Nations Environment Program reported that the use of organic practices in Africa produces higher yields than farming with pesticides and fertilizers. The study of 114 projects in 24 countries found that yields often more than doubled when organic or near-organic practices such as crop rotation and composting were used. Organic agriculture also brought benefits to families and communities: it encouraged the improvement of local infrastructure like roads, built social relations in the community, increased farmers' incomes, improved soil fertility, and increased the land's resistance to drought. Because organic agriculture relies on available resources rather than on expensive inputs like genetically engineered seed or pesticides, poor farmers can more readily implement organic methods than industrial agriculture methods, and they can retain more earnings. The study concluded that organic techniques are a practical way for African farmers to achieve the crop yields they need and generate food security for the growing population. Read the report (pdf), or read an article about it in The Independent (UK).
November 9, 2008 at 01:50PM
Cross-Post: http://ncseonline.org/Conference/Biodiversity/
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT invites you to participate in the 9th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment: Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World, to address the challenge the changing world poses to biodiversity (and to humanity). The conference will provide an opportunity to look at what is happening to biodiversity in the context of radical climate disruption, human population rise, land use changes, globalization and other economic forces. We will collectively develop a 21st century biodiversity science and conservation strategy.
November 9, 2008 at 01:46PM 
Thomas L. Friedman's latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded--Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America (FSG 2008), brings a "fresh and provocative outlook to the two biggest challenges we face today: America's surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crises of destabilizing climate change and rising competition for energy, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. In this ground breaking account of where we stand now and how we got here, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked"--how restoring the economy by restoring the environment (i.e., sustainability) will also revive America at the same time! He sees this response as an imperative in the face of the dire consequences for humanity from the great climate destabilzation, and calls the response "Code Green," envisioning the need for a war-time-type mobilization to avoid the worst results of global warming and to invent the ecologically sustainable and empowered economy that is our only option for durable prosperity and security. This was/is the essential hope underlying the industrial revolution and the American experiment, and America can and should honor its history by renewing that role and world leadership with Code Green.
Read the complete summary and take advantage of a range of reading guides available on the publisher's website.
Thomas L. Friedman, a world-renowned author and journalist, joined The New York Times in 1981 as a financial reporter specializing in OPEC- and oil-related news and later served as the chief diplomatic, chief White House, and international economics correspondents. Friedman has reported on the Middle East conflict, the end of the cold war, U.S.domestic politics and foreign policy, international economics, and the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat. Friedman currently writes a syndicated column for the New York Times on related issues.
Friedman is the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem (FSG, 1989), which won both the National Book Award and the Overseas Press Club Award in 1989 and was on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly twelve months. From Beirut to Jerusalem has been published in more than twenty-seven languages, including Chinese and Japanese, and is now used as a basic textbook on the Middle East in many high schools and universities. Friedman also wrote The Lexus and the Olive Tree(FSG, 1999), one of the best selling business books in 1999, and the winner of the 2000 Overseas Press Club Award for best nonfiction book on foreign policy. It is now available in twenty languages. In 2005, The World Is Flat was given the first Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and Friedman was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. His latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (FSG 2008), brings a fresh outlook to the crises of destabilizing climate change and rising competition for energy.
November 9, 2008 at 11:55AM A sustainable economy is based on economic activity where limited resources cycle endlessly, cheap and abundant energy is renewable and harvested and deployed on a centralized and dispersed basis, toxic materials are not allowed to cycle through the biosphere, and agriculature is organic, local and industrial-scaled, but not industrially toxic and fossil-fuel-based. Jobs based on the present economy's unsustainable principles of production and consumption are doomed for loss. Jobs involved in the R&D and production of the transition to and maintenance and enhancement of a highly prosperous sustainable economy will grow and endure. The following report from the WorldWatch Institute summarizes some recent U.N and WWI findings on the topic.
Cross-Posting: From World Watch Instittue: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5840?emc=el&m=165635&l=4&v=6927f7d54f
Photo courtesy of Steven King
Ronnie Goldberg (International Organization of Employers), Achim Steiner (UNEP), Juan Somavia (ILO), Guy Ruder (International Trade Union Confederation), and Nick Nutall (UNEP) at the Green Jobs report launch.In 2007 and 2008, Worldwatch Senior Researcher Michael Renner, in collaboration with the Cornell University's Global Labor Institute, carried out a state-of-the-art review of green jobs funded and commissioned by the UN Environment Programme under a joint Green Jobs Initiative with the International Labour Office, the International Trade Union Confederation, and the International Organization of Employers.
