The Future Earth by Eric Holthaus

Author:Eric Holthaus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

WHAT WOULD IT FEEL LIKE TO TRANSITION TO A DEGROWTH ECONOMY?

Putting radical ideas like these into action may seem scary, from the vantage point of today. In order for them to catch on quickly, the ideas have to be unambiguous as well as aspirational. With a shared civilizational goal of improving lives instead of making rich people even richer, we’ll have all the moral clarity we need for this new phase of history.

Uganda could become a test bed for pioneering new kinds of agricultural methods that prioritize species diversity and perennial crops. Factories there could begin producing plant-based plastic alternatives, which would then be exported throughout the continent on a newly constructed high-speed rail system.

In Iran, the focus could shift away from fossil fuel production toward carbon-negative cement, with universities there specializing in developing new architectural styles that would enable a revolution of building practices around the world.

The Caribbean islands could shift away from highly volatile and exploitative tourism-based economies toward a broader philosophy of coastal living, with strong community ties and a spirit of resilience. They could help pioneer new forms of wave energy that might power every coastal city on Earth with little environmental impact.

In the US, the old Detroit factories could be put into production again, as the center of the century’s green economy. Almost everything that powers the transition to a carbon-free economy could be produced there, in at least some quantity, from railcars bound for Uganda to electric water heaters shipped across town. Detroit’s population might double, even surpass its all-time high when its economy was geared around gas-guzzlers.

In small towns and cities around the world, from India to Peru to Egypt, excitement would be in the air as humanity finds common purpose in working to avert catastrophe by building the kind of society we have deserved all along.

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