It would have been nice for me to share today’s guest post with you on Earth Day, as that occasion drove some of these comments. However, maybe it’s even more appropriate today, almost 3 weeks after Earth Day 2012. Did we change the world on April 22? Did you change your life?

Earth Day 2012: What are We Celebrating?

by Ghassan Karam

Many in the world are already celebrating the 42 anniversary of Earth Day and that is understandable. The young idealists who started this movement had a dream, a dream that the citizens of this planet have grown up, opened their eyes and decided that the human species must change its behavior , in all fields, if the planet and all what is on it is to have a chance to sustain its existence and to thrive. Over forty years have passed and the dream is farther away than ever. Actually it is not an exaggeration to claim that the dream is currently out of reach and that the human species has managed to create the conditions that will lead to nothing short of a ruinous outcome. Yes we are beyond the tipping point and in the words of the great James Lovelock we are witnessing “Gaia’s Revenge”. . . .

Karen Shragg is a naturalist in Minneapolis I’ve come to know through World Population Balance. Karen is a sustainable population advocate and is a very active member of WPB’s board of advisors. I might mention I am a huge fan of the work being done by World Population Balance. Explore the organization’s website. Don’t stop here, but do check out it’s Frequently Asked Questions. Very well put together. It would be an understatement to say Karen is passionate about this subject. I invited her to participate in our continuing series honoring the 40th anniversary of The Limits to Growth, and I’m pleased to share what she wrote. It is so significant I feel I should add my two cents, but she covers it quite eloquently and I will leave it to her. . . .

While down under for the Australian theatrical premiere of GrowthBusters, I had the good fortune to spend several hours sitting on the porch of George Trembath’s home near Maleny, sipping tea and coffee and having a deep conversation with George (of Pachacuti Project) and ecological economist Richard Sanders. I jokingly called it the Maleny Summit. I invited Richard to share some thoughts with us for my blog series honoring the 40^th anniversary of The Limits to Growth.

I’m glad Richard chose to write about “decoupling.” We cling so tenaciously to our dogma of everlasting growth that we dream up fairy tales to explain how we can overcome physical limits. One common tale is the idea that economic growth can occur without increasing extraction of natural resources and emission of waste. This notion is called decoupling: economic growth is decoupled from growth in natural resource consumption. Some degree of decoupling has been occurring as our economy emphasizes services over manufacturing, and as we increase efficiency. It’s been happening at a very slow rate, however. . . .

On the plane a few weeks ago I read an opinion piece that begged for this critique. The Ideology of Catastrophe (Wall Street Journal, 10 April, 2012) was written by Pascal Bruckner, who fancies himself a philosopher. He is certainly not a social or physical scientist.

His piece attempts to discredit those who warn our civilization of dangers ahead. I’m not sure why, but a good many folks do feel a compulsion to flee the bad news. I’ve come to accept that, and I try not to condemn people just because they can’t handle the truth. But it does get my dander up when such Pollyannas try to drag the rest of civilization down that ignorant path with them. I’m not saying there isn’t a place in the world for optimism and good news. I’m just saying we absolutely must also be realistic and not ignore warning signs. . . .

“The current human trajectory of growing population and rising consumption is simply not sustainable.   Something has to give.”

I had originally intended to end our series honoring the 40th anniversary of The Limits to Growth (the landmark MIT study commissioned by the Club of Rome), on Earth Day. I have so much good material yet to share, and the warnings provided by The Limits to Growth are so important, I’ve decided to extend the series indefinitely. I will now cut back on the frequency of posts to no more than once or twice a week. Incidentally, the Club of Rome is also stepping up the conversation this year about limits. I recommend you explore the Club’s Change the Course website. Today I’m sharing commentary I invited from Robert Walker, president of the Population Institute. Bob is extremely knowledgeable in the population and public policy arenas. His views are published regularly on Huffington Post, and this commentary should also appear there soon.  – Dave Gardner . . .