[Graeme]

Rather than hide this important article in the Open forum, I'd like to re-introduce it here in this forum as the central issue of this board because our present economy is about 80% dependent on fossil fuels. FF are expected to decline over the coming decades. Will the global economy decline too? What will follow are further news articles on economic sustainability, particularly in America, and any discussion by members.

From a Failed Growth Economy to a Steady-State Economy

A steady-state economy is incompatible with continuous growth—either positive or negative growth. The goal of a steady state is to sustain a constant, sufficient stock of real wealth and people for a long time. A downward spiral of negative growth, a depression such as we are entering now, is a failed growth economy, not a steady-state economy. Halting an accelerating downward spiral is necessary, but is not the same thing as resuming continuous positive growth. The growth economy now fails in two ways: (1) positive growth becomes uneconomic in our full-world economy; (2) negative growth, resulting from the bursting of financial bubbles inflated beyond physical limits, though temporarily necessary, soon becomes self-destructive. That leaves a non-growing or steady-state economy as the only long run alternative. The level of physical wealth that the biosphere can sustain in a steady state may well be below the present level. The fact that recent efforts at growth have resulted mainly in bubbles suggests that this is so. Nevertheless, current policies all aim for the full re-establishment of the growth economy. No one denies that our problems would be easier to solve if we were richer. The question is, does growth any longer make us richer, or is it now making us poorer?

(a) Some economists in fact think of nature as the set of extractive subsectors of the economy (forests, fisheries, mines, wells, pastures, and even agriculture….). The economy, not the ecosystem or biosphere, is seen as the whole; nature is a collection of parts. If the economy is the whole then it is not a part of any larger thing or system that might restrain its expansion. If some extractive natural subsector gets scarce we will just substitute other sectors for it and growth of the whole economy will continue, not into any restraining biospheric envelope, but into sidereal space presumably full of resource-bearing asteroids and friendly highly-evolved aliens eager to teach us how to grow forever into their territory. Sources and sinks are considered infinite.

TheOil Drum

I'd like to begin this thread with some positive news about sustainability in Asia and Europe.

China bank wins sustainability award

A Chinese bank that has pioneered lending for energy conservation, emissions reduction and other green projects was named Asia's sustainable bank of the year last night at the 2009 FT Sustainable Banking Awards in London.

Industrial Bank of China, a medium-sized lender, is the first Chinese institution to have committed itself to international sustainability standards such as the Equator Principles for project finance.

With the government in Beijing promising tough action to mitigate the environmental impact of the country's rapid economic growth, IBC's lead in incorporating environmental standards in its lending policies is being followed by other banks such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The overall winner of the 2009 awards was Triodos Bank of the Netherlands, created in 1980 to lend to businesses, organisations and projects with a social, environmental or cultural benefit. The bank has continued to grow despite the financial crisis, investing in like-minded institutions in emerging markets and managing funds of €3.7bn ($5.2bn, £3.2bn).

FT

[Fishman]

A steady-state economy is incompatible with continuous growth in government too! Now thats a shocker for most of the sustainability folks.

[Graeme]

Clean Energy Grows Economy Faster Than Traditional Sources

As the state grapples with a multibillion dollar deficit, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, to be released today examines the economic impacts of different energy pathways for California and finds that continuing on a business-as-usual energy path risks greater economic insecurity, while aggressive acceleration of clean energy assures faster and more sustained economic growth. Relying on renewable sources for 50 percent of California's electric power, combined with increasing energy efficiency by 1.5 percent a year will generate half a million new jobs with over $100 billion in cumulative payrolls over the next 40 years, according to the study.

The full report is available at: www.Next10.org or http://are.berkeley.edu/~dwrh/CERES_Web/index.html

prnewswire

[Graeme]

Green energy jobs galore

Colorado eclipsed most of the rest of the nation in terms of creation of jobs related to the clean energy economy, according to a report released yesterday.

The Pew Charitable Trusts report stated that while clean energy jobs across the nation increased by a rate of 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, the increased rate in Colorado was 18.2 percent over the same period of time.

