Economic Growth and Mammalian Species
WHEREAS, humans are mammals, and, like all mammalian species, human populations and rates of resource consumption are limited by the availability of natural capital and energy flows; and,
WHEREAS, humans compete with other mammalian and non-mammalian species for energy and other resources (Pianka 1974); and,
WHEREAS, because of the tremendous growth of the human population and breadth of the human niche, which has expanded via new technology (Kingdon 2003), human resource use contributes substantially to global climate change (e.g., Ehrlich and Goulder 2006; IPCC 2007), and threatens the ecological balance of the Earth and the survival of other mammalian and non-mammalian species (Czech et al. 2000; The Wildlife Society 2003); and,
WHEREAS, economic growth is tightly linked to technological progress, and vice versa (Jones 1998; Daly and Farley 2003), and both require increased use of energy and material resources, subject to the first and second laws of thermodynamics (Jevons 1906; Georgescu-Roegen 1971; Denison 1974); and,
WHEREAS, economic growth reaches an optimal point beyond which social and economic welfare diminish (Daly 1997) and ecosystems, ecological processes, and biodiversity of Earth can no longer be sustained (Daly and Farley 2003); and,
WHEREAS, numerous indications exist that the global economy and the economies of many nations have grown beyond the optimal size (Daly 1997); and,
WHEREAS, imminent peaks in global oil production (Deffeyes 2001), unsustainable consumption of other nonrenewable and renewable resources, and additional human impacts on water, fisheries, soils, and other natural resources indicate that many national economies, and possibly the global economy, are now beyond sustainable size (Hails 2006); and,
WHEREAS, the optimal size of an economy should be approximated and pursued via public policy with democratic participation, assuming citizens are well-informed about the tradeoffs between economic growth and other aspects of human welfare (Daly 1997), including but not limited to conservation of mammals and other taxa (Czech and Daly 2004); and,
WHEREAS, economic growth has been a primary goal of local, state, provincial, and national governments, often with little input from scientists and citizens (Fodor 1998; Collins 2000);
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the American Society of Mammalogists, meeting at its 87th Annual Meeting at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 6-10 June 2007, recognizes that: 1) there is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and the conservation of ecosystems, mammalian populations, and species; 2) a steady-state economy is a viable, sustainable alternative to a growing economy and is an appropriate goal, especially for wealthier nations, including the United States, and for the conservation of mammals and other taxa; 3) increasing per capita consumption remains an appropriate goal in developing nations for the sake of attaining basic health and happiness; 4) the goals, policies, and activities of international banks and trade organizations should be adjusted to reconcile the establishment of steady-state economies in wealthier nations with the need for increasing per capita consumption in developing nations; 5) the long-term sustainability of steady-state economies requires their establishment in wealthier nations quickly enough to avoid the breaching of ecological capacity during supply shocks, such as droughts and energy shortages, and to avoid severe economic and social disruptions associated with exceeding ecological capacity; and 6) while establishing steady-state economies, wealthier nations, including the United States, should assist other nations in moving from the goal of economic growth to the global goal of steady-state economies.
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