

Post-Growth Australia Podcast
Michael Bayliss
The podcast where better is definitely better than bigger.
Do you think growing infinitely on a finite planet is an oxymoron? If the answer is yes, then this podcast is for you.
In each episode of the Post-Growth Australia Podcast (PGAP), host Michael Bayliss talks to experts to unpack the notion of post-growth societies and what this means for us, for future generations and for the planet.
Each episode will also play an environmental themed song from local artists.
PGAP is made possible by the support of Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).
Do you think growing infinitely on a finite planet is an oxymoron? If the answer is yes, then this podcast is for you.
In each episode of the Post-Growth Australia Podcast (PGAP), host Michael Bayliss talks to experts to unpack the notion of post-growth societies and what this means for us, for future generations and for the planet.
Each episode will also play an environmental themed song from local artists.
PGAP is made possible by the support of Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 10, 2023 • 1h 34min
A Tribute to Community Groups fighting Big Overdevelopment in WA.
In the world of degrowth, the focus is often centred on the need for broad scale system change. However, it is often at the grassroots community level that real resistance against overdevelopment is truly and tangibly observed. For this very special episode of PGAP, we interview Annabel Paulley (Friends of Yakamia), Chris Poulton (Rethink Eastlink) and Andrew St John (Safe and Scenic Toodyay Roads) to highlight the good work been done by community groups in South-Western Australia to fight the relentless tide of overdevelopment.
Our first guest Annabel Paulley (interviewed 00:08:19 to 00:37:09) is a coordinator and key member of the Albany based Friends of Yakamia Forest. The Friends of Yakamia have been working tirelessly to protect the titular rate payer land from being rezoned for housing and road development. The land is a fragment of the forest that once covered the northern suburbs of Albany and is home to a host of endemic and threatened plants, bird and animal species. You can find out more about Friends of Yakamia at their Facebook page here.
(Friends of Yakamia visiting state MP for Albany, Rebecca Stephens)
Our second guest Chris Poulton ( interviewed 00:37:23 to 01:09:16) runs Summer Creek Restaurant and Brewery with his family Bakers Hill, nestled in eastern side of the Perth Hills. The property and nearby Kep track have significant historical importance to Western Australia’s formative history, that will be undermined if the Eastlink highway project is passed. Find out more about Rethink Eastlink here. You may also wish to check out the great work from the Save Perth Hills Action Group.
(Chris Poulton)
Our third guest Dr Andrew St John (interviewed 01:09:32 to 01:23:54) is convenor of Safe and Scenic Toodyay Roads. Toodyay lies on the transition between the Perth Hills and the Wheatbelt. The impact to lifestyle, legacy and the natural environment of the local scarp ecosystem is threatened by Main Roads WA and other developments (including mining and housing development).
(Andrew St John)
One major focus of this episode is to explore the interrelationship between the great work done at the grassroots by community action groups and the broader issue of wider system change being championed by many activists including degrowth advocates. The South-West of Western Australia is not the only region in the world in which brave citizens are defending their natural and cultural environments from the march of development, progress and concrete. Similar fights are occurring everywhere, globally, all the time. All three guests share a unique vision of their solutions to this worldwide predicament, although all are united with the view that there needs to be fundamental end to the current growth based system. Otherwise, it will be up to community groups to be perpetually putting out the spot fires.
Host Michael Bayliss is joined by Mark Allen, co-host and founder of Town Planning Rebellion, during the intro and outro. We gain his perspective on how TPR can work with local action groups to bring critical change to Australia’s broken urban planning sector. We also discuss how to have a nuanced debate on some of the thornier issues such as urban consolidation vs. urban sprawl, and visible (but seldom discussed) impacts of population growth.
You can find out more about host Michael Bayliss at his website here and more about Mark Allen at the Holistic Activism website. Please support PGAP by sharing this and other episodes with your networks. Do you have feedback or suggestions for future episodes? You can contact us here.
We'd like to leave you with some images of Chris Poulton's property at Bakers Hill, WA, followed by a timestamp of the episode.
Old winery established in 1884 by Edward Keane with 3x 136 year old Moreton bay fig trees on the right.
Looking up from the restaurant at the hill that would be turned in to a freeway (top 3rd of the picture).
White tailed Black Cockatoos spend over 3 months of the year feeding and socialising in area deemed for eastlink freeway. Community building and socialising areas are important for Black cockatoos and not something mainroads is acknowledging in their environmental assessment / report.
Episode time stamp
Introduction with Mark Allen: 00:00:00 to 00:08:04
Annabel Paully (Friends of Yakamia): 00:08:19 to 00:37:09
Chris Poulton (Summer Creek Brewery, Rethink Eastlink): 00:37:23 to 01:09:16
Andrew St John (Safe and Scenic Toodyay Roads): 01:09:32 to 01:23:54
Outro with Mark Allen (Town Planning Rebellion): 01:24:10 to 01:34:20
All expressed views and legacies - past and present - of PGAP guests are their own and do not necesarilly reflect the views and legacies of Post-Growth Australia Podcast, or Sustainable Population Podcast, who support this podcast.Special Guests: Andrew St John, Annabel Paulley, and Chris Poulton.

