Ecomodernism
A tomorrow worth retiring to
October 29, 2019 — September 22, 2023
Notes on the theme of ecomodernism, the guiding light of our glorious counterfactual, luxury, gay, space-communist ecomodernism cryptopian future sprouting in the undergrowth.
Ecomodernism is a term that has been used to describe a range of ideas about technological solutions to environmental problems. Other terms/submovements in this vocabulary are Solarpunk, Green New Deal, Spimes, Viridian, John Robb-style resilient communities, Worldchangers, Natural Capitalism, Green New Deal…
Connection: Accelerationism, which seems to me to be sometimes badly hedged ecomodernism.
The natural counter-trend to ecomodernism within environmentalism seems to be degrowth.
Notwithstanding that both these trends contain multitudes, I lean ecomodernist. If we minimax the choice between them and imagine both movements in their worst expressions, I still prefer the green technocrats of ecomodernism over the sad hippies of ecoprimitivism, because I am pragmatic and allow myself only a small sentimentality budget.
Related: Game B, which has a very different notion of growth than typical ecomodernism.
1 What is growth actually?
The debate with degrowthers is (sometimes) complicated by the absence of agreement as to what economic growth even is. Can we have economic growth with less material input? Is growth actually innovation, rather than burning fossil fuels, and if so, how do we get that?
2 Urban design
TBC
3 Agriculture
See efficient food.
4 Power generation
See power generation for more on the general theory.
4.1 Nuclear power
Is nuclear a green power source? Divisive question, apparently.
I have no strong opinions. Obvious costs, obvious benefits, evaluating the trade-offs in the particular case looks complicated. I might be persuaded to cultivate a strong opinion for a specific power grid?
5 Geoengineering
Geoengineering. Have you ever worked in an open-plan office with an adjustable thermostat? Last time I was in that situation it led to surly arguments. Geoengineering is like that, but for the whole planet at once.
6 Genetic engineering
Yep.
7 Optimism
Often pitched as part of the ecomodernist package is a kind of optimism. That does not speak to me personally, but OK. I suspect that mentioning that ecomodernism is an “optimistic” program is because there are many pessimistic doomerist programs out there and ecomodernism needs to distinguish itself from them.
8 Podcasts
9 Incoming
-
For the first time in our planet’s history, the anthropomass—the mass of human-made goods—now outweighs the biomass—the mass of all living things. In pursuit of our own technological advancement, humanity has rapidly unravelled what has taken Nature billions of years of evolution to create, resulting in a threat to the continued viability of life on Earth.
Humanity is a part of Nature, yet the world we have designed has created a rift between us. It is now our responsibility to heal it. Policy
OXMAN proposes the creation of design solutions by, for, and with Nature while advancing humanity. This holistic approach demands that we design across scales and kingdoms for systems-level impact.
Categorical delineations between climate change and global pandemics, loss of biodiversity and loss of empathy for one another give way to authoring systems that address manifold challenges. In doing so, we open ourselves up to moving beyond mere maintenance toward the radical betterment of Nature.
Do you believe in climate solutions? You just might be a ecomodernist.
Explainer: ‘ecomodernism’, or how to be an optimistic radical
Palladium Podcast 83: Tea Törmänen and Marco Visscher on Ecomodernism
A spicier word is ecomodernism, thanks Frank Landis.