Literature Review of Guiding Principles (Part 1) and Strategic application of those ideas to Puerto Rico (Part 2)
Part 1
Baseline – Guiding principles for sustainable policies:
The Three E’s in urban planning: Environment, Equity, and Economics
The
Triple Bottom Line in business: Planet, People, and Profit
[note
that order of priority: planetary health first, society second, and
business last, which dictates that business adapt to the other two, less
forgiving systems: the planet which simply collapses and renews itself in a
couple of millennia without us, and society, which avoids action in many cases
until it is too late, causing needless suffering and tragedy.]
The Precautionary Principle: Intended to affect government policy and business decision-making, the precautionary principle is a guideline with four components which is to be established BEFORE any damaging action occurs:
1.
taking
preventive action in the face of uncertainty;
2. shifting the burden of proof to the
proponents of an activity;
3. exploring a wide range of alternatives
to possibly harmful actions; and
4.
increasing
public participation in
decision making
Five
Axioms of Sustainability
1.
Any society that continues to use critical
resources unsustainably will collapse
a.
A society can avoid collapse by finding
replacement resources
b.
But in a finite world, the number of
replacements is also finite
2. Population
growth and/or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained
a.
Even small rates of growth lead to unsupportable
rates of consumption (baseline sustainable population of the Earth is about 1
billion people; we need to work towards a managed reduction, or nature will
simply, and brutally, do it for us.)
3. To
be sustainable, the use of renewable resources must proceed at a rate that is
less than or equal to the rate of natural replenishment (setting a limit on
resource use, because renewable resources are exhaustible)
a.
If the resource is declining, sustainability
requires that the rate of harvest be reduced
4. To
be sustainable, the use of nonrenewable resources must decline and stop,
and the rate of decline must be greater than the rate of depletion.
a.
No continuous use of a nonrenewable resource is
sustainable
b.
By using renewable sources, society’s dependence
on the nonrenewable resource will be reduced to insignificance before the
resource is exhausted
c.
(also, it has been established that 2/3 of all
fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground for life as we know it to survive,
leaving $27 trillion dollars in the ground, which is a great incentive to deny
Climate Change, and this opposition must be addressed in all communication budgets
as counter-measures are HUGE; and in a related ecological accounting, the
Earth’s atmospheric CO2 budget will be reached in 2028 unless we drastically
reduce emissions right now. Baby steps and “Transition
Fuels” like gas, are no longer a viable option for Puerto Rico or the world; NYC
Mayor DiBlasio has just phased out all natural gas infrastructure for the city,
even though most of that infrastructure was installed beginning in 2014.)
5. Sustainability
requires that substances introduced into the environment from human
activities be minimized and rendered harmless to biosphere functions
a.
Waste, pollution, toxic extraction liquids, electronics/robotics,
and genetically modified organisms are to be phased out
Principles
of the Deep Ecology Movement
2.
Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realizations of
these values and are also values in themselves.
3.
Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to
satisfy vital human needs.
4.
The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial
decrease of human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such
a decrease.
5.
Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the
situation is rapidly worsening.
6.
Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic,
technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will
be deeply different from the present.
7.
The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality
(dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to an
increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of
the difference between big and great.
8.
Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation to directly or
indirectly try to implement the necessary changes.
The Drawdown Framework is the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. This is the point when we begin the process of stopping further climate change and averting potentially catastrophic warming. It is a critical turning point for life on Earth.
The Challenge
To understand and advance climate solutions, it’s important to understand the sources of emissions and nature’s means of rebalancing the climate system.
Burning fossil fuels for electricity, mobility, and heat. Manufacturing cement and steel. Plowing soils. Clearing forests and degrading other ecosystems. All these activities emit heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air. Cattle, rice fields, landfills, and fossil fuel operations release methane—a gas that warms the planet even more. Nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases seep out of agricultural lands, industrial sites, refrigeration systems, and urban areas, adding still more heat-trapping pollutants to Earth’s atmosphere.
Most of these greenhouse gases stay airborne, but not all. Natural biological and chemical processes—especially photosynthesis—bring some of that excess back to plants, soil, or sea. These “sinks” are nature’s reservoirs for absorbing and storing carbon. While most heat-trapping emissions stay in the atmosphere, significant portions are quickly removed by plants on land or taken up by oceans.
