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TUESDAYS — YOUR INBOX — ASSUREDLY
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CURATED ECOLOGICAL NEWS
Growth never sleeps
“In recent months, a fruitful debate has been taking place within the Degrowth movement that seeks to go beyond the arguments regarding the need for a (good) degrowth (which has already been amply demonstrated), and begin to consider how to translate it into political reality.
“Tensions have emerged within the degrowth movement itself, including disagreements over whether technological innovation, renewable energy, or ‘green growth’ can realistically solve ecological over-shoot. Some advocates argue that affluent nations must deliberately reduce consumption and material throughput, while critics worry that rapid contraction could trigger instability, unemployment, or political backlash if not carefully managed.
“Growth persists because modern economies are structurally dependent upon it. Debt-based financial systems, corporate profit expectations, consumer culture, and governments reliant on expanding tax revenues all reinforce the pressure to keep producing and consuming more. As a result, meaningful ecological transition may require not just new technologies, but a deeper transformation in social values, institutions, and collective definitions of prosperity.
“Underlying the discussion is a broader question about whether societies can voluntarily embrace a future centered on sufficiency, resilience, and well-being rather than accumulation and perpetual expansion. Degrowth is not simply as economic contraction, but as a challenge to the dominant worldview of modern industrial civilization and its assumption that ‘more’ is always synonymous with progress.
“We all know that our addiction to growth must stop because it is destroying the very foundations of our lives, but knowing that we must stop an addiction is one thing, and being able to do so is a different one. Capitalist growth is a complex and insidious dynamic that should be analysed through the lens of systems analysis and feedback in order to be addressed.” [click the link for the full article]
Corporate fiduciary duty is an artificial construct
“A century ago, Henry Ford attempted to lower the price of the Model T and pay his workers better. The Dodge brothers, minority shareholders, sued, demanding that Ford stop lowering prices and instead distribute the surplus as dividends. The court ruled in their favor, cementing the idea that a business is carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders.
“That logic has been absorbed into the everyday mechanics of the market, punishing strategic decisions that fail to maximize shareholder value. A CEO who spends the company’s money without a clear business case is seen as a thief stealing from the shareholders’ wealth.
“Fast forward today. Just 100 companies are responsible for 70% of global emissions. How is it possible for organizations to operate in total defiance of the basic values we instill in our children? What creates such a distance between the values we hold at home and the boardroom decisions that drive environmental destruction? To understand this, we have to look at the systems that govern corporations.
“In the United States, representing about 40% of the global market capitalization, a CEO is legally and fiduciarily bound to their shareholders. Their primary mandate is simple: drive the stock price up.
“In Delaware, a central concept in economics becomes visible: externalization. In this system, if plastic bottles are cheaper to produce and logistically more efficient than glass deposit systems, the shift to plastic is treated as a competitive necessity. A company reaps the profits, while the subsequent costs (waste management, health issues, ecosystem collapse) fall on local communities.
“Within a massive organization, we see a diffusion of responsibility. The larger the company, the more silos exist. In the division of labor, the actual ecological impact doesn’t show up directly in any corporate spreadsheet. No one person feels responsible for the whole.
“To flip the switch from a system that rewards extraction to one that mandates restoration, the first priority is dismantling the absolute reign of shareholder primacy. We need a legal evolution where a corporation’s duty is tied to a triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet. This shift moves environmental responsibility from a niche certification to a global mandate.” [click the link for the full article]
Mega military emissions not accounted for
“Militaries are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has generated an estimated 311 million tonnes of what’s known as CO₂ equivalent, comparable to the combined annual emissions of Belgium, New Zealand, Austria and Portugal.
“The first 15 months of Israel’s war in Gaza generated more than 33 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. These are massive emissions, and they are generated with no formal mechanism to record, report or attribute them, and no accountability.
“In Iran, it is estimated that the U.S.-Israel war has unleashed over five million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent — largely from infrastructure destruction and energy-related impacts.
“Estimates suggest militaries and their supply chains account for approximately 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is enough to make them the world’s fourth largest emitter if counted as a country. And that figure only covers peacetime.
