Consider today’s sociopolitical landscape and it’s likely you’ll note the environment and the economy don’t exactly go hand in hand.
In reality, the two are inextricable and, increasingly, need to be treated as such, according to Jeff Rubin, the award-winning economist who, along with David Suzuki, wraps up a cross-Canada tour addressing the juncture of the two issues tonight in Alumni Hall.
Rubin, former chief economist and chief strategist for CIBC World Markets, is the author of The End of Growth, a national bestseller. He was among the first economists to predict rising oil prices more than a decade ago and is one of the most sought-after energy experts.
Suzuki, an environmental activist, academic and broadcaster, is perhaps best known for The Nature of Things on CBC television. He has written more than 40 books and is known as a leader in sustainable ecology.
The End of Growth Eco Tour came out of a meeting earlier this year in which the two realized their goals of addressing climate change and sustainability were the same, despite an approach from different disciplines. The cross-Canada tour started September in Toronto and will conclude Nov. 8 in Victoria, B.C.
“When the economy slows down, environmental concerns usually get shoved to the back seat – if not all the way to the trunk. The more difficult the economy, the less likely we are to make (sustainable) choices,” Rubin said in a recent interview.
Because of fuel and oil processes, he noted, economies worldwide are no longer capable of growing at the comfortable rates seen over the last three to four decades.
“Unlike in the past, where the oil process caused recessions, today, there is no oil shock. No one is shutting off the spigot; it’s wide open. Never before has more flowed through it. The problem is that we can no longer afford the prices needed to get the oil out of the ground,” he said.
Despite current discussions surrounding ‘peak oil,’ the issue at hand is not one of oil production and how much we can drill, Rubin explained, it’s about what our economy can afford to burn.
“There may be 170 billion barrels in the Tar Sands, but, unfortunately, the kind of prices needed to develop those kinds of resources translates to energy prices our economy can’t run on,” he said.
And that’s precisely why we’re no longer growing.
No doubt it’s a message the electorate doesn’t want to hear, Rubin continued, saying policy-makers are desperate for growth. They are instructing the central bank to print as much money as possible, to keep interest rates at zero while running a huge deficit trying to stimulate the economy with government spending.
“These measures aren’t working and we’re finding that traditional levers for stimulating the economy don’t seem to be doing the job, and the reason for that is there isn’t enough government spending. Credit costs too much because the fuel our economy runs on is increasingly out of reach,” he explained.
So, what’s the economically and ecologically sound answer, according to Rubin?
It’s simple – just keep hiking the price of oil and coal.
“Even our seemingly inexorable drive to environmental self-destruction is about to run out of fuel. When you stop growing, you stop combusting hydrocarbons like coal and oil. Whether we choose it or not, triple digit oil prices and coal prices are going to lead us to some very green places,” Rubin said.
“We live in a finite world. When I say triple-digit oil and coal prices will lead us to some green places, it’s precisely because they will change our behaviour. (Prices) are the messengers of the economy and when it becomes more and more expensive to consume energy, we’re going to find all kinds of ways of consuming less.”
The potential result is not only a revamped economy, but a revamped lifestyle as well.
“I think we’ll find quite a few silver linings in this economy. Maybe this is an economy where we’ll have job sharing, where we have multiple tasking, instead of just working one job. Maybe this is an economy where we have more leisure time, where all of a sudden distance costs money, and long lost manufacturing jobs we thought were gone forever will come back, and with them, the skillsets of a manufacturing labor force,” Ruben explained.
“And perhaps in the world I’m talking about, consuming less is better than wanting more. I think it’s very much a new world we’re looking at.”
IF YOU GO
End of growth: How to achieve a truly sustainable future
Featuring Jeff Rubin and David Suzuki
Doors open 6:15 p.m. Lecture 7 p.m. Book signing to follow.
Thursday, Oct. 18 in Alumni Hall
Tickets available online, The Bookstore and Western Connections (UCC)
$10 for Western students; $15 for non-student