The report, Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World, is the first comprehensive compilation of global green jobs trends and prospects. In October 2008, Worldwatch released its report Green Jobs: Working for People and the Environment, which summarizes thelarger report for a general audience. Green Jobsdescribes the state-of-play ofgreen employment inrenewable energy, buildings, transportation, basic industry, recycling, farming, and forestry.
Working with its partner organizations, the Worldwatch Institute provides high-quality data and analysis that demonstrates the positive linkages between environment, employment, and livelihoods. The Institute's research highlights opportunities and success stories and identifies the policies needed to overcome existing barriers to green jobs development.
Publications & Resources:
Recent Green Jobs Analysis and Commentary from Worldwatch:
October 20, 2008 at 05:11PM Principles of Ecological Economics: Guidance for a Sustainable Society with Robert Costanza, PhD, Wednesday, January 23, 2008 See http://www.iceh.org/pdfs/SBLF/CostanzaInfoSheet.pdf
Ecological economics vs. conventional economics
Ecological economics is a growing transdisciplinary field that aims to improve and expand economic theory to integrate the earth’s natural systems, human values and human health and well-being. In conventional economics, the primary goal is to increase goods and services produced by human industries (built capital), and the gross domestic product (GDP) is a national measure of the total value of goods and services produced annually. Conventional economics assumes that ever-increasing GDP is desirable, possible, and that everyone benefits. Ecological economics takes a broader perspective and recognizes that there are more things that contribute to human well-being than just the amount of stuff, such as health and education (human capital), friends and family (social capital) and the contribution of the earth and its biological and physical systems (natural capital). Its goal is to develop a deeper scientific understanding of the complex linkages between human and natural systems, and to use that understanding to develop effective policies that will lead to a world which is ecologically sustainable, has a fair distribution of resources (both between groups and generations of humans and between humans and other species), and efficiently allocates scarce resources including “natural” and “social” capital.
What is sustainability and how does it relate to Ecological Economics?
Ecological economics reminds us that "sustainability" is a multi-faceted goal by focusing on the complex interrelationship between different elements of sustainability: ecological sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. It reminds us of the complexity of the many interacting systems that make up the biosphere and the uncertainty that is a fundamental characteristic of all complex systems. Ecological economics is concerned with the problem of assuring sustainability in the face of uncertainty, and aims to maintain the resilience of ecological and socioeconomic systems by conserving and investing in natural, social and human assets.
Ecological economics also seeks true economic efficiency. Economic efficiency and good economic decision making are not possible if all of the costs and benefits are not considered or included in prices. Often current market prices do not capture the full costs of an economic activity that depletes resources or damages natural systems (natural capital); or inflicts costs to human health and well-being (social and human capitals) caused by pollution or other side effects of the activity. These excluded costs are called "externalities", defined as costs that are not included in the price of the product but are shouldered by a third party, outside the producer/seller and buyer/consumer. Capture of these costs in the market would provide a powerful incentive to move towards sustainability.
October 19, 2008 at 12:29PM How sustainable is solar, greenfield tract development? If it is the difference between solar and no solar, the solar version is better, but . . . that begs the real question of what type of land use patterns follow from and support sustainability, which is not a question asked or answered at the developer's end of the process, for the most part. In any case, solar tract development is a good transitional step. Read their promotional material at http://www.pinnbros.com/news/news-081507.php
Press Release: Pinn Brothers Fine Homes to Standardize Solar, Beginning with 455 Homes in Brentwood. Old Country Roofing and BP Solar Partner with Innovative California Homebuilder to Go Solar, August 15, 2007. Brentwood, CA Pinn Brothers Fine Homes, an innovative Northern California homebuilder, today announced that it is adopting an aggressive regional strategy to standardize solar energy into its building practices. The first community where these solar electric systems will be featured is in the City of Brentwood, where Pinn Brothers has started construction on 455 single family homes.
