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CURATED ECOLOGICAL NEWS US overshoot day, 13 March: robbing from a borrowed future
“According to Global Footprint Network, throughout most of history, humanity has used nature’s resources at a rate that was well within Earth’s budget. But by the early 1970s, that critical threshold had been crossed: human consumption began outstripping what the planet could provide. The data shows [the world] on track to require the resources of two planets well before mid-21st century. “If everyone in the world lived like U.S. residents, humanity would have exhausted its annual ecological budget by March 13. For the remainder of the year, we would be depleting the planet’s resources faster than they can regenerate. At its current rate of consumption, the United States would deplete its entire annual regenerative resource budget by the end of June. This is its Deficit Day. “The country overshoot days for 2025 are based on the preliminary 2025 edition. The full 2025 edition is expected to be released on Earth Day 2025 (April 22). The 2025 edition will include results from 1961 to 2024. Due to time lags in data reporting, results from 2022 to 2024 will be based on a mix of actual data and preliminary estimates.” More at: Causes of overshoot explained: by Nate Hagens
“So what is overshoot? We don’t hear about it that much, but it is when a species grows and expands to beyond the carrying capacity of their environment. And over time that excess population and excess consumption of resources actually degrades the carrying capacity. “We look at other animals and organisms and can label them as being in overshoot. But I think there’s no question that 8 billion humans living at one time — not over time — is unsustainable. And I’d like to just give a brief recap of the seven fundamental drivers of overshoot. “First of all, there’s the carbon pulse — the millions of years of stored energy injected into an economic system. The mammalian biomass — humans, livestock, and wild mammals — is 700% what it used to be, because we’ve injected this huge bolus of ancient productivity into our food supply. The carbon pulse has exploded overshoot. “The second driver is our culture using monetary alchemy to draw consumption forward in time. When we create money, there’s an asset and a liability. But our financial creation neglects the non renewable energy that accelerates extraction, and [it neglects] environmental deterioration. “The third fundamental driver is the fact that we’ve outsourced our governance and our wisdom to the financial market — the superorganism which is based on power and optimizes for growth. Our corporations, our leadership structures promote the assertive, confident, and optimistic employees to senior roles within their ranks. So there’s embedded positive feedback of more of the same leading to more overshoot. “The fourth fundamental driver is a culture or species-wide lack of ecological education and resultant values. The world’s richest man this week said that Earth can support 80 billion humans. This is the most delusional statement I’ve ever heard. We wouldn’t have a biosphere left. So, one of the drivers of overshoot is a lack of recognition of overshoot. “Another driver is the positive feedback of status and consumption and envy from our marketing, and what we view as socially acceptable and aspirational is more money, more stuff, more conspicuous consumption. This is because of this giant bolus of fossil sunlight. “Another fundamental driver is the prevalent consumption and technology that have raised the baseline of our own dopamine superhighways in our mind that require of us at every decision tree — should I go camping with my cousins or go to Vegas? Should I have a salad or a hamburger? There’s a zillion of these. The more comfortable and convenient things are, the more we choose the more overshoot laden choice which uses more energy and resources. “Last but not least is overshoot creates the mother of all cognitive dissonances. The [example] I use the most is in the book Collapse, Jared Diamond talked about people that lived downstream of a dam that was about to burst. People that lived three miles downstream were a bit worried about it. But people living within a half mile of the dam professed total unconcern, because it was too painful for them to hold both truths simultaneously — their own lifestyles, and the fact that this could be disrupted.” More at: 2000-Watt Society: less energy use, while a fulfilling lifestyle
“With communities in the United States averaging ten thousand watts [per person] per year, and other Western countries close behind, our excessive energy consumption is built into both our physical and cultural infrastructure. In today’s podcast, Nate is joined by Peter Strack, a French researcher and author, to explore the concept of 2000-Watt Societies. Peter explains the origins of lower-energy communities, as well as the necessary changes in infrastructure, social dynamics, and personal habits to reduce energy consumption while sustaining a lifestyle that is fulfilling and caring for residents. “The 2000 Watt Society was developed by the Swiss research university from Zurich. But they were inspired by the work of a Brazilian, Jose Goldemberg, who in 1985 wrote a paper which is called Basic Needs and Much More with One Kilowatt per Capita. He wanted to know, is there any correlation between energy and happiness? “And he found out that people can go up to a thousand watts of permanent average energy consumption of a thousand watts every single hour, every day. That makes maybe something like, 8000 kilowatt hours per year. And he found out that if they can go beyond 1000 watts [every hour, every day], they don’t really get happier. And that’s the thing that he published. “The Swiss Research University thought, now Switzerland is a colder place, and we may need more energy just to keep warm. So they said we would need 2000 watts [every hour, every day] in Switzerland — our needs could easily be met within a 2000-watt society.” More at: Big Beef knew
“The American beef industry knew that raising cattle was a significant source of planet-warming emissions as early as 1989, but scrambled to discredit public efforts to lower beef consumption. A bombshell United Nations report published in 2006 made clear that reducing emissions from cattle and dairy production was crucial for slowing the climate crisis. “But a pair of recent studies says the American livestock industry was aware of its climate impact much earlier than the mid-aughts, and like the oil industry, attempted to obfuscate its role in heating the atmosphere. The 2006 UN report said that livestock’s climate emissions were about 18% of the global total, more even than the transportation sector. After that report’s publication, the livestock industry funded research that challenged the UN’s findings. UN researchers revised the number to 14.5%. “Current figures say that agriculture is the largest source of human-caused methane emissions — roughly 40% — and most of that comes from livestock. Nearly 60% of global agricultural land is used for beef. The pressure to find land for pasture and feed is the single greatest driver of deforestation. Yet, far from being essential to human diets, beef accounts for only 2% of the calories humans consume. “Switching from beef to non-ruminant meats or plant proteins could liberate almost 11 million square miles of land — the size of the United States, Canada, and China combined.” More at: Midwest wildfires pose a threat to Kansas and Missouri
“Wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma, fueled by strong winds, have destroyed hundreds of homes and claimed at least two lives. The fires, part of a broader storm system affecting multiple states, forced evacuations and overwhelmed emergency responders. More than 150 wildfires were burning in the early morning hours of Saturday in Oklahoma alone, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “A strong storm driving gusty winds and dry air across a parched landscape was fueling dangerous fire conditions across a wide swath of the country, from eastern New Mexico and Colorado to parts of the Midwest. Mark Goeller, director of Oklahoma Forestry Services, called the disaster ‘historic.’ In 40 years with the agency, he said, he had ‘never seen anything as bad as what we saw [Saturday]’. “Authorities warned residents to stay alert as shifting winds could reignite flames. Recovery efforts are underway, with communities rallying to support displaced residents. Officials stress the need for caution as fire risks remain high in the region.” More at: Indigenous peoples win rights to voluntary isolation
“The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that the Ecuadorian government violated the rights of uncontacted Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon rainforest. The Costa Rica-based court ordered the Ecuadorian government to ensure any future expansion or renewal of oil operations does not impact Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation. Multiple international treaties recognize the rights of people living in voluntary isolation to remain uncontacted. “There are at least three groups of Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: the Tagaeri, Taromenane and Dugakaeri. The Ecuadorian government violated the rights of those groups by allowing oil drilling to go forward inside portions of Yasuni National Park where uncontacted groups are known to inhabit. The court ordered the Ecuadorian government to apply the ‘precautionary principle’ when making decisions about future oil operations. “The court also directed the government to enact measures to prevent third parties, like illegal loggers, from invading uncontacted peoples’ lands and jeopardizing their right to remain uncontacted.” More at: Oregon community solar advocates seek speedier grid connect
“Portland, Oregon will soon see the launch of its first full-sized community solar project nearly a decade after the Legislature approved the statewide program. But it may be the last one in the city unless supporters convince lawmakers to expand and improve the program. The solar panels are in place. The customers have signed up. All that awaits is connecting to the grid, one of the main hurdles that community solar projects face across Oregon. “Senate Bill 92 would push electric companies to connect the projects more quickly. Various delays mean that only about half of 73 projects under development have actually started to operate. SB 92 would create a pathway for low-income community solar projects in the pipeline to move forward and for new projects to develop. Across the nation, 19 states and the District of Columbia have already adopted policies enabling third-party community solar programs. Community solar allows anyone with an electric bill to benefit from affordable, locally generated solar power.” More at: Don’t drink the plastic rain.
“In the 1970s, acid rain was one of the most serious environmental threats in North America and Europe. The air was so laden with pollution from coal power plants and cars at the time that it turned the rain toxic. The US and Europe passed legislation that limited the amount of acid-forming pollutants. A few decades later, acid rain had largely disappeared. “Now, however, there’s another problem with our rain — and it’s even more alarming. Unlike the compounds that cause acid rain, these pollutants are almost impossible to get rid of. Microplastics, PFAS, and some other compounds, such as pesticides, are now so widespread that they’ve essentially become part of our biome, not unlike bacteria or fungi. They’re so common, in fact, that they’re even found in the rain. “Most of the plastic bits were microfibers, such as those shed from polyester sweaters or carpeting [recycled or not]. Researchers estimated that more than 1,000 metric tons of plastic from the atmosphere fall on parks in the West each year. The largest source of those microplastics was highways, said Janice Brahney at Utah State University. Roads are often littered with plastic waste that gets broken down by cars and kicked up into the air [or tire dust itself]. Those particles are typically lighter than soil, so once they become airborne, they can easily move around. “Plastic rain is an environmental threat that’s harder to fix than the last one. We can’t stop the microplastic cycle anymore. It’s there and it’s not going away. The story of PFAS is similarly bleak. Scientists reviewed studies of PFAS in rainwater and similarly found concentrations of these chemicals at levels above what US and Danish regulators say is safe for drinking water.” More at: EPA’s Lee Zeldin subverting key environmental rules
“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said he will reconsider more than a dozen core EPA policies, including emissions standards for vehicles, pollution from power plants, and the finding that serves as the basis for addressing climate change. He wants to reassess rules that, in his view, ‘throttled oil and gas production and unfairly targeted coal-fired power plants’, and suggested that his proposed actions would roll back ‘trillions of dollars in regulatory costs’. “The EPA would consider upending its own endangerment finding, a 2009 legal decision that says greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are warming the Earth, and that warming presents a threat to public health and welfare. Said David Doniger, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, ‘All of the climate protection rules, the rules to cut greenhouse gases from cars, trucks, power plants, from the oil and gas industry — all those rules are grounded in the finding’.” More at: | 
