Climate change and the true cost of economic growth | Letters

Readers respond to George Monbiot's request to start a conversation about the links between climate breakdown and consumerismIf George Monbiot really wants to get people talking about the connection between climate change and the economy, he'd do better to find a different question to "how do we stop growth?" (While growth continues we'll never kick our fossil fuel habit, 26 September).The elephant in the room is the assumption that nature's resources and capabilities are so large that they can be considered infinite and so excluded from the economic cost of production. This has the unintended consequence of rewarding destruction. Hence the German situation in Hambacher: the lignite has value because it can be sold to be burned, the 12,000-year-old forest has none unless the trees are cut down for economic use. And, in an infinite world, there are always more 12,000-year-old forests. Continue reading...