Advancing New Economic Models
ROLE / SERVICES
Convener
Author
Grantmaker
Seeker
It's not like we haven't known the facts. Since the release of The Limits to Growth in 1972 (attacked at the time from the Right and the Left), we have known that our model of economic wealth-building assumes no planetary boundaries. For over fifty years, we have been warned that unfettered enterprise, consumption and expanded infrastructure would inevitably lead to collapsing fisheries, freshwater systems, soils, and ecosystems while generating excessive atmospheric, toxic and solid waste. Despite the warnings, society has failed to act at the speed and scale required to shift this fundamental paradigm. Instead, global and national policies, influenced disproportionately by large multinational corporations, have accelerated resource extraction, global warming emissions, and the loss of natural systems while eradicating indigenous communities and too often exploiting the workers at the heart of our global economy. For many years, I worked solely in this space, leading the Center for a New American Dream, writing, speaking, and for a time, and coordinating a network of Funders for Sustainable Production & Consumption. I continue to search for actual on-the-ground projects that exemplify circular economies, not in the abstract but in practice: rural electric member-owned cooperatives rooted in clean energy and offering electricity at affordable rates; community loan funds that help investors shift from global extractive markets to investment in local institutions; policies incentivizing re-use of materials; initiatives that address corporate monopolies and extreme inequity; impact investment that seeks to ameliorate our history of racism and lack of land access for Black and Brown people, and more. This is a high priority, yet low-burn permanent field of investigation with few funding allies to move it forward. Want to help move significant funds in this space? Contact me.
