Sustainability

Once again we face the same exploitative foes. A word born of the ecological movement has been co-opted for use by economists. The same folks who turned their backs on the idea of externalities are now using the concept of sustainability to mean "of long term interest to profit seekers". To review the concept of externalities it is well to begin with something that most of us have either seen or at least heard of, say a car. Those readers who understand externalities, may want to jump ahead one long paragraph.
Let's imagine that this car is a standard internal combustion engine.(about 40% efficient)The internalized "cost" of the vehicle would be the sticker price plus tax, title, license, insurance, depreciation, maintenance, fuel and other obvious and fixed costs to the purchaser. All hidden costs, or those "paid" by others or the environment are called externalities. Costs resulting from sourcing materials, might include tax benefits to widows of miners who die from Black Lung. In the USA these "benefits" are paid by insurance, subsidized by the government. The air and water pollution from ore processing and foundries would fall into this category as well. During construction, other costs would accrue. The carbon emissions from lighting alone are a huge cost for factories. These costs again are subsidized through current "public" policy that tries to keep down the cost of electricity, rather than including environmental and social ills in the price per Kwh. (Kilowatt hour) Paint shop fumes and smokestack emissions would also fall into this invisible category. When I was made aware of how hazardous chemicals are regulated, it made me sick to learn of the many gaping loopholes that industry has been provided that allow them to poison their neighbors. The health costs alone from paint shops and "new car smell" would add significantly to the purchase price if auto makers were required to account for them. Marketing, includes the cost to us all of yet another series of car commercials, the ramifications of examples ad infinitum why one self propelled box is better than another. I have not yet purchased a new car and when I do, the lies that marketers have told me during my lifetime will not influence my choice in the least. I conservatively estimate that I have seen over one thousand commercials each year for certain brands of auto. Sales, that's a great one. What are the costs of the giant parking lots full of new cars, just sitting there? I have to travel around several of these no matter where I go. Have we not progressed to the point where one of each model could be housed in a showroom and perhaps another of each model be on a dealer's lot, as well as a set of paint chips for them to see the various colors available. This would allow buyers to experience the full range of features, make up their minds, then, deliver the car to them within a few days? I assume that the majority of people buying new cars already have one at home that they could tolerate for just a few more days before a new would arrive. Again, thinking of lighting, how many people have lost sight of the heavens and the star-spangled night sky because a car lot was built near them, lit through the night with dozens of giant halogen bulbs? What are the actual costs of runoff from an acre of pavement? Some externalities are hard to understand, until their effects impinge on you. During operation, let's see, where the rubber meets the road, particles of hazardous chemicals are rubbed off the tires. Even minute concentrations become great when multiplied by millions of vehicles. That brings us to questions of what costs are subsidized at vulcanization factories as well as disposal of said car tires after their useful life? The gasoline that we all burn has costs that are virtually incalculable. Millions dead, displaced or terrorized in oil rich nations, thousands of our own countrymen sacrificed in that region. The true costs of our current oil addiction may never be quantified, but we press onward, complaining about the price of gasoline. Other externalities of operation are the need for roads on which to drive, maintenance of these ribbons of gravel, concrete and/or asphalt, highway patrols, accidents, highway deaths, roadkill, etc. Of course, we have all agreed to share in many of these costs "for the good of our nation", but we have never established an actual accounting of the total range of costs associated with vehicle operation. The AAA (American Automobile Association) estimates that the individual's cost of owning and operating a vehicle approaches $.50 US per mile driven. Accounting for externalities may bring that cost up to three to five times that amount. Certain individuals have paid the ultimate price for our free and easy way of getting about and there is no accounting that adequately reflects their sacrifice, that of their loved ones or the impact it has on our society and culture. That brings me to the ultimate demise of the automobile itself. The junkyard. Who has not seen one of these in their lifetime? The auto is frequently the largest single consumer item that we dispose of regularly. 2000 pounds of waste at a shot. In the best of circumstances, it gets recycled, but even then, the paint becomes a contaminant when the steel is melted down. Known as fugitive emissions, these fumes are largely unregulated. The fluids, rubber and plastics are often unregulated. Most are either too costly to recover for recycling or formulated in such a way as to make handling and proper disposal difficult. A significant part of the vehicle is non-recyclable. I'm the first to admit that I love to search through a junkyard for a certain part that can make my car run again, but the desolation and impact of just one of these facilities makes the nature lover in me sick to my stomach.

To achieve sustainability requires that we follow a few simple rules. We need to understand the complex nature of what we do, how it influences and affects the planet and our fellow human beings. The most concise way that I have seen it described is through The Natural Step, a phenomenal book by Sarah James and Torbjorn Lahti. They boil everything down to four questions. First, will this eliminate fossil fuel use or wasteful use of metals & minerals? Second, will this eliminate persistent chemical use or the use of synthetic chemicals? Third, will this eliminate encroachment on the ecosystem? Fourth, will this meet human needs fairly & efficiently? We can ask ourselves these questions about every product that we might consider purchasing as well as every action that can be taken. When we can answer yes to all four of these questions, we will achieve a sustainable result. The time has come for us to demand sustainability from our leaders, to encourage our fellow humans to think about these issues and to express our own love for and dependence upon the planet by learning to exist within the parameters set by answering yes to all four questions.

The basis of these four questions are what the authors describe as the system conditions. They were arrived at and formulated by understanding the physics behind all of our actions and natural systems that adapt to a variety of niches around the globe. Emulating what has worked for other life forms gives us the best chance of survival as a species. The hollow meaning of the word sustainability for economists is what we can afford. The true meaning of sustainability for environmentalists who coined it is can we afford not to? There are many pressing issues at play in our lives, but there are few that will not be solved or at least ameliorated if we just ask ourselves these simple questions. The reasons that we most often ignore these questions are simple enough. Throughout mankind's existence on the planet, there has never been a more profitable endeavor than mining fossil fuel. For those with the most to lose and the most money to pour into public policy making, moving away from fossil fuel use means that their way of life would have to change.

One of the most enlightening concepts for me was realizing that there is no "away". That was the portal, that allowed me, to get to a much deeper sense of ecology. Back in 1987, when I rode my bicycle around the Great Lakes to discuss what was then called living lightly on the Earth, more than six million people heard my simple message. Some of that number may have thought that my commitment to the planet was evidence that I was a crazy man. Others began a quest toward sustainability. There were some who felt that I was endangering the status quo. God/ess forbid things might change for the better. One of the people who saw me as a threat sabotaged my bicycle. I'm assuming that it was a guy, because it's the sort of thing guys do, but "he" ran a dart through and through my tire. His maliciousness angered me, but not nearly as much as having to throw a formerly perfectly good tire and tube into the landfill. I had back ups for both, but I certainly didn't need to use them on my third night out on an 80 day adventure! Likewise, just a few days before the end of the trip I was equally distressed by an unnecessary replacement of my tires that took place because of someone who loved me. Thinking that they were doing me a favor, while I slept, my uncle took my bike to the shop and had them do a bunch of work to it. One of the things they did was to put all new rubber on it. I tried to accept his "gift" as graciously as I could, but he obviously had not been hearing the message that my ride was meant to share. If not for those two events, I would have made the entire 4,280 mile trip on only three tires. The roads of Detroit took their toll on one. In total, the combined efforts of the saboteur and my uncle, effectively doubled the cost of and waste produced by tire requirements for that trip.

Just for fun, I tried to account for the actual cost per mile of that trip. Even with the sabotage and the unauthorized repairs, the total cost of the bike and some pre-tour customization, the cost was less than $.04 per mile. My largest waste product by far was Carbon dioxide which is essential "food" for plant life. I suppose my extra food costs for the energy that it took to pedal all those miles brought the cost up to about ten cents per mile, but the value of the trip was infinite. Had I chosen to drive a car, it would have undermined my credibility and made me wonder why I was trying to use the same outdated and dangerous system to usher in the new age of enlightenment that the planet needs to survive. Sustainability, it's not just another catchy phrase. For me at least, it has become a way of life.