The Solutions
To reach Drawdown, we must work on all aspects of the climate equation—stopping sources and supporting sinks, as well as helping society achieve broader transformations. That is, three connected areas call for action, which we must pursue globally, simultaneously, and with determination.
1. Reduce Sources — bringing emissions to zero
2. Support Sinks — uplifting nature’s carbon cycle
3. Improve Society — fostering equality for all
Nested within each area of action, there are sectors and subgroups of diverse solutions—practices and technologies that can help the world stabilize and then begin to lower greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. Together, they comprise the Drawdown Framework for climate solutions.
https://drawdown.org/drawdown-framework
The United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals
1. End Poverty in all its forms everywhere – homes
and jobs for everyone, universal base pay tied to cost of living
2. End
hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, promote ecologically sustainable
agriculture – all fresh food not sold on first day given to unemployed,
underemployed, or homeless; 100% of agricultural land available (50%?) to be
used for growing food for local consumption, no importation of competing goods,
no importation of processed foods with few exceptions; set a national nutritional
standard, help or pay mothers to stay home to cook food part time; make organic
and permaculture agriculture the only legal form of agriculture on the island
3. Ensure
good health and well-being for all – universal health program for everyone,
rich must participate, but can add services at their cost; pay for local NGO’s
dedicated to offering exercise, yoga, sports, trail walks, swimming, etc (like
YMCA, for example, but can also be independent providers)
4. Ensure
quality education, lifelong learning for all – redesign education system, have
more brick and mortar book libraries, fund continuing education colleges, fund
art schools
5. Achieve
gender equality and empower all women and girls – full communication campaign,
standards for hiring women
6. Ensure
access to clean water and sanitation for all – do a full hydrological survey of
the island, its potential and its challenges; create a maintenance plan for all
reservoirs and subcontract locals to keep lakes clean; research and develop a
home rainwater catchment system that can be scaled to community size
7. Ensure
access to affordable, reliable, ecologically sustainable and modern energy for
all – research, design, and develop solar, wind and hydro for communal
microgrids that can be maintained and cared for by the locals themselves, so
when a hurricane comes, they can take the panels down, put them inside, and
weather the storm on battery power, and once the storm has passed, they can put
the panels back up; also, teach reduction and minimalism in energy consumption,
but include, for every home, ceiling fans, and a dehumidifier or air
conditioner to counteract the heat waves.
8. Promote
inclusive and ecologically sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent
work for all – start using a happiness index
9. Build
resilient infrastructure, promote ecologically sustainable industrialization,
and foster ecologically sustainable innovation
10. Reduce
inequality within and among countries
11. Make
cities inclusive, safe, resilient end ecologically sustainable
12. Ensure
ecologically sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take
urgent action to combat Climate Change and its impacts
14. Conserve,
and ecologically sustain the oceans, seas, and marine resources
15. Sustainably
manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt
biodiversity loss
16. Promote
just, peaceful and inclusive societies
17. Revitalize the partnership for ecologically sustainable development
Part 2
Problems in PR
·
Areas in need of intervention: water, energy, waste management and recycling, food
sovereignty, economic security, communications, education, mass transit, strategic planning, sustainable businesses, poverty, adaptation
measures, mitigation measures (all areas with opportunities for new businesses)
·
What is PR’s bio-productivity (production
capacity of the island) A US university has already done the study, which costs
$2,000 to buy. Any work going forward needs to have an ecological footprint of
PR, so this information is crucial.
·
People need to feel empowered: individuals,
families, and communities, by prioritizing local, sustainable solutions
·
Building local economies at an appropriate scale
[historically we were always a residual economy, first under Spanish rule, then
under US rule. We were set up to cater to the needs of empire, and never have
had a chance to create a local economy for ourselves]
Realities that are seldom spoken:
1.
The carrying capacity of the island of Puerto Rico
is about 1 million people; its current population is 3.2 million (after about 300,000
people left the island because of Maria, and another 300,000 left since The Great
Recession of 2009); so we have three times the population that the island can sustainably
keep alive, making us totally dependent on imports and the vagaries of the global economy
for our survival.
a.
It would be wise to study the possibilities of an
outmigration plan like Tuvalu and some islands in the Pacific have with
Australia and New Zealand (for us to travel north, which, as we are already
Americans, is legal)
b.
