Stephen Barlow Profile picture
Jun 3, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read Read on X
People often ask what I mean by system change re: the climate and ecological crisis. It is very simple. I mean a full shift to a truly sustainable society/economy. This means changing more or less every convention of our modern society.
Sustainable means what it says. A society and economy in balance with the ecological carrying capacity of the Earth. Essentially that means no unsustainable trends, where our impact on the natural systems of the world is growing.
You see, in ecological terms, if there is a component, where it's impact on natural systems is constantly growing. Eventually it will have catastrophic effects, impacting also on the component driving it i.e. human society.
Lots of natural components have growing impacts. Let's say an exploding population of rodents. But this is eventually counteracted, by a sudden fall in the population of that rodent. Often, it produces a cycle or rise and fall.
Humans appear to have got out of this cycle and effect, by using innovation to get around what would cause that contraction in that growth. For instance, the use of fertilisers and pesticides.
But this is at the cost of destroying other ecosystem components and biodiversity, which in a long loop, will eventually have serious impacts on us, that we can't innovate our way out of.
There is no simple recipe for creating a sustainable society economy. However, if we don't want our population, our civilization, our society and economy to crash, it is essential.
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More from @SteB777

Mar 31
@AyoCaesar Hmm, Ash, you are not doing your credibility much good. Firstly, I'm not a member of the Green Party, or a supporter of any party.

This is your problem - "On the doorstep, many voters perceive them as solely an environmental party." The environment, is everything.
1/
@AyoCaesar Everything is ecological, without it we wouldn't exist. If we don't radically re-structure our society, our civilization could collapse within the next 15 years because of the climate crisis, and if it does, most people will starve to death.

2/theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
@AyoCaesar The Green Party, or people in it, are the only party, to even recognize the dire situation we are in (I am not claiming they have all the answers, but recognizing the problem is key. I wouldn't claim the Greens have the best tactical approach, but nor does anyone.
3/
Read 9 tweets
Mar 30
@NBPTROCKS @dlature Let me explain. I think the often focus on "climate solutions" is totally meaningless and a dangerous distraction. Like should we use, nuclear, geoengineering, CCS and a 1001 other climate solutions. All totally meaningless if there is no realistic means of implementing them.
1/
@NBPTROCKS @dlature I've been saying this to nuclear advocates, for 35+ years. I point out environmentalists are no obstruction to nuclear power, they don't have that sort of influence. I say, nuclear expansion doesn't happened for deep inherent problems, and therefore it's not a viable solution.
2/
@NBPTROCKS @dlature Same with population fanatics. I say, okay, you are saying there are too many people. Then what do you aim to do about it, genocide, euthanasia, none of which are realistic, because people object to being murdered? They have no answers.

3/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC42…
Read 13 tweets
Mar 27
Fight the Oligarchs - Tax the Rich - Tax Billionaires Out of Existence - It really is that simple

Oligarchs, and the politicians in their pockets, are out of control. We need to stop them.
1/🧵
As most people know, I mainly commentate on the climate and ecological crisis, everything to do with the natural world, along with social justice, because climate justice = social justice.

But it is impossible to address any of this, with oligarchs undoing everything.
2/
Oligarchs, billionaires, the other very rich, and all their puppets, are the obstacles to preventing the collapse of our civilization, because of our failure to address the climate and ecological crisis. Which as I've kept saying has been blocked by the very richest.
3/
Read 22 tweets
Mar 26
One thing is for certain, the current leadership of the Labour Part, lied their way into power, they are fraudsters. It's not just their treatment of the sick and disabled, we couldn't have anticipated when people voted for them.
1/
Of course, the big one for me, is rowing back on Labour's climate commitments, which were already pathetically inadequate.

Then there is the clear anti-nature position of Starmer's government.
2/
There's brushing aside nature protection with developments and ridiculing rare species holding up developments. Remember we're in the middle of a biodiversity crisis, which this government, just laughs at.
3/
Read 13 tweets
Mar 26
That global change is climate change, and given the complete lack of either Keir Starmer, or any other government taking it seriously, there is no wonderful future of economic growth.

Climate change is not something that is going to hit us in the late 21st Century, but now.
1/🧵
As former UK government Chief Scientist, @Sir_David_King makes clear we have to take urgent and radical action now, or there will be very serious consequences for our civilization, like it collapsing.

2/theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
This is not a crank belief, this is serious mainstream science. The cranks are people like Keir Starmer, who totally under-estimate the seriousness of this crisis. The UN Secretary General @antonioguterres talks about an "unliveable future".

3/news.un.org/en/story/2024/…
Read 12 tweets
Mar 26
I think @RachelReevesMP and @Keir_Starmer must be either very thick, or as bent as nine bob notes, if they can't work out how to balance the books.

All these supposed shortfalls, could be more than cured by a modest wealth tax.
1/🧵
"UK billionaires’ wealth increased by £35m ($44m) a day to £182bn ($231bn)"

What is skyrocketing, is not the welfare bill for the sick and disabled, but the expanding wealth of billionaires and the other very rich.

2/oxfam.org.uk/media/press-re…
"Further benefits cuts planned as Rachel Reeves forced to find extra £1.6bn"

Why not a modest wealth tax, that would plug all those budgetary shortfalls?

3/theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/m…
Read 8 tweets

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