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our early twenty-first century civilization is not the first to face the prospect of environmentally induced economic decline. The question is how we will respond.

Today, our successes and problems flow from the extraordinary growth in the world economy over the last century.

While the economy is growing exponentially, the earth’s natural capacities, such as its ability to supply fresh water, forest products, and seafood, have not increased. Humanity’s collective demands first surpassed the earth’s regenerative capacity around 1980. Today, global demands on natural systems exceed their sustainable yield capacity by nearly 30 percent. We are meeting current demands by consuming the earth’s natural assets, setting the stage for decline and collapse.

"A polystyrene cup will dissolve almost instantly in biodiesel, like a snowflake in water,"