In comparison, traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent nationally during the same time period, and in Colorado that rate was 8.2 percent, according to the report.


U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., attributed the spike in green jobs partly to a 2004 ballot question approved by voters requiring utility companies to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015.

Ritter took that standard to the next level in 2007 when he successfully pushed lawmakers to pass a more stringent standard, requiring utilities to get 20 percent of their power form renewable sources by 2020.

Udall said he is pushing for similar standards on the federal level.

“A federal Renewable Electricity Standard has the power to create hundreds of thousands of renewable energy jobs across the country, while reducing pollution and helping us end our dangerous addiction to foreign fossil fuels,” he said. “Without it, we may see that opportunity pass us by.”

thedenverdailynews

truthout

[Graeme]

Climate right for energy savings by U.S. industry

The climate is ripe for U.S. industries to cut energy consumption, with billions of dollars of government incentives and mandates that could jump-start efforts to revamp energy-wasting factories.

The $787 billion federal stimulus bill contains some $60 billion of grants and incentives aimed at cutting energy use. In addition, 19 U.S. states have adopted mandates that essentially compel electrical utilities to find and finance energy savings for their customers.

The mandates aim to lower peak electricity loads so utilities will not have to build expensive new power plants. Companies also can earn carbon credits to sell later under the anticipated federal cap-and-trade system. Congress is expected to set an emissions baseline that precedes enactment of the law, allowing companies to earn credits now.

guardian

New Funding Boosts Carbon Capture, Solar Energy and High Gas Mileage Cars and Trucks

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced more than $300 million worth of investments that will boost a range of clean energy technologies – including carbon capture from coal, solar power, and high efficiency cars and trucks. The move reflects the Obama Administration’s commitment to a broad based strategy that will create millions of jobs while transforming the way we use and produce energy.

DOE

[Graeme]

FACTB0X-U.S. states with renewable power targets

June 12 (Reuters) - Twenty-nine of the 50 U.S. states have established a required minimum amount of electricity generation that must come from renewable sources like wind and solar power, called a Renewable Portfolio Standard or RPS.

Another five states have "renewable goals" which are considered voluntary and do not penalize utilities for not meeting the goals.

The District of Columbia also has an RPS.

reuters

[Graeme]

Committee for Economic Development Announces Summit to Address Sustainability of America's Economic Policies

WASHINGTON, June 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Committee for Economic Development (CED) today announced that it will hold its first summit on the sustainability of America's economic policies on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. CED will bring together some of the most well-respected economists and thinkers in America to discuss the sustainability of our country's economic policies, the roots of the current economic crisis and how to ensure long-term economic growth for the global economy.

"Are America's Economic Policies Sustainable? A Business Leaders' Summit on Our Future" will feature keynote speaker Gillian Tett, Global Markets Editor for the Financial Times and author of Fool's Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe; Joseph Kasputys, Founder and Chairman, IHS Global Insight; William H. Donaldson, Chairman, Donaldson Enterprises, and former Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; William J. McDonough, Vice Chairman and Special Advisor to the Chairman, Merrill Lynch, and former President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank; and Robert D. Hormats, Vice President, Goldman Sachs (International). Peter G. Peterson, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, co-founder of the Blackstone Group and Founder of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation will deliver the welcoming address.

prnewswire

[Graeme]

Right Sizing the Economy: Can Herman Daly's Prescription for a Steady State Economy Accomplish this Task?

Daly presents a vision of a regulated, controlled, rationalized version of private finance capitalism. In my view this prescription for a steady state economy is addressed to the symptom of our problem rather than to the underlying fundamental cause. The symptom is that we strongly desire to use resources in a way that will maximize our current exchange income in dollars. The underlying cause is the structural emphasis of our economic system on the atomized accumulation of private financial wealth as the primary route to security and status for individuals and nuclear families.

I think that much more radical changes than those envisioned by Daily are required in order to create an ecologically sane economic system. I think that we should create an economic system in which we are attempting to minimize our current exchange income in dollars, consistent with the constraint of producing adequate levels of total income including psychic components. The psychic component of our income needs to be largely decoupled from the formal economy as measured by transactions in large scale exchange media like dollars.