“In Gaza, direct combat emissions — jets, rockets, artillery, military vehicles — account for just 1.3 million of the 33.2 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. The vast majority, more than 31 million tonnes, are projected to come from the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure.” [click the link for the full article]
Petroleum constraints not the same as purposeful energy descent
“One month into the US and Israel’s war on Iran, at least 60 countries have taken emergency measures in response to the subsequent global energy crisis. So far, these countries have announced nearly 200 policies to save fuel, support consumers and boost domestic energy supplies.
“There have been numerous assaults on energy infrastructure, including an Iranian attack on the world’s largest LNG facility in Qatar and an Israeli bombing of Iran’s gas sites. Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is causing what the IEA has called the ‘largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market’.
“Around 30 nations, from Norway to Zambia, have cut fuel taxes, making this the most common domestic policy response to the crisis. Some countries have stressed the need to boost domestic renewable-energy construction, while others have opted to lean more on coal, at least in the short term.
“In Asia, countries that rely heavily on fossil fuels from the Middle East have implemented driving bans, fuel rationing and school closures in order to reduce demand.” [click the link for the full article]
Biological diversity is the lynch-pin, the overarching solution
“The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. Biodiversity is the source of life for all. Growing human populations and expanding consumption are placing great pressure on biological Diversity.
“A 2005 study, rightly entitled ‘Ecosystems and Human Well Being’, says that world fish stocks are down by an astonishing 90% since the dawn on industrialized fishing. It adds that a third of all amphibians, over a fifth of mammals and a quarter of coniferous trees are threatened with extinction.
“The report, the output of more than 1,300 scientists from more than 90 countries, also underlines that, rather than exercising the brake, the world continues to choose the accelerator, putting us all on a collision course towards a grim destiny.
“The overall assessment further states that 60% of the services provided by the world’s ecosystems that support human well being are now either degraded or heading that way. These include nature’s ability to regulate climate, cleanse air and water, keep pests in check and buffer disasters.” [click the links for the full articles]
Amazon deforestation downward trend is not conclusive
“The number of deforested kilometers in the Brazilian Amazon between August 2025 and March 2026 fell by 36% compared to the previous year. In total, 1,460 square kilometers (564 square miles) of land were cut down during that period, the lowest figure since 2018.
“Pará and Mato Grosso, states with historically high Amazon deforestation, saw sharp reductions in the most recent nine-month period compared to the previous one. Ana Clis Ferreira, a spokesperson for Greenpeace Brazil, said the rates of decline were uplifting news and could be attributed to the environment department under Minister Marina Silva.
“History shows that this decrease can be fragile, and that destruction occurs quicker than protection. Despite the slowdown in deforestation, the number of wildfires increased by a third in the first months of 2026. Additionally, March brought a 17% increase in deforestation compared to last year — from 167 square kilometers in 2025 to 196 square kilometers in 2026 (64 square miles to 76 square miles).” [click the link for the full article]
Torrential rains but less soil moisture
“A new study shows that when an area receives moisture in a small number of large, wet storms, it can overwhelm the soils, creating pools of water. These exposed pools are more prone to evaporation, meaning water that would otherwise reach streams, rivers and dams drifts back into the atmosphere. These storms dry out landscapes, even though total precipitation hasn’t necessarily changed
“Using several precipitation datasets, Justin Mankin and his co-author, Corey Lesk, determined where on Earth annual moisture was concentrating, and where yearly rain and snow totals were spreading out across the calendar. ‘There’s really maybe two spots that have the strongest concentration trends since 1980’, Lesk said. ‘One is the Amazon, and the other is pretty much right over Wyoming and Colorado’.
“The century-old infrastructure of federal and state dams and canals could be ‘potentially maladapted to this rapidly changing climate’, Mankin said, in which the same amount of moisture packed into in a few heavy storms yields less water.
“Moisture consolidation is actually a new mode of volatility, a new way in which precipitation and the water cycle in a warmer climate is harder to predict and harder to manage.” [click the link for the full article]
Lithium mining bolsters modernity, at the expense of traditional indigenous people
“Gold and uranium had drawn drillers to the Lakota Sioux tribe’s hallowed ground years ago. Now mining companies had found lithium in South Dakota’s Black Hills. In southwest Nevada, a sacred Timbisha Shoshone stream faded after a lithium-mining company began drilling in search of the mineral. And in western Arizona, the Hualapai Tribe witnessed fissures crack open the earth and drain a spring after another mining company had drilled.
