Tag Archives: sustainability

Dematerialization in The Cloud

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Harry Katz

Whenever you log on to Facebook or YouTube or your bank or your favorite online game, you’re connecting to computers in some data center somewhere on the planet. All those servers and all those data centers consume a huge amount … Continue reading →

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Doughnut Economics

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Harry Katz

How do we shift our economy from a focus on never-ending GDP growth to living within the “Doughnut?” Continue reading →

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No growth, slow growth or green growth?

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Harry Katz

In the February 10, 2020 issue of The New Yorker magazine, journalist John Cassidy has a very interesting article called Can we have prosperity without growth?  (In the print version, the article is titled “Steady State.”) Cassidy surveys a wide spectrum of … Continue reading →

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The Case for Growth: An Interview with Marc Andreessen

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Harry Katz

In my last few posts I’ve been looking into the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Can we find a healthy balance between them?  Or are they fundamentally at odds? Well a couple of weeks ago I was listening … Continue reading →

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A Safe and Just Doughnut

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Harry Katz

Today’s post is about the doughnut.  I’m not talking about an ordinary sugar-glazed, jam-filled, deep-fried doughnut.  No, this is a safe and just doughnut we can all live in together. If safe and just aren’t the flavors you normally look … Continue reading →

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Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible?

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Harry Katz

Can we have economic growth while reducing our impact on the environment? Some people believe growth is incompatible with sustainability and that we need to move to a “no growth” or even a “de-growth” economy. Others think we can still … Continue reading →

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Peak Stuff

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Harry Katz

I’m going to try something different in this post.  Instead of reviewing a book, I’m going to look at a research paper called “Peak Stuff — did the UK reach a peak in material consumption in about 2001-3?” Sounds pretty … Continue reading →

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Growth

Posted on November 10, 2019 by Harry Katz

Growth:  From Microorganisms to Megacities By Vaclav Smil The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2019 People used to think growth was a good thing.  Politicians, economists and business leaders brag about healthy or robust growth in jobs, GDP, and profits.  But … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Energy, Environment, History, Science and technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Big World Small Planet

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Harry Katz

Big World Small Planet: Abundance within Planetary Boundaries By Johan Rockström and Mattias Klum Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 2015 Are we doomed?  Have we messed up the Earth beyond all hope?  News reports about the environment would sure … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Energy, Environment | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments