[ezekiel68]

It seems to me that each generation reaches a stage where it dawns on them that they are living in a unique time, unparalleled in history, a truly momentous occasion. Now, I was in diapers when the first Earth Day occurred, so I have a bit of a longer perspective on this. During that time, a number of intelligent, well-thought-out projections were made by people with impeccable credentials -- all based on global consumption and growth patterns which were evident to all. This article [0] collected many of the predictions. Here is an example:

'Harvard biologist George Wald estimated that “civilization will end within 15 or 30 years [from 1970] unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”' (ibid)

I love science and I do agree mankind (specifically commercial activity since the Industrial Revolution) has caused climate change. I'm happy that government regulations have (for instance) cleaned the toxic NO2 smog many of our cities suffered with 50 years ago. But my view is that it's "a bridge too far" to succumb to the temptation to imagine that we have "now" arrived at a critical inflection point which creates a moment of destiny for mankind.

In fact, people are taking action and pushing back. Only last year, a costly, multi-year project to construct a water desalination plant in California was rejected based on its potential impact to marine life. [1] So, my overall point is that the posted premise is flawed due to the fact that there is no such thing as "infinite expansion of the economy". Political regimes come and go and with them some progress toward smarter growth is made here, some protections get tossed out there. It's a tug-of-war, not a steam-roll by the pro-growthers. And importantly: over-stating the case that "now is the time!" when we must radically alter the order of things to prevent catastrophe has, in my opinion, only created a harmful sense of fatigue on the ears of many reasonable people who live long enough to notice that the predicted dire consequences were, to put it benevolently, prematurely announced.

[0] https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/18-spectacularly-wrong-apocal...

[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-regulator-reject...