Continuing global economic growth "is not possible" if the world is to stop devastating climate change, according to a report by the New Economics Foundation (Nef [2]). The study, entitled "Growth Isn't Possible," finds that "unprecedented and probably impossible" carbon reductions would be needed to hold temperature rises below 2 degree C (3.6 F), the limit beyond which global warming will become dangerous for human civilization. "We urgently need to change our economy to live within its environmental budget," said Nef's policy director Andrew Simms. "There is no global environmental central bank to bail us out if we become ecologically bankrupt."
None of the existing models or policies could "square the circle" of economic growth with climate safety, Nef added. Report's co-author Dr Victoria Johnson said "Magic bullets—such as carbon capture and storage, nuclear or even geo-engineering—are potentially dangerous distractions." (BBC News [3], Jan. 25)
We have always maintained that such conclusions are self-evident [4]. But Barack Obama, in a Dec. 15, 2008 press conference [5] announcing energy policy team, stated, "There is not a contradiction between economic growth and sound environmental policies..." Will progressives have the fortitude and integrity to repudiate him on this fundamental if difficult point?
See our last post on the global climate crisis [6]
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