I just watched this video with Bill Rees, an ecology professor at the University of British Columbia. Rees argues that we are reaching limits to growth due to decreasing availability and increasing cost of of fossil fuels. Peak Oil evidently occurred in 2018.
The constraint isn't on resources, per se. While there are a finite number of atoms in the universe, ideas are infinite. Ideas enable us to arrange atoms in different, more useful ways. Human growth and progress, as I noted at Risk+Progress, can actually reduce environmental impact over time.
We saw this in forestry coverage, where development led to increased greenery. We see this with pollution, where the skies of London, for example, once choked with smog and coal dust, are now clear. As the price of fossil fuels climbs, that will send signals to consumers and businesses that other alternatives are required. We are also seeing evidence, as noted here, of peak oil, and we reached peak coal sometime ago.
This, however, assumes continued "progress" and innovation. Paradoxically, I think a shrinking global population will inhibit progress and is more likely to trap humanity within a hopeless dependence on fossil fuels, more so than it is likely to help solve the problem of climate change or environmental challenges. I explored why here: https://www.lianeon.org/p/we-dont-have-enough-people
The constraint isn't on resources, per se. While there are a finite number of atoms in the universe, ideas are infinite. Ideas enable us to arrange atoms in different, more useful ways. Human growth and progress, as I noted at Risk+Progress, can actually reduce environmental impact over time.
We saw this in forestry coverage, where development led to increased greenery. We see this with pollution, where the skies of London, for example, once choked with smog and coal dust, are now clear. As the price of fossil fuels climbs, that will send signals to consumers and businesses that other alternatives are required. We are also seeing evidence, as noted here, of peak oil, and we reached peak coal sometime ago.
This, however, assumes continued "progress" and innovation. Paradoxically, I think a shrinking global population will inhibit progress and is more likely to trap humanity within a hopeless dependence on fossil fuels, more so than it is likely to help solve the problem of climate change or environmental challenges. I explored why here: https://www.lianeon.org/p/we-dont-have-enough-people