59 Too Much of a Good Thing: Richard Heinberg

<p class="p1"><em>“Once a species becomes powerful enough to take over a planet, then is it also intelligent enough to understand the limits to its own power?”</em> This is a question posed in the new book, <em>Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival</em>. Author Richard Heinberg is a Senior Fellow at Post Carbon Institute and author of 13 books, including <em>Power Down, The Party’s Over</em>, and <em>The End of Growth</em>.</p> <p class="p1"><img src= "https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/123723/Ep_59_600.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="315" />Richard shares what his research has revealed about humankind’s cultivation of power, including how we abuse it and how that now threatens our very existence.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p1">“The sheer power of the Superorganism is staggering. Each year, it cuts and uses up to seven billion trees; it excavates 24 million metric tons of copper and nine billion short tons of coal; and it produces (and brews and drinks) one billion tons of coffee. In order to mine resources and construct buildings and highways, it moves up to 80 billion tons of soil and rock — over twice the amount moved by all natural forces such as rivers, glaciers, ocean, and wind. The Superorganism is taking control of Earth, and the Anthropocene is its era of dominance.”</p> <p class="p1">We discuss the importance of trust in the possible scenario that doesn’t drive us right off a cliff. The book is an effort to shift the conversation, to shift our culture – from one seeking and worshipping materialism, consumerism and more and more economic and population growth, to one that values beauty and self-limitation.</p> <p class="p1"><strong>MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:</strong></p> <p class="p1"><em>Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival</em> - by Richard Heinberg<br /> <span class="s1"><a href="%22" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">https://www.postcarbon.org/publications/power-limits-and-prospects-for-human-survival/</a></span></p> <p class="p1">Make the <em>Growt