PEER Endorses Bold Position on Economic Growth
Groups Uniting Across Political Spectrum
Washington, DC (October 26, 2009) – What do businesses, religious groups, land trusts, mutual funds, and scientific societies have in common? One by one, they’re agreeing that economic growth is the wrong goal, after all. They’re uniting around a bold position developed by the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE). Today, PEER provides the 100th endorsement of the position.
Americans have long been misled by the dangerous rhetoric that “there is no conflict between growing the economy and protecting the environment!” In stark contrast, the CASSE position is steeped in sound science and calmly describes a “fundamental conflict” between economic growth and environmental protection, including climate stability. PEER endorses the CASSE position because public employees are subject to political pressure that makes it difficult to reveal the perils of economic growth.
PEER joins wide-ranging groups such as the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health, Portfolio 21 Investments, and the International Center for Technology Assessment to explain why continuing GDP growth cannot be reconciled with imperatives like environmental protection, economic sustainability, and national security. The CASSE position is creating a buzz with individuals and organizations across the political spectrum. Among the 4,000 individual signers are E.O. Wilson, Gus Speth, Chris Matthews, and many other luminaries in science, economics, and politics.
PEER emphasizes that there is a solution to unsustainable growth and recession: a steady state economy with stabilized population and consumption, using sound economic policy. PEER calls upon public employees, the media, and politicians to serve present and future generations by illuminating the perils of perpetual growth and the positive vision of a steady state economy. How? Use the CASSE position: www.steadystate.org.
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