Things Are Getting Worse at a Slower Rate
by Donella Meadows — June 29, 2000 — In the spirit of celebrating every success, but only to the extent the success deserves, I would like to celebrate something that is kind of hard to describe. The rate at which things are getting worse is slowing down. We're not going downhill as fast as we once were. The fever is high, but [...]
After Rio: The Governments' and the Citizens' Energy Plans
By Donella Meadows –April 14, 1994– The Earth Summit in Rio, the largest global meeting ever held, is nearly two years behind us but still very much alive. Heads of state from nearly every government went home from Rio bearing treaties to implement, including a climate convention, a biodiversity agreement, and a sweeping environmental mandate called Agenda 21. There is a new [...]
A Nuclear Power Plant Out of the Old World Order
By Donella Meadows –March 24, 1994– On March 10 the Export-Import Bank of the United States pledged $317 million of loan guarantees — backed up by your taxes and mine — to complete two nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic. It did so over the protests of the Austrian government, 32 members of our own Congress, and many Czech citizens, including [...]
The Nuclear Power Industry Helps Women Sort Out the Issues
By Donella Meadows –January 7, 1993– The U.S. Council for Energy Awareness has finally figured out how to sell nuclear power to women. Women have always been a problem to the nuclear industry. Polls consistently show them to be more opposed to nuclear power than men. ("Because of their deeply held distrust of science and technology," the Council for Energy Awareness assumes.) The [...]
The Corporate Citizens' Council for Mom and Apple Pie
By Donella Meadows –January 2, 1992– Many, probably most, large corporations have done a lot in the last few years to clean up their environmental act. No sector of the U.S. economy has increased its energy efficiency more than the industrial sector has. Large manufacturers are reclaiming and recycling wastes. Under the threat of Superfund litigation they are working hard to generate [...]