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The Steady-State Economy: What It Is, Why We Need It

Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version Viewed superficially, humanity’s material condition and prospects have never looked better. Modernization and affluence are unprecedentedly democratized. A more penetrating examination, however, reveals that humanity is hideously vulnerable, that its present course cannot long endure, and that a radically different type of economy is urgently needed. I. Our Growth Economy is Unsustainable …

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AWAKENING? (An NPG Internet Forum Paper)

Some major oil companies seem to be trying to persuade Washington that the energy transition is real and imminent and that it must be addressed. The tone of the academic debate is changing, and the imminence of the peak in oil production is now acknowledged by groups that have rejected the possibility in the past. However, most commentators don’t recognize …

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COLLAPSE: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (NPG Bootnote)

Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version Dr. Diamond’s new study of “how societies choose to fail or succeed” has received considerable attention, and deservedly so. He describes eight threats to traditional societies and twelve among modern societies. He details the process by which various well-known collapses occurred in Easter Island, Pitcairn and Henderson Islands, the Anasazi, Mayan civilization, …

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Land, Water and Energy Versus the Ideal U.S. Population

Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version Scientific evidence is mounting concerning rapid population growth in the United States that is causing the deterioration of life supporting environmental resources (Bartlett and Lytwak, 1995; Grant, 2000, 2003; Pimentel and Pimentel, 2003; Sachs, 2004). Genuine concerns are expressed about future food security, prosperity, quality of human life, and maintaining the personal …

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The End of Fossil Fuels: Part 2. Twilight or Dawn?

Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version Part 1 addressed the period of decline of fossil fuels, lasting perhaps through much of this century,and concluded that the fossil fuel era has been a brief spike that generated an unsustainable growth in population and, in the industrial world, consumption. We are entering an age of overshoot. Humankind may have time …

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The New American Century

The New American Century An NPG Forum Paper by Lindsey Grant December 2023 Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version.  In 1997, a small group of neo-conservatives organized the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and published a Statement of Principles. The organization’s name describes its state of mind. Its philosophy is perhaps most succinctly expressed in a …

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It’s the Numbers Stupid!

Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version In 1992, Candidate Bill Clinton’s election campaign manager is said to have tacked a paper to the bulletin board with the slogan: “It’s the economy, stupid!” I will borrow that blunt but effective message for this paper. From coast to coast, crowding has become a central issue at the local level, but …

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Forecasting the Unknowable: The U.N. “World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision

Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version The United Nations Population Division has put the highlights of its new population estimates and projections onto the Web1. Present world population is 6.3 billion. It is projected to rise to 8.9 billion by 2050, a number almost identical to the 1998 projection but 400 million below the 2000 version and slightly …

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