Economy and Ecology
In the introduction to his book, The Ecology of Commerce, Paul Hawken identifies the fundamental problem that underlies our failed attempts to live as more environmentally responsible: “All the recycling in the world would not change the fact that doing business in the latter part of the twentieth century is an energy intensive endeavor that gulps down resources” (xii; note that key word “intensive”). As Hawken and a host of other environmentally aware authors point out, Commercial practices, especially under a capitalist mode of production, and sustainability are antithetical, not because they have to be, but because they have been designed to be. In other words, in our current cultural climate, a healthy economy and a healthy ecosystem are perceived as being fundamentally at odds with one another.
In Lis Harris’ book, Tilting at Mills: Green Dreams, Dirty Dealings, and the Corporate Squeeze, she demonstrates how there is an inherently antagonistic relationship between businessmen and enviros in America. This antagonism has led to critical impasses to American business practices moving in the direction of environmental as well as social responsibility.
In response to increasing anxieties about the exhaustion of natural resources and the pollution of human habitat a great deal of attention has been paid to practices of “sustainable development.” Sustainable development is defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) as economic development designed “to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Our Common Future). At the same time, anxieties about limited resources have also led to the intensification of technological developments to stave off resource shortages. In the short term, this intensification creates the illusion of sustainability, but in the long run means costlier and more destructive methods of extracting more and more remote resources. Take, for example, proposals to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
(see also Cultural Materialism)