Climate Education:

For the WildEarth Climate Action Team's last virtual climate education class (actually more of a study group), on Friday, July 31, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m., our topic was: 

Connecting the Dots: Racism, Colonialism,  Growth-addicted Economics, and Climate Chaos 

Last time we took a close look at the shared roots of racism and climate chaos.  This time we tried to wrap the subject together with our previous weeks'  investigations.

      Since April, we've been exploring what's been called "the dismal science": economics.  But it's not so dismal when we look at that newly-emerging alternate field of economics known as, De-Growth Economics, or Post-Growth Economics, Ecological Economics, or Steady-State Economics. These terms refer to a field that is tackling head-on the question of the ecological and climate crisis that threatens the future of humankind if our economic systems continue on their mindless growth-dependent path, and asks what kind of economics is compatible with, or even required by, a sustainable, viable planet with an improving, equitable quality of life for people?

Below are a selection of more resources than you probably have time for, but it the subject has grabbed you, enjoy.  Two sources are highlighted in yellow; these were our  main sources for our discussion.          (1)  the  13-minute video "The Economics of Enough, (below), makes an excellent overview of our several-week's study of Post-Growth Economics.  
    (2)   The Jason Hickle blogpost is not long, but insightfully bridges the issue of how the historical period of colonialism is baked into today's global capitalism, with measurable disparate racial impacts, also on a global scale.    Jason Hickel, 10-16-2019, Apartheid in the Global Governance System

 6-13-2014 TEDX talk.    The Economics of Enough  13 minutes       Is economic growth always a good thing? Why are people in countries like the US and UK not happier or working fewer hours when GDP has tripled since 1950? Dan O'Neill's thought-provoking talk exposes the pitfalls of economic growth and hints at alternative ways to measure progress. Dan O'Neill is a lecturer in ecological economics at the University of Leeds, and the chief economist at the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE). His work focuses on the changes that would be needed to achieve a prosperous non-growing economy, and alternative ways of measuring progress besides GDP. He is co-author (with Rob Dietz) of Enough Is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources, an international best-seller which has recently been made into a short film. 

 Here are additional resources (optional):

10-7-2017   Want to Avert the Apocalypse? Take Lessons from Costa Rica.  Jason Hickel.

Chasing economic growth gains us nothing but global warming. We should follow the lead of tiny Costa Rica, where life expectancy is soaring.   here .)

 11-7-2018  TED talk. 5 transformational policies for a prosperous and sustainable world. Johan Rockström.    (Link here.)

 5-9-2019 Joseph Steiglitz. How Did Costa Rica Get It So Right?  
The country is a beacon of Enlightenment – a world leader in democratic, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth, writes Joseph Stiglitz   

5-24-2020 5 reasons Costa Rica is winning plaudits for fighting COVID-19.  (Link, here .)

 12-5-2017  Globalisation: time to look at historic mistakes to plot the future. Joseph Stiglitz 
(Link, here .) 

2019? http://happyplanetindex.org/   Costa Rica #1. Mexico #2.  U.S. #108 of 140.

5-12-2020 Forbes. Covid shortages: Supply Chains Must Become Less Efficient. 
       This one just relates to one of our previous themes about a more local economy.  Covid-19 is causing a shift to more local suppliers, for a more resilient supply chain, even though profit margins become smaller.  (Link,  here .)

The Deep, Shared Roots of Climate Chaos and Racism

The WildEarth Climate Action team  presented a climate education class on Thursday, July 9.  

The topic was:  The Deep, Shared Roots of Climate Chaos and Racism

If you missed it but would like to explore the resources, here are  links to three articles that really struck me from among many connecting climate change with the current movement for Black lives.  If short of time, you can go to this Google Doc folder  (here), for copies with highlighted sections for your information-absorbing convenience.

These are the original links:
(1) https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/racism-killing-planet   Racism is Killing the Planet.   A quote:  I really believe in my heart of hearts—after a lifetime of thinking and talking about these issues—that we will never survive the climate crisis without ending white supremacy. Here’s why: You can’t have climate change without sacrifice zones, and you can’t have sacrifice zones without disposable people, and you can't have disposable people without racism.
(2)  Unequal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change .  Interview, Yale Environment 360.
(3)  Invisible Climate Wars, Part II: Climate Destruction As Racial Domination    Climate Defense Project.

Perhaps next time we meet, we'll return to the topic of degrowth economics once again to summarize and to  look at how these insights on systemic racism fit into the hopeful future that these alternative economic theories may help create.