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Sustainability & Ecological Civilization

An Outline for Getting from Here to There

Roy Morrison

Editor’s Note: Here is Roy Morrison’s plan for sustainability. What would be your list?

  1. Business-as-usual industrialism is the path to ecological destruction.
  2. The imperative task for the 21st century is to move toward a sustainable ecological civilization (or ecocivilization).
  3. The working premise of ecocivilization in a market society is to make economic growth mean ecological improvement through the pursuit of sustainability.
  4. This means the pursuit of profit must result in a reduction in pollution, depletion, and ecological damage and in a restoration of the living world (so-called “natural capital”).
  5. To accomplish this requires new market rules, laws, and regulations for the market to send clear price signals for sustainability. Sustainable goods and services must become cheaper than comparable polluting goods and services; gain market share; and become more profitable than polluting alternatives.
  6. A sustainable social order must also be just and fair. Long-term success of a sustainable social order cannot be based on wealth and waste by a minority, and poverty and deprivation by the majority.
  7. Therefore, a sustainable social order must encompass ecological and social justice and a global convergence on a decent life for all globally.
  8. Thus, the market rules, laws, and regulations of an ecocivilization must define by law and, if necessary, by constitutional amendment that fiduciary responsibility means the pursuit of ecological improvement and sustainability as result of actions and support for social and ecological justice by individuals, business, nonprofits, and government.
  9. Sustainability is a basic co-evolutionary force whereby the biosphere in response to all changes in the planet maintains the conditions for the flourishing of life on Earth.
  10. Self-conscious human action has become a crucial part of sustainability as an expression of the dynamic of sustainability that has shaped Earth and life from oxygen and atmosphere to soil.
  11. The global transformation to an ecocivilization cannot rely upon top-down action from national governments or international organizations. Action by each of us where we live, work, go to school, and play is crucial.
  12. The ecological transformation must address all aspects of human action including industry, agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry.
  13. Addressing climate change is a necessary and urgent focus for the pursuit of sustainability to bring human-related greenhouse gas emissions down as fast as possible to a sustainable level. This would mean measurable reductions in every country to about three tons of carbon-equivalent emissions per person per year, or twenty-one gigatons of carbon dioxide in the aggregate for a population of 7 billion, and at the same time removal of carbon dioxide from atmosphere and ocean through sequestration in biomass and in soil in similar amounts of three tons per person per year to reach a pre-industrial level of under 300 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Reductions are also needed in methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
  14. The global average per person carbon dioxide equivalent emissions is about 5.4 tons per year. But the average per person in rich nations is much higher and in poor nations is often much lower, already far below three tons per person per year. For example in the U.S. the average is around 17 tons per person per year, in China about 8 tons per person per year, in India about 2.5 tons per person per year, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo about 0.5 tons per year.
  15. Each of us as individuals, families, neighborhoods, towns, cities, and states need to develop and implement our own long-term plans for three tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per person per year and three tons of carbon dioxide equivalent sequestration per person per year.
  16. A reasonable planning horizon is eight four-year plans totaling thirty-two years to reach these goals by 2043.
  17. The place to start is where we are. The first steps are to understand our own carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and then make plans to reduce them and make economic growth mean ecological improvement.
  18. Transforming fossil fuel energy globally to renewable resources is the best example of ecological economic growth leading to ecological improvement. This means trillions of dollars of productive investment that will create jobs and strong communities.
  19. There are similar opportunities in almost all aspects of our lives for productive and transformative ecological investment.
  20. Our plans will inform what tools we need to accomplish these tasks, for example, revolving loans funds, community revenue bonds to invest in sustainability, tax credits, and ability to take advantage of tax equity financing on a community level. Finance engineering can be democratized and employed for ecological ends.
  21. Good tools are available online from the World Resource Institute to determine local carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and to use that information to build plans for the future and make relevant choices.
  22. Now is the time for us to take action and make our communities a model for others around the globe to follow. The future is very much in our hands. We need no permission from Washington D.C. or elsewhere to start moving toward a sustainable ecological future now.

About the Author

Roy Morrison is an energy consultant with over 40 years of diverse experience. He has provided technical assistance and analysis for businesses, institutions, and government agencies. He authored the first law in the nation for municipal aggregation for retail electric competition. Roy was responsible for the financial engineering of one of a large-scale, 15-year wind hedge between Southern New Hampshire University and Maple Ridge Wind Farm, which achieved stable long-term income for the university and leveled their energy budget for 15 years. He also founded the New Hampshire Consumers Utility Cooperative that was the first seller of competitive electricity in New Hampshire. He is the author of many books and writes a monthly op-ed for the International Wall Street Journal Magazine.