First of all community finance is required. Clearly we need to go on investing in infrastructure. But if we wish to avoid a growth orientation, then the purpose of building such infrastructure should be to preserve the long term productivity of society and not to increase the stash of private financial investors. The return on such investment should be the goods and services produced and not excess purchasing power for people who already have excess purchasing power.

theoildrum

[Graeme]

Obama vs. the oil bubble

Can reinvigorated financial watchdogs take a bite out of surging oil prices?

President Obama is scheduled to outline a regulatory reform program Wednesday that will, among other things, call for strong federal oversight of derivatives -- side bets on changes in asset values or interest rates.

The reform push is being driven by the past year's financial-system tremors, which were intensified by derivatives such as credit default swaps, or wagers on a bond issuer's health. The administration aims to defang that demon by moving derivatives trading out of the shadows to reduce uncertainty.

CNN

US unveils banking reform plans

The US government has announced a major reform of banking regulation to prevent future financial crises.

The overhaul will require big banks to put more money aside against future losses to curb excessive risk taking.

Consumers will get a special agency to protect their interests and regulate mortgages and credit cards.

In outlining the reforms, President Barack Obama described them as the biggest shake-up of the US system of financial regulation since the 1930s.

The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, will be given the authority to monitor major financial institutions.

The US President said the lack of oversight among finance firms prompted systemic abuse causing risks for both companies and individuals.

"We are working hard to build a new foundation for sustained economic growth. This will not be easy" he said.

bbc

bloomberg

[dunewalker]

Fiscal Sustainability is an oxymoron.

[dunewalker]

Fiscal refers to public revenues, or government spending. Government always grows. Sustainability excludes constant growth.

[Graeme]

The economics of advancing alternative energy in the United States

President Obama has made the advancement of renewable energy sources (RES-e in greenspeak) an integral part of both his environmental and economic policies, and Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has enough belief in its potential to invest heavily in wind power. But as thirty plus years of research spending and ineffective regulations have proven, that’s not going to be enough to move this horse into the mainstream of residential usage, which has been the driving force in European wind and solar power generation. At least three drivers must come together to accomplish that feat in the United States.

Adopt feed-in tariffs to create demand. It’s not enough for people to want alternative energy; it must be economically viable, as well. No matter an individual’s level of belief in clean energy, global warming, or carbon footprint reduction, as long as entry costs remain prohibitive, most small investors such as homeowners will stay out of the market. Only by offering financial incentives to surmount those entry costs will governments, local or federal, entice homeowners into investing in their own solar panels or rooftop wind turbines, which will create long-term demand, increase production over time, and lower the entry costs naturally.

citizeneconomists

[Graeme]

Green Economy Investments Bring 300 Percent More Jobs, Reports Find

Two new reports on the impacts of moving to a low-carbon economy show putting money toward energy efficiency, building retrofits and renewable energy projects can create 1.7 million new jobs, significantly more than the same investment in fossil fuel industries.

Two new reports on the impacts of moving to a low-carbon economy show putting money toward energy efficiency, building retrofits and renewable energy projects can create 1.7 million new jobs, significantly more than the same investment in fossil fuel industries.

greenbiz

[Graeme]

"Architecture 2030" plan to revive economy

Message to Washington: You're not getting it - we're still out of work. Wind farms and energy efficient public buildings are important, but what about the housing industry? The recession started with the housing industry -- and can end if we bring back construction -- so lets focus on the real problem.

Architecture 2030, founded by renowned architect Edward Mazria, is advancing a "One Year 4.5 Million Jobs Investment Plan" to help Americans build new energy efficient homes and renovate our existing homes to make them more energy efficient.

nergybulletin

[Graeme]

The Science of Economic Bubbles and Busts

Key Concepts

The worldwide financial meltdown has caused a new examination of why markets sometimes become overheated and then come crashing down.

The dot-com blowup and the subsequent housing and credit crises highlight how psychological quirks sometimes trump rationality in investment decision making. Understanding these behaviors elucidates the genesis of booms and busts.