Roughly, in this hemisphere, the “Too Hot” area is
between the 35th parallels or the area south of Norfolk, Virginia, and north of Buenos
Aires, Argentina. Most of the people in this hemisphere will need to move
north because the tip of South America is small and it is mostly desert. In
Europe, it will be worse, because there is no place in all of Africa where food will be
able to grow, so all those people will have to move north. The countries with the largest landmass in that area are Russia and China, and China is already over-populated. Note: there is a
limit to how far north people can go due to melting permafrost, which creates
unstable living conditions, and is forcing Inuit peoples south of the polar
region. So, the limit of livable land in this hemisphere only includes roughly
the southern half of Canada, the Canadian Maritime counties, and the northern half
of the US. If Carrying capacity is 100 million people in the US now, and we are about to lose half of the livable land we have, the Carrying Capacity of the US will be lowered to 50 million people, just as 600 million people south of the US begin to need to migrate north in order to survive.
c.
While the US still has a relatively low rural population
density and vast open spaces, it can absorb some migration, but not all the
migration that is coming (Mexico alone has 129 million people, compared to US
327 million).
d. Europe, on the other hand, will have a much harder time finding enough land to accommodate the migration from Africa
https://imgur.com/gallery/wSFAA
What changes do we
want to see?
·
We must have PR’s ecological footprint as an
economic indicator and as a human right
·
Create a regional economy in each of the 5 hydrologic
regions of the island
·
Build decentralized solar power and communal
microgrids, owned and run by communities and local homeowners, (and if we must have PREPA,
use it for commerce and industry, and refuse its debt), with communities assuming
maintenance and care of their systems, with communal maintenance and communal decision-making power.
·
Water catchment systems in every home and
building
·
50% of our landmass held as wilderness (we
currently have about 40% unbuilt, but we only protect 7%); make sure we
have budgets to maintain and conserve it (creating new jobs and more committed mindsets!)
·
Better fisheries management, creation of marine
refuges on 50% of our coastal waters, incentivize new marine businesses by sea farming,
sea tours, saving coral reefs projects
·
Have urban agriculture in homes and
neighborhoods, and allow new businesses in this space to rise, for example, there is a business opportunity for vertical gardens, water catchment systems, home composting systems, and home-scale biodigesters
·
Creation of local networks, while we still
have smartphone technologies (some precious metals used in smartphones will stop being available after being over-exploited. See Stock Check graphic below).
·
https://oneplanet-sustainability.org/2012/02/03/natural-resource-depletion-and-environmental-degredation/
· Create social justice from the start, create local groups using technology as a bridge (because it will only likely last until ~2050, when peak mineral and peak consumption are due)
Numbers are from 2004. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-global-resources-stock-check
·
Teach living within planetary means and living happily
with less; the importance of family and community; physically reconnect with
nature and re-establish a balanced ecosystem
·
Reduce our ecological footprint to less than one planet (for leeway and biodiversity)
·
Reform the education system to reflect new
reality and topical relevancies
·
Reconnect with ancestral knowledge, local and
regional knowledge
·
Work with more “Horas de Contacto Verde”
[here a National School Coordinator App would help]
·
Plant a million trees a year, especially in
urban centers, on sidewalks, create Urban Food Forests
·
Business opportunity: banners spanning roofop to rooftop on Old San Juan streets (and other densely populated areas) like “sunbrellas” to minimize the
city’s heat island effect (like the umbrellas on Fortaleza St, but more efficient)
·
Restore to health the 5 hydrologic watersheds in
PR and create regional economies in each one
·
Work to fix the chronic social and health
problems via localized social entrepreneurship and community empowerment programs
·
Have an efficient mass transit system not only
between the 5 major cities of PR, but also between the metro areas and their surrounding
towns (in a 20-mile radius?)
·
Grow key small cities into business hubs (Isabela,
Utuado, Adjuntas, Humacao, Maunabo, Ceiba, San German, Rincon, Aguadilla,
Quebradillas, Orocovis, San Sebastian, Manati)
·
Moratorium in coastal construction until all 300,000
derelict housing units in PR are fixed, rehabbed, sold, or occupied (manage
housing problem and repopulate urban centers)
·
Degrowth strategy (break paradigms to create
productive spaces)
·
More green spaces in our urban landscape – tear down derelict houses and used as gardens, green spaces,
food forests (see what Detroit is doing)
·
Visualize new life horizons, when just enough is
enough, and use a methodology that joins our ancestral cultures (Spain/Europe, Africa,
Taino Indian) with today’s technologies and culture
·
Educating everybody on self-sufficiency, ecological footprint,
mass transit and light transit, clean energy, organic agriculture, Food sovereignty, to adjust
expectations to a smaller world, with less international travel, and reevaluate lifestyles to
adapt to hotter, dryer, more catastrophic conditions, which will need much more community support.
