Per Fagereng guest hosts. His guest is Dave Gardner, Producer/Director/Writer of GrowthBusters.
Earth Overshoot Day—the approximate date our resource consumption for a given year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish—is expected to come around August 19 this year. We will then go into ecological overshoot, and make up the deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Dave Gardner produced the award-winning documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth and the nonprofit "Media Watchdog" GrowthBiasBusted.org. He discusses the cultural barriers that prevent us from reacting rationally to the evidence current levels of population and consumption are unsustainable.
Individual and public policy decisions today are informed by a powerful, pro-growth cultural bias. According to Gardner, we "worship at the Church of Growth Everlasting. Undeterred by the facts, we’re on a collision course powered by denial and the myth that growth brings prosperity. Before we can shift our civilization meaningfully, effectively, and substantially toward true sustainability, the world must be prepped. We must become self-aware and recognize the programming that keeps us hooked."
"Our growth-centric system is broken. It’s not providing the happiness or the prosperity we seek," continues Gardner. "But that’s good news; it means a shift to a sustainable model will be good for us. We’ll be happier and more prosperous!"
- KBOO