Which Future?
By Donella Meadows
–Winter 1995/96–
The following scenarios were developed in detail and with care by an association of systems analysts and representatives of the Protestant church. Hartmut Bossel of the Environmental Systems Research Center at the University of Kassel in Germany, led the team, which considered both the actual dynamic processes going on in the world and their mutual interactions.
Scenario A: [...]
Green-Washed Optimism: Reflections
By Donella Meadows
–Fall 1995–
I have before me four reviews of Gregg Easterbrook’s trendy book about the environment, A Moment on the Earth: The Coming Age of Environmental Optimism. All the reviews are written by scientists whom I know and respect, and all of them are scathing. The reviewers are more than negative; they’re frustrated, because it isn’t possible to list in [...]
Breaking The Ice
By Donella Meadows
–Summer 1995–
Stunning news from Antarctica arrived last month just before the world’s nations gathered in Berlin to discuss global climate change. It was as if the South Pole had reared its hoary head again, as it did 10 years ago, to galvanize an international agreement.
What happened 10 years ago was the discovery of the enormous ozone hole. That [...]
The Best City In The World? Making a solid case for better urban planning
By Donella Meadows
–Fall 1994–
Residents of Curitiba, Brazil, think they live in the best city in the world, and a lot of outsiders agree. Curitiba has 17 new parks, 90 miles of bike paths, trees everywhere, and traffic and garbage systems that officials from other cities come to study. Curitiba’s mayor for 12 years, Jaime Lerner, has a 92 percent approval [...]
BGH – Not The Only Choice
Comparing the full effects of chemically-generated increases in milk production — with a non-chemical alternative
By Donella Meadows
–Spring 1994–
Now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of bioengineered bovine growth hormone (bGH), dairy farmers – and consumers – have some crucial decisions to make.
The risks and possible payoffs of the bGH decision are laid out in detail in a [...]
