Bridging the gap

"As scientists, it is not our role to tell people what they should do or must believe about the rising threat of climate change. But we consider it to be our responsibility as professionals to ensure, to the best of our ability, that people understand what we know: human-caused climate change is happening, we face risks of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes, and responding now will lower the risk and cost of taking action.”
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (world’s largest scientific society), Monday March 17th

A few hours after the AAAS released their report on Monday, the mayor of Kaua'i presented the state of the county address:

"I’d like to take a few moments to recognize some great things that are happening all around our community… we’re seeing very promising signs of true recovery.  New businesses are coming to Kaua’i: Taco Del Mar, Sports Authority, Pier One, Ross, Safeway, Petco, Wall Greens, Jack in the Box, and guess what? Central Pacific Bank just opened a new branch in Kapa’a."
-Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr- State of the County Address, Monday March 17th


I listened to the Mayor's annual address with a profound sense of disappointment.  I think the mayor is a good guy, so my disappointment doesn't stem from any fault of his but rather from the system that we have.  There is a frightening gap between what science is telling us and what policymakers and politicians are doing.  Scientists, with increasing desperation, are sounding the warning bells while our leaders (with some exceptions, such as Brian Schatz) continue on with the status-quo. 

As a small business owner, I understand how financial realities get in the way of idealistic notions.  With $4 million in payroll raises the county is facing a budgetary deficit in the coming year.  And traditional economic theory says that the best way to raise money is to grow the economy.

Since the county of Kaua'i is funded from property taxes the simplest way to expand its revenue to meet the growing expenses is to promote growth.  Every new development means property assessments go up and the county receives more tax revenue. Which is why the mayor lauds the arrival of eight conglomerates (Taco Del Mar, Sports Authority, Pier One, Ross, Safeway, Petco, Wall Greens, and Jack in the Box) to our small island.   

However, other than providing cheap material goods (which the UN and other organizations explicitly say we need to consume less of) and raising property values, those stores do little for Kaua'i.  In fact, because the vast majority of the revenue raised by the stores will flow off-island, they will only increase economic inequality on Kaua'i and necessitate an expansion of government services.  For example, what happens to locally owned Natural Pet Hawai'i when Petco opens for business literally right next door to their Puhi storefront?  Whereas every dollar spent at a locally owned business generates up to seven times its value for the local economy, all profit at mainland owned Petco will flow off-island.   Petco will provide a few low income jobs, the recipients of which will likely have to rely on government assistance (whether food stamps, subsidized housing or healthcare, etc) for their survival and it will potentially put Natural Pet Hawai'i out of business.  We have enough abandoned buildings on Kaua'i (Borders, Big Save, etc) that we don't need anymore.  While the county's revenue will increase (more development equals higher tax revenue) the island will be worse off.  In order to support the growing inequality government is forced to expand and the cycle of chasing growth continues.

Our incessant growth is the root cause of our planetary issues: climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and growing inequality.  So, the idea that we can combat those issues by the economic expansion provided by growth is flawed.  The more we try, the worse those issues will get.  Which is why the mayor's state of the county address hit me so hard.  Change some of the details and it's the same speech that nearly every political leader gives at every opportunity.  Grow, grow, grow. 

As NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center recently published:

[under conditions] closely reflecting the reality of the world today... we find that collapse is difficult to avoid… While some members of society might raise the alarm that the system is moving towards an impending collapse and therefore advocate structural changes to society in order to avoid it, elites and their supporters, who opposed making these changes, could point to the long sustainable trajectory 'so far' in support of doing nothing… Collapse can be avoided and population can reach equilibrium if the per capita rate of depletion of nature is reduced to a sustainable level, and if resources are distributed in a reasonably equitable fashion.

Remember, this is NASA.  It's not a liberal think tank or some guy on talk radio.  This is the nation's premier scientific agency saying clearly that civilization will collapse unless we reduce inequality and slow growth to a sustainable level.  This is exactly the opposite of what Kaua'i county and the rest of the world is doing.

So, what now? 

We need to come to terms with the fact that unsustainable growth is the root of our problem.  And that paradoxically we are making the planetary mistake of trying to solve that problem with even more growth.  We need to start listening to the near unanimous advice of every scientific agency on the planet.  We even need to heed the advice of the World Bank when they say that "the solutions lie in ensuring all our work, all our thinking, is designed with the threat of a 4°C world in mind.”

What does that mean for Kaua'i? Maybe in 2015 Mayor Carlvaho can give a state of the county speech that focuses on four pillars of a new county focus: energy independence, reducing emissions, food security, and reducing inequality.  They are inter-related issues and can be addressed in revenue neutral ways without growing the economy.  For example:

•  Hawai'i has the nation's second lowest property tax rates in the country.  Rates on high end homes need to rise so that we can lower rates on low end homes and make home ownership more affordable for the local community.  Therefore reducing inequality. 

• The ag dedication laws need to be reformed to comply with the intent of the law, which clearly states that: Agricultural use" means the use of land on a continuous and regular basis that demonstrates that the owner intends to obtain a monetary profit from cash income received by: (1) raising, harvesting, and selling crops.  No offense to biotech but the agricultural subsidy should apply only to land which produces agricultural products which are raised, harvested, AND sold on Kaua'i.  Which does not include biotech test crops.  In the last three years agricultural subsidies to biotech have been at least partly responsible for the complete loss of a $57 million county surplus.  Reformed ag dedication laws can result in increased county revenue and more incentive to land owners to rent to local farmers. Yes, we need to maintain a vibrant bio-tech industry, but not at the expense of county revenue or local food production.  More local food reduces carbon emissions, increases food security, and reduces economic inequality. 

• The Kaua'i Bus needs to be expanded to both reduce emissions from cars on the roads and lower our dependence on foreign fuel.  Funding for that expansion should come from increasing the gas tax.  More public transportation reduces carbon emissions and inequality while improving energy security. 

These are just three very small steps on the long road to true sustainability.  As Gandhi said, "the difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems."  Science is telling us what we have to do, and they are very clearly explaining the risks of inaction.  All we need to do is heed their advice.  It won't be easy, it won't be quick, and it won't be painless, but we have no other choice.  We need to move beyond growth.