New World Notes - Richard Heinberg on Global Crises and the End of Growth, Part 1

This week on New World Notes: radio program #256, January 29, 2013, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m., host Kenneth Dowst excerpts a recent talk by Richard Heinberg.

In this first part of his interesting talk, Heinberg discusses our intersecting global crises. These are the end of cheap energy, runaway global debt, and climate change. Then he identifies an underlying cause of all three crises--an economic system that demands and depends on constant, compounding growth. But such growth cannot continue much longer on a finite planet...

Heinberg beautifully synthesizes a great deal of research in many fields. And engagingly and with remarkable clarity, he shows what it all adds up to.

(Next week: imagining--and planning for--a low-growth or no-growth future. It might not be so bad, after all.)

Richard Heinberg is Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute. Heinberg's talk is titled, "Life After Growth: Why the Economy is Shrinking and What to Do About It." He gave it in Chicago on November 2, 2012. (On-air I incorrectly say November 22.)

Heinberg's speech was recorded by Kelly Pierce, of the Chicago Independent Media Center, and previously broadcast on Alex Smith's Radio Ecoshock show. Thanks to Alex and Kelly.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "false promises") of WWUH-FM, a community service of the University of Hartford.

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Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want--and what they're trying to make us settle for.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut dates shown)

February 5 -- Richard Heinberg, Part 2

February 12 -- GMOs

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