Good opinion piece in the Irish Times from Talamh Beo’s Manchán Magan, explaining the benefits of Community Supported Agriculture: “This localised, diverse farming was how food was always produced until international seed and chemical fertiliser behemoths began luring farmers towards new soil-depleting practices, with the promise of increased profits – not admitting that it was at the expense of the health of the soil and the surrounding environment”.…
‘Degrowth’ and the climate crisis: Irish Times letter
Feasta’s Anne Ryan had a letter published in the Irish Times on September 2, in which she challenges the argument that economic contraction must always cause catastrophic suffering:
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/degrowth-and-the-climate-crisis-1.4002782…
A no-deal Brexit and debt forgiveness in Ireland (and elsewhere)
It may well be necessary to make some very quick decisions about debt forgiveness in Ireland (and several other EU countries) in the aftermath of a no-deal Brexit. Brian Davey's 2015 article from Credo provides concrete suggestions for achieving widespread debt forgiveness without crashing the economy, and is more relevant than ever now.
Ecologist article advocating CapGlobalCarbon-style approach to eliminating greenhouse gases while reducing inequality
A recent article in the Ecologist magazine by Laura Bannister and Paul Harnett advocates capping carbon on a global basis and distributing the proceeds from the sale of fossil fuel permits. This approach is along the same lines as the Feasta climate group’s CapGlobalCarbon initiative. The article also contains other useful analyses and links: https://theecologist.org/2019/aug/06/basic-income-and-global-commons…
Growth and degrowth: unpacking the myths
Feasta’s Caroline Whyte has an article in the Green News in response to an Irish Times opinion piece which argued that degrowth will inevitably cause suffering. Caroline draws on the research of Feasta’s ‘Beyond GDP’ group. …
“We need to talk about steady state economies”: workshop with Anne Ryan in Belfast
Feasta’s Anne Ryan gave a workshop on steady state economies in Belfast on August 7, as part of Tools for Solidarity’s 35th birthday celebrations.
This workshop introduced the concepts of degrowth and steady state, along with practical policies that could help us get there, such as basic income, fossil-fuel cap and share, money as a public resource and land-value taxes. The format was highly participative and elicited discussion and contributions from the participants.
You can read more about it on the Tools for Solidarity website here. …
