Environment and Freedom in Eastern Europe
By Donella Meadows
–September 14, 1989–
In East Europe the environment is a hot topic these days, because, like nearly everything else there, it is a political topic. To be an environmentalist, as to be a trade unionist or an artist or an ethnic separatist, is to be against Government. No matter whether that government is Polish or Hungarian or Soviet, finally, [...]
The Planet Is Not in Danger, Our Ideas Are
By Donella Meadows
–August 24, 1989–
“Last Chance for the Planet!”
“Can the Earth Be Saved?”
“Requiem for Planet Earth.”
The language with which we describe our environmental situation throbs with the drama of lurking mega-disaster.
The threat is GLOBAL! The whole PLANET is in crisis! For the FIRST TIME IN HUMAN HISTORY we have it in our power to DESTROY THE EARTH!
Or, as Woody Allen [...]
A Call for Environmental Success Stories
By Donella Meadows
–July 27, 1989–
For the past three years a Washington-based group called Renew America has published an annual report card on the environmental progress (or regress) of the 50 states. The “State of the States” report ranks the states on the strictness and completeness of their policies on such matters as water quality, air quality, waste disposal, energy conservation.
I [...]
Nothing is so Powerful as an Exponential whose Time has Come
By Donella Meadows
–June 16, 1989–
The reason environmentalists are often so gloomy is that they know what the word “exponential” means.
“A lack of appreciation for what exponential increase really means leads society to be disastrously sluggish in acting on critical issues,” said Dr. Thomas Lovejoy of the Smithsonian Institution in a speech that has been reverberating through the environmental community. “I [...]
To Save the Environment Start by Saving Landsat
By Donella Meadows
–February 16, 1989–
Over the next decade the world will critically need an eye on itself. We will need to keep track of greenhouse warming, forest damage from acid rain, the extent of deserts and tropical deforestation. We can deal with global environmental problems only if we have accurate information about whether and where those problems exist.
The good news [...]