·
We need a Political Revolution – no more crony
politics and corruption
·
We need a Business Revolution – where economies
of scale and other efficiencies that cause layoffs are supplanted by creating
work for as many people as possible, with living wages and secure pensions, and
incentivize a thriving local social entrepreneurship class focused on sustainability.
This is the hardest thing to do, because established businesses hoard their wealth,
their standing, and their privileges, and will fight to keep them.
“We
all travel together, leaving no one behind, making sure that everything we have
is enough for everybody, and that no one is left needing more, to get to a just
society.” (unattributed UN DP)
1.
Replace fossil fuel subsidies/tax breaks, and subsidies/tax breaks to businesses that contribute to pollution, create plastic
waste, or create toxic waste; use the Polluter Pays Principle, make toxic producers
responsible for community health; rethink the use of capital (i.e., our economic business model) so
that PR can become self-sufficient and sustainable
2. Legislators,
with the input of sustainability, climate, and environmental scientists, must set environmental legal
standards for PR in a “Green Bill of Rights”
3. Create
a “Green Index” to track the level of problems, as well as PR’s efforts to divest
from bad investments and invest in a clean, green, and local bioeconomy
4. Add
a green component to GDP for PR to add environmental accounting to national
accounts
5. Add
a Green Investment Index to invest in clean businesses and BioEconomy
administration and infrastructure
6. Create
a Political Green-Points Card, where anyone can see the legislator’s voting
history
7. Rework
the Austerity budget to include necessary adaptation and mitigation actions and a
self-sufficiency break-even under which we cannot spend any funds on debt service, and the US must pay us to achieve self-sufficiency in lieu of reparations for 123 years of (ongoing) colonialism and economic abuse.
8. Political
and Economic Power Map: the actors, the businesses, the influencers
9. We
need serious legislative action (the best way to convince legislators is to speak
“one on one” with them and their deputies, make them able to speak knowledgeably
about the new reality of Climate Change adaptation to their constituents)
10. Give
workshops on how to lobby legislators to communities, organizers, and leaders
11.
We need a Sustainability Legislative Advisor
12. Create a legal and business ecosystem that helps people become self-sufficient, as opposed to help (foreign) corporations become richer and more powerful
What
themes are most important?
Vision: a sustainable Puerto Rico, with work/entrepreneurship for everyone,
within a hotter planet a decent life for everyone, housing for all, education
for all, health, social justice, a safety net for catastrophes, and no poverty
Commitment to a healthy, smart, equal transition for all
Ecological Footprint / Carrying capacity; adaptation and mitigation plans
Living simply
50% of land conservation – to save biodiversity
Education
Ethics
Energy (“ni permiso, ni perdón”) solar power, home wind power, small and large scale biodigesters, batteries, and communal
decentralized microgrids, micro-hydro where possible
Efficient
mass transit, using electric or clean bio-diesel transport
Food
sovereignty
Protect
local produce and products from global forces
Radical
political change
Grow organic, permaculture regenerative agricultural businesses, incentivize urban agriculture
Grow
a circular economy, a steady-state economy
Every
city and town must have a produce market
Massive
communications campaign and introduction of climate change education
curriculums
Water
catchment systems
We
need:
How
can we help communities? Ask them. Start there.
How can we change the finance industry and the cooperative industry to address community needs? Start by working with Co-ops as the stepping stones to a circular economy
How
can we get Community Organizers to create networks and collaborations in other sectors of the economy?
NO transgenic seeds (Bayer/Monsanto etc) in PR. Zero tolerance for corporate abuse.
How can we expand financial cooperatives into local agricultural and artisanal products (read: products that enable clean air and water, food sovereignty, healthy agriculture, safe habitats and hybrid urban areas, a thriving local economy)?
How
can we incentivize local artisans and industrial designers to cooperate in designing
and making low-tech, mechanical, and sustainable home goods, and not just beautiful trinkets?
Academia/universities – how can they help run projects and services for the communities
that embed sustainability? How can they integrate teaching students how to live in this new world and at the same time help communities adapt to the new world?
How
can we engage with schools and churches for more active participation?