“Scenes like these have played out across the country as the U.S. ramps up production of lithium — a key metal for electric vehicle batteries. More than 100 projects have staked claims, mostly in the dry Southwest. Data shows U.S. lithium’s global market share rising from less than 1% today to as high as 8% in the next five years alone.
“As mining companies seek permits and lure investors, frontline communities must grapple with the fallout of the so-called ‘white gold’. Nearly two-thirds of all lithium projects are located in vulnerable counties — many of them places where people in poverty and people of color disproportionately live.
“Many Native Americans fear getting caught up in yet another mineral’s development for what the extraction industry calls the ‘greater good’. Federal regulators’ inability to protect tribal interests — coupled with an outdated mining law that lacks safeguards — has given companies near-total freedom to exploit public land.
“Said Trina Lone Hill, historic preservation officer for the Oglala Lakota, ‘All those minerals are right in our sacred sites. The pattern of sidelining tribal voices and dispossession’, she added, ‘has always been oppressive’.” [click the link for the full article]
Small modular reactors — large costs and problems
“The nuclear power industry is currently promoting designs for small modular reactors (SMRs) that will supposedly be cheaper, safer, and faster to build than older nuclear power plants. Moreover, some environmentalists, including Mark Lynas and Bill McKibben, support SMRs in the hope that they can lower carbon emissions.
“World leaders, desperate for energy alternatives, are turning to solar, coal, and nuclear. At the same time, electricity demand for data centers is exploding, and builders of those centers hope to use SMRs to power artificial intelligence (AI). Yet Indigenous peoples, technology critics, and old-school environmentalists still oppose nukes. I agree with their critiques.
“The US, which has the largest number of plants of any country (96), is seeing a slow phase-out of old reactors (average age 44 years), but has commissioned three new ones during the last decade. Globally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts total nuclear power capacity to grow to over 700 GW by 2050, and small modular reactors are expected to make up a significant share of this growth.
“The principal drivers of renewed interest in nuclear power are climate disruption, the Trump administration, tech companies’ voracious demand for electricity, and Asian nations’ hunger for more industrial power.
“It’s important to know the reasons for its long period of dormancy:
- Cost: Nuclear plants still take a long time to build and are often plagued with cost overruns.
- Fuel: Uranium, the fuel for nearly all existing nuclear power plants, is a depleting nonrenewable resource, and supplies are running short. Opening new mines will entail further environmental destruction and harm to human communities.
- Waste: Despite decades of research, the global nuclear industry still has found no good place to put the 300,000 tons of nuclear waste—as well as 480,000 tons of depleted uranium in the US alone.
- Safety: While nuclear accidents are relatively rare, they can be devastating and expensive when they occur. Further, nuclear power technology is still tied to the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation.
- Water issues: Nearly all nuclear power plants use water as a coolant and are highly vulnerable to droughts and floods.
“‘Small’ is defined as 300 megawatts (MW) or less. While most existing nuclear plants are in the one-gigawatt (1,000 MW) range, some proposed SMRs are 20 MW or less; these are called ‘micro’ reactors.
“SMRs will only be cheaper to build if large numbers are ordered. Preliminary estimates for the cost of electricity from SMRs put it much higher than solar or wind. SMRs will do nothing to solve, and may actually worsen, the nuclear waste dilemma. Their overall safety is controversial. There is still no real-world data to support the industry’s promises.
“Water-cooled reactors pose risks of loss-of-coolant accidents. The industry’s solution: use sodium or helium as a coolant. Unfortunately, sodium is highly chemically reactive and ignites upon contact with air and reacts explosively with water.
“Why not use more-abundant thorium? Thorium reactors have steep development costs and produce a highly radioactive byproduct, uranium-232, which decays into isotopes that emit penetrating gamma rays, making fuel handling and maintenance more hazardous and costly.
“What to do about carbon emissions? Yes, we need to replace fossil fuels with low-carbon energy sources — but these should be as low-tech as possible, and we should aim to reduce overall energy usage.
“What to do about AI data centers? That’s easy: don’t build them. We are rushing headlong into an AI-managed future without an adequate understanding of what AI is, does, or is likely to do in the future. Besides, AI appears to be perhaps the biggest investment bubble in history.” [click the link for the full article]
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