New models of market dynamics try to protect against financial blowups by mirroring more accurately how markets work. Meanwhile more intelligent regulation may gently steer the home buyer or the retirement saver away from bad decisions.

scientificamerican

[Graeme]

Economic Advice for the Planet

Four years ago in Santa Monica, California, a group of economists, philanthropists, and NGO representatives gathered to discuss the state of the environmental movement. What they found was that while environmental advocates were able to make arguments on scientific and legal grounds, they were missing the third leg of the stool: economics. As more and more environmental decisions were being made on the basis of economics, this expert gap was turning into a severe hindrance. The idea born that day, says economist Kristen Sheeran, was to create a nation-wide network of economists with expertise in environmental issues who could interact with media, policymakers, business leaders, and the general public. The Economics for Equity and the Environment Network—the E3 Network—was launched, and not long after Sheeran left her academic position to become its executive director. She recently spoke with Seed editor Maywa Montenegro about the benefits of a networked think tank, the carbon footprints of US cities, and what’s on tap for Copenhagen.

seedmagazine

[Graeme]

Climate bill would create new financial system; winners and losers emerge in carbon economy

In addition to raising energy prices, the climate legislation that's winding through Congress would create a parallel financial system with a carbon-based currency.

Everyone from small farmers to nuclear energy companies would be forced to re-evaluate their place in the new order. Power plants, factories and refineries would feel the first impact if the federal government moves ahead with plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by about 80 percent near the end of the century.

The Winners:

Solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy companies, including nuclear, are some of the obvious winners in a carbon economy.

In addition to the billions of federal stimulus dollars they expect to receive, those industries can expect to see a huge boost in investment as utilities and power companies are forced to cut their carbon emissions. Companies like Florida Power & Light Co., Arizona Public Service, Southern California Edison and others are already investing in solar farms and other renewable energy projects, and they'll likely spend even more to increase the mix of carbon-neutral energy sources.

Farmers also will find new ways to make money in a carbon economy. Carbon consultants like the International Carbon Bank & Exchange in Florida see huge potential in agriculture for managing carbon emissions. Farmers that till their soil differently or apply new environmental techniques can get money by cooperating with a polluter as a carbon "offset."

Owners of large tracts of forest land also will get a lot of interest from the business community. Like farmers, environmental experts see them as a huge player in the carbon economy because of their natural ability to absorb carbon.

fox8

[Graeme]

Senior Wall Street Team Launches First Investment Bank Dedicated Exclusively to Alternative Energy and Cleantech

Greentech Capital Advisors, LLC, the only dedicated alternative energy and cleantech focused investment bank, today formally launched the firm, announcing a unique and significant set of capabilities and senior professionals.

The firm's singular focus on the alternative energy space, a dynamic and expanding sector driven by climate change, fills the need for a pure-play advisory firm dedicated to alternative energy and cleantech companies.

"Current initiatives to control climate change and greenhouse gas emissions represent a fundamental policy shift that will reshape the power and utility sector," said Wellen. "We look forward to working closely with our power and utility clients to understand the implications of this transformative change and to identify related business opportunities that will enhance shareholder value."

moneycentral

[Graeme]

A new tax structure to achieve sustainability

State Rep. Peter Buckley in his June 28 guest opinion piece on whether we should increase the minimum tax rate for Oregon corporations is finally forcing us to look more seriously at what we need to do to achieve fiscal sustainability during these financially difficult times.

Fiscal sustainability means being able to continue the same level of public services and investments in infrastructure within the existing tax structure. We are not talking about increasing taxes for new programs or improvements, but creating stable revenues for programs and services that Oregonians support and mandated through ballot initiatives.

Traditionally, state and local governments in the United States have relied on the "three-legged stool" of income, sales, and property taxes for their revenues. Right now Oregon relies too heavily on its income tax, which is insane if you are interested in long-run stability. Income tax revenues increase more rapidly in an economic boom and fall very quickly and dramatically in a downturn — completely the opposite of what you need to achieve fiscal sustainability.

Diversifying revenue sources with a mix of different types of taxes creates more stability, since each has different patterns over the business cycle. Each tax base also varies differently with other economic and demographic changes.

mailtribune