Facing Extinction: The Hope for Human Survival
By: Violet Bee
Tags: Change, Environment, Social Change, Deep Adaptation, Climate Change

Accept & Adapt

Rees’ recommended course to resolve these problems is nothing less than remaking of life as we know it. I urge you to read the original post, but I’ve included his full list here, with the addition of my own headings for each (in bold).

Accept the end of growth (Formal recognition of the end of material growth and the need to reduce the human ecological footprint) Accept a lower level of consumption (Acknowledgement that, as long as we remain in overshoot — exploiting essential ecosystems faster than they can regenerate — sustainable production/consumption means less production/consumption) Accept renewable energy limitations (Recognition of the theoretical and practical difficulties/impossibility of an all-green quantitatively equivalent energy transition) Lifestyle adaptations (Assistance to communities, families and individuals to facilitate the adoption of sustainable lifestyles (even North Americans lived happily on half the energy per capita in the 1960s that we use today)) Adapt to rationing (Identification and implementation of strategies (e.g., taxes, fines) to encourage/force individuals and corporations to eliminate unnecessary fossil fuel use and reduce energy waste (half or more of energy “consumed” is wasted through inefficiencies and carelessness)) Adapt workforce (Programs to retrain the workforce for constructive employment in the new survival economy) Adapt economy (Policies to restructure the global and national economies to remain within the remaining “allowable” carbon budget while developing/improving sustainable energy alternatives) Adapt to rationing (Processes to allocate the remaining carbon budget (through rationing, quotas, etc.) fairly to essential uses only, such as food production, space/water heating, inter-urban transportation) Re-localization (Plans to reduce the need for interregional transportation and increase regional resilience by re-localizing essential economic activity (de-globalization)) Wealth redistribution (Recognition that equitable sustainability requires fiscal mechanisms for income/wealth redistribution) Adapt to new population controls (A global population strategy to enable a smooth descent to the two to three billion that could live comfortably indefinitely within the biophysical means of nature)

It’s not because I can’t use a thesaurus that almost every action includes the word Accept or Adapt. These two words sum up our path forward. It is the work of us all to accept the world we know must end. Not simply to acknowledge that climate change is real or even that humans are the cause, but accept that our civilization must change profoundly if we are to survive.

Accept the End of Growth

Perpetual, exponential growth has been the basis of our civilization for the past 10,000 years. GDP, population, consumption, everything. We’ve long been sold the myth that our economy and civilization cannot function without growth, but that is a lie built on greed and power.

Accept a Lower Level of Consumption

To feed our perpetual growth is the requirement of ever-increasing consumption. We’ve been turned from Humans to Consumers. A new way of life, focused on other than the lure of material wealth, is our only chance.

Accept Renewable Energy Limitations

Fossil fuels are an amazing source of power. Their abuse has made modern civilization possible. Renewables have their place in a post-carbon world, but we must remember that renewables are not a panacea. Wind turbines, solar panels, geo-thermal systems and all the others require fossil fuel and rare element inputs for construction and maintenance. Beyond that, we have yet to reach the point of their being distributable and transportable the way we’re used to consuming energy.

The Work of Acceptance

If the world is saved, it will be saved by people with changed minds, people with a new vision.

Our work then, is to accept. Not superficially, but deep within us, accept that our entire world must change. The hopes and dreams we’ve had for ourselves and our children must change. The values deeply ingrained in us must change. Our path forward cannot start until we let go of the old system that is dragging us down. Accept, grieve, hope.