issuesComplex, interconnected issues must be dealt with rapidly and effectively if we are to achieve a resilient future.
explore the issues
support pci
In Praise of Nature
We live on a finite planet: there is only so much "stuff" we can consume before it runs out. This is true not just for oil but for things like potash for agriculture and molybdenum for computers and aircraft. While we can often find replacements when resources become too scarce or expensive, these increasingly come at greater environmental and social cost — and finding enough of any resource is increasingly difficult for an exponentially-growing global population. Plus, there is no "away" where we can throw things on the planet: municipal landfills fill up, toxic substances leach into our soil and groundwater, and even small bits of plastic accumulate in the ocean.
Fortunately, human history is full of examples of highly-developed civilizations living in balance with their available resources. And in the modern world, we know how to create many things we need from renewable resources, and change manufacturing processes so that little is wasted and much is easily reusable or recyclable. As with so many other 21st century crises, it's a challenge not so much of technology as of political and economic will.
Post Carbon Fellow Dr. William Rees has been a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) since 1969. He founded SCARP’s ‘Environment and Resource Planning’ concentration and from 1994 to 1999 served as director of the School.
A longer version of this interview can be purchased from the green interview site.
Dear Twentysomething Friend: Please forgive us, your elders, for the many sins we have visited upon you. Specifically (for I know the list is long), for failing to foresee the end of growth. … >>
It sounds yucky at best, but mining sewage is growing in popularity, especially in Sydney, Australia, where a decade of drought forced some creative thinking about how to get, use and manage … >>
EXCERPT: But living now in relative abundance, when the whole world is a shopping mall and our appetites are no longer constrained by limited resources, our craving for reward--be that for … >>
How do population, water, energy, food, and climate issues impact one another? What can we do to address one problem without making the others worse? The Post Carbon Reader features … >>
Economists insist that recovery is at hand, yet unemployment remains high, real estate values continue to sink, and governments stagger under record deficits. Richard Heinberg proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history.
read more
meet our fellowsPCI has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
learn more
what is pci?Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute is leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. The Institute has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
learn more