October 19, 2008 at 12:08AM Stanford describes its program as follows:
The 21st century is a critical time in our earth's history. The quality and quantity of natural resources—oceans, forests, freshwater, air—are stressed by the increasing demands of human activity. At the same time, nearly a billion people do not have enough food to eat and more than a billion do not have access to clean water. The challenges of providing the resources we need without irrevocably compromising our precious life-support systems are formidable. Through Stanford's Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability, environmental researchers and scholars are taking up these challenges, helping to ensure that current and future generations can live well on our planet. Related Website's: The Woods Institute for the Environment and the Stanford Challenge: Initiative on Environment of Sustainability.
October 13, 2008 at 10:28AM PRESS RELEASE (SFGOV) Newsom joins Former President Bill Clinton during his Clinton Global Initiative to announce 3-year commitment to maximize energy and water efficiency, reduce waste, and increase the use of wastewater
09/25/08 - Today San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that San Francisco has agreed to a formal partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to transform the city’s Civic Center into a sustainable resource district that maximizes energy and water efficiency, reduces waste, and increases the use of wastewater. Sustainable strategies will be implemented on the Civic Center’s buildings and public spaces to provide measurable and replicable results for cities worldwide and create a global center that educates the public on sustainable concepts.
"San Francisco’s Civic Center sits at the core of one of the most visited cities in the world," said Mayor Newsom. "What better way to educate the world on sustainability than by transforming that core to showcase how we can use water more efficiently, promote food security, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. San Francisco has always been a leader – willing to think differently and act boldly. And now, our Civic Center will stand as a global model for how we achieve a more sustainable future."
The goals of the sustainable resource district are:
80% potable water use reduction
45% wastewater discharge reduction
35% peak power demand met by renewables
33% annual energy reduction
Reduction of the community carbon footprint by 2,225 tons annually; the equivalent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 1,286 San Francisco households
Although implementing the overall vision will take several years, the 3-year Commitment to Action is anticipated to launch on October 20th, 2008 with a formal partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), followed by planning and evaluation with the community and experts, design development, identifying potential funding, and public outreach, with installation of the first projects set for late 2009.
Potential initial projects include the installation of solar rooftop photovoltaics, water conservation fixtures, living roofs, and a public Wi-Fi connection, among others.
October 11, 2008 at 11:14AM -----Original Message-----
From: jbarber@isforum.org [mailto:jbarber@isforum.org]
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 7:27 AM
To: citnet-news@citnet.org
Subject: [citnet-news] Launch of Citizens Guide to Sustainable Energy
October 11, 2008
Dear CitNet members and friends,
I am pleased to announce the launch of the first version of the Citizens
Guide to
Sustainable Energy, in conjunction with the Earth Charter Community Summits
on Climate
Change being held today across this and other countries (see www.citnet.org)
The Citizens Guide to Sustainable Energy is a website (part of the main
CitNet website)
focused on identifying resources and information about sustainable energy.
The Guide is a
tool for citizens to help inform and educate themselves about the impacts
and
alternatives to our current ways of producing and consuming energy.
This is the first of the 5-Step Citizens Action Plan on Climate and Energy.
The Guide is also a work-in-progress in which we welcome the suggestions
and ideas, and
support of the community of concerned citizens. This is just a beginning.
There are many
gaps to be filled, many more questions to be asked and answered in the
months ahead.
With your help, we will continue to build this tool we hope to be a useful
tool as we
examine the challenge and options now on the table.
So please visit www.citnet.org and let us know what you think and how we
can build and
improve this tool.
Respectfully,
Jeffrey Barber
National Coordinator
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mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web
October 11, 2008 at 11:14AM -----Original Message-----
From: sfp@igc.org [mailto:sfp@igc.org]
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 11:35 PM
To: Scott-e22
Subject: next sust wave
http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/book-review-the-next-sustainab-002419.php
October 2, 2008 at 11:00PM New York, 24 September 2008 (ILO/UNEP)-A new, landmark study on the impact of an emerging global "green economy" on the world of work says efforts to tackle climate change could result in the creation of millions of new "green jobs" in the coming decades.
The new report entitled Green Jobs: Towards Decent work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World, says changing patterns of employment and investment resulting from efforts to reduce climate change and its effects are already generating new jobs in many sectors and economies, and could create millions more in both developed and developing countries.
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=545&ArticleID=5929&l=en
There are links to media coverage of the report too.
September 25, 2008 at 07:57PM Nearly 10 years and $500 million dollars in the making, it's finally here. The new Academy is a masterpiece in sustainable architecture, blends seamlessly into the park's natural setting, and is filled with hundreds of innovative exhibits and thousands of extraordinary plants and animals.
