Earth Summit Summary–Consciousness Precedes Being
By Donella Meadows
–June 18, 1992–
Was it all a waste of time, the enormous, contentious Earth Summit? One member of the German delegation summed it up, “Whether Rio was a disappointment depends on what one expected.” Most of the participants I’ve talked to expected little. Therefore they were pleasantly surprised.
Knowing George Bush and the people to whom he listens, no one [...]
Earth Summit Advice from a Gorilla
By Donella Meadows
–June 11, 1992–
Watching my president argue with other leaders of nations about who shall own, patent, and collect the profits from the earth’s biodiversity, I wish I could get him — and all the others — to read just one book.
I know, leaders don’t read. But I can’t help thinking how different the Rio Conference could have been, [...]
What’s a Scapegoat to Do?
By Donella Meadows
–June 4, 1992–
A few weeks ago I was honored, I guess, to appear on National Public Radio with Dennis Avery, a self-described agricultural expert with the Hudson Institute. I had never met Mr. Avery, but since the Institute is a radically conservative organization, I expected the discussion to be lively.
What I didn’t expect, in this post-cold-war era, was [...]
Why It’s a Conference on Environment and Development
By Donella Meadows
–May 28, 1992–
Reporters are calling it the “Rio Conference” or the “Earth Summit.” Properly it is the “United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,” abbreviated UNCED, pronounced “unsaid.” What is mostly unsaid, at least in the Northern press, is the last word in that title — development.
Environment and development were set up as equal issues for UNCED for [...]
Dear Folks: May 27, 1990
Dear Folks, In a fit of frustration Sylvia scrawled RAIN on the calendar across every day this month when it rained. Only two days were left clear. The brook is bank-full, the garden has been too squishy to walk in, the grass is growing like crazy but is too wet to mow. We have been very grumpy.
But yesterday it didn’t rain. [...]
