tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8200128116006033614.post8547762676996639118..comments2023-11-05T05:00:32.587-06:00Comments on The Shepherd's Staff: Blog Action Day - Climate ChangeJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733541934250687932noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8200128116006033614.post-16518147449772194452009-11-05T13:23:59.151-06:002009-11-05T13:23:59.151-06:00I may need to borrow this for a post! I will be se...I may need to borrow this for a post! I will be sending it to a few friends as well!Rita Locahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09961929692808138092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8200128116006033614.post-6425908884631489072009-10-16T08:16:31.854-05:002009-10-16T08:16:31.854-05:00What a good post. This has really got me thinking....What a good post. This has really got me thinking.Mikehttp://theupperroom.typepad.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8200128116006033614.post-40232408430445962712009-10-15T20:25:47.651-05:002009-10-15T20:25:47.651-05:00Hi John,
I would love to discuss this with you so...Hi John, <br />I would love to discuss this with you some time. While there is little doubt that the economic growth of the past centuries (fueled particularly by the discovery of fossil fuels and proceeding industrialization) has come with significant advances in technology, education and human health, lifting millions from poverty and raising considerably the standard of living for many in developed countries like ourselves, it has come with costs. Costs, or social and environmental externalities, which lie outside our "free market" economic model, a model based upon the premise of a rational actor, an individual who makes rational decisions in order to maximize the utility for the public good. We now know this is far from the truth, as represented in the most recent collapse of our global economy. Gordon Grecko described it years ago in the movie Wall Street, "Greed is Good." As Herman Daly the famous ecological economist says, "we're living beyond our means" our ecological means that is. We need a new economy, one based on biophysical limits, a steady-state economy which offers new measures for decision making and yes, perhaps limits to growth. Oil spills are a great example, despite all the hazards they actually stimulate GDP, which offers positive signals to markets and policy makers. An economy of sustainable scale will require just distribution, then efficient allocation, until now efficient allocation has been our goal, but to what end? So every kid can own an Ipod? Climate Change, Biodiversity loss, and Fishery depletion are all common assets requiring coordinated action. As much as I would love to believe that everyone feels as passionately for God's Creation as you and I do, stewarding the earth towards a more sustainable future will require much more than personal responsibility. <br /><br />A few authors important to my recent thinking are Wendell Berry, who recently wrote an article in the Progressive entitled" Inverting the Economic Order"; Bill McKibben, author and leader of the 350ppm campaign who wrote,"The Christain Paradox" for Harpers, and Herman Daly, who wrote the Steady-State Economy.Lee Grossnoreply@blogger.com