September 25, 2008 at 08:18AM 
Global financial markets face increasing pressures, but a report released yesterday shows that a new green economy is emerging, creating millions of jobs in the next decades that will help tackle climate change. Whether creating clean-burning fuels, installing solar water heaters, or improving the energy efficiency of homes and offices, new jobs will form a key part of the market for environmental products and services, which is expected to reach $2.7 trillion by 2020.
The landmark study, funded and commissioned by the UN Environment Programme under a joint Green Jobs Initiative with the International Labour Office, the International Trade Union Confederation, and the International Organization of Employers, was produced by the Worldwatch Institute, with technical assistance from Cornell University's Global Labor Institute.
Read: Global Economy Special Focus: Green Jobs
Read Also: Press Release: Landmark New Report Says Emerging Green Economy
September 17, 2008 at 03:25PM The Earth Institute Workshop. Urban Design Lab for Sustainable Development.
Tuesday, September 16, 4:00-6:00PM Event: SIPA/Earth Institute Practicum in
Environmental Science & Policy. Speaker: Richard Plunz, Director, Urban
Design Lab, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Location: 405
International Affairs Building, Contact: Columbia Univ. School of Int'l &
Public Affairs, 420 West 118th Street, New York, NY 10027
Financial Bailout -- A Spur to Sustainability?
The same blindness that produced the financial meltdown is producing the larger sustainability crisis with its potential to destroy the regenerative capacity at the heart of the planet's life support system. In the name of survival, jobs, and pragmatic economics, the human economy poisons the life support system, overwhelms its processing capacity, and liquidates its infrastructure: the fertile soil, the oxygen producing and carbon sequestering forests, and other "natural capital." Blithely ignorant of the larger crime, the human economy increasingly damages the on-going critical life-support functions of nature that are streams of real wealth inputs to the human economy for which there are no substitutes. And in exchange for what? Usually the exchange is for single-period consumption moments. We're tearing down and burning up the house to keep the winter winds at bay! But for how long will that strategy succeed?! Not long enough as the U.S. financial sector recently discovered of the same type of ignorance.
The beginning of any bailout plan has to be a regulatory response based on knowing the difference between economic investment and recreational gambling. There is always risk with investments in real wealth production but never at the level of gambling where the odds always favor the house. We must prime the economy for real wealth production not the masquerade of ponzi schemes. Past deregulation has confused investment and gambling to the point where reckless recreational gambling appears to be serious economic investment.
The new regulatory system must fuel the real economic wealth production of on-going economic prosperity. It must prohibit any form of gambling with society's hard-earned financial capital (savings) entrusted to the private sector in a capitalistic economy. Gambling is an individual choice and pastime that can occur legitimately only when the individual bears the full burden of the costs and consequences. Gamble inLas Vegas
The deal with Wall Street, if there is one, should be structured as a long-term public loan to restructure a bankrupt private sector of a free market economy ONLY because not doing so could undermine the whole economic system. It should accomplish the task of avoiding the need for firms to take a current one-period write-down that would break the bank (economy) for all. It should allow the industry to get back on its feet, become productive again, and allow the housing and other financial markets to stabilize around goods priced to reflect their real long-term value, not their shor-term low, zero, or negative value in a collapsing market. The deal should include an equity stake for the Public White Knight Investor in the future growth and profits of the firms or sectors involved. The interest rate on the loan should reflect the level of risk the public is taking in bailing out these sectors and firms. Anything less makes a sham out of capitalism.
Finally, it is likely that the principles of innovation, savings, and real wealth production at the heart of an environmentally sustainable economy may have some import in redesigning a new financial system for the 21st century. Pursuing this value would contribute to the lightening-fast economic transformation required to avoid the larger catastrophe of the accelerating collapse of the real economy -- the environment--occuring now. Fixing the accounting system to accurately reflect the range of real effects on natural capital--both positive and negative--would go along way toward fixing the human economy's capacity to generate correct price signals for the direction, pace, and magnitude of economic activity, investment, and innovation. Undoubtedly, there are other implications as well, and they should be explored and harnessed to the task of reinventing not only a financial system, but the financial system that will power the transformation to the durable prosperity of a sustainable human economy. In this way, the financial crisis could be a spur to sustainability.