Mar 28, 2023 • 39min
EarthCare Permaculture Ghana
For this episode of PGAP, we travel (virtually) to equatorial western Africa to speak with Innocent Kelvin Coffie, youth leader and founder of EarthCare Permaculture Ghana. Kelvin takes us on a verbal tour of the property, the successes the property has had in up skilling new generations in food self-sufficiency, and some recent challenges that the property has endured through. Kelvin also gives some insight into how the permaculture movement is taking root in Ghana, some of the unique environmental and social challenges experienced in his country and how permaculture is one solution to solving these problems.
EarthCare Permaculture Foundation needs your support. For example, a donation will help the centre invest in some much needed gardening tools and building structures. The centre is looking for volunteers and other enthusiastic people to help on site or to exchange knowledge and ideas. Follow EarthCare Permaculture Ghana on Facebook to find out more about how you can help. If you would like to make a donation over paypal, the email address is coffieinnocent8@gmail.com
PGAP also needs your support! Rate and review us on Apple Podcast or your favourite podcast platform. Share this and other episodes of PGAP among your friends and networks. Contact us to let us know how we’re going, where we can improve, and what topics or guests you would like to see in future episodes.
Host Michael Bayliss feels a deep connection with the African continent and the many great thinkers and amazing grassroots community movements that are making waves. PGAP has previously interviewed Kenyan resident Robert Wanalo in season 1 and Ugandan born Florence Blondel in Season 2. We highly recommend listening to those episodes.
PGAP has also not shied away from covering permaculture and regenerative farming. We have interviewed some big names like David Holmgren and Charles Massy. You may also be interested in our interview with Shane Simonsen, who grows unconventionally in subtropical Queensland, or Murray Gomm, who grows locally to PGAP in our new home town of Albany.
All views, opinions, historical and present legacies of PGAP guests are exclusively theirs and may not necessarily reflect the opinions, views and legacies held by PGAP.Special Guest: Innocent Kelvin Coffie.

Jan 31, 2023 • 53min
Solving climate change through ethical investment - with James Regulinski from Carbon Collective
In this episode of Post-Growth Australia, we interview James Regulinski, co-founder of Carbon Collective, a company providing low-fee, diversified investment portfolios built for solving climate change. Inspired by the work of Project Drawdown, James and his business partner Zach Stein tackle climate change by encouraging investors to support environmentally friendly enterprises.
For a podcast on Degrowth with a bias toward the anti-capitalist end of the spectrum, James is a very different kind of guest on PGAP and one who inspired much pithy discussion. For most of us in the post-growth movement, there can often be some tension around whether to ‘tap in’ and to use financial leverage to encourage improvements in the current system (e.g. Green investment, divestment, supporting the ‘green new deal’ etc.) Or, whether to ‘tap out’ or fight the system altogether. Hats off to James to going down the rabbit hole with me here, where we conclude that a mix of both approaches is the best way forward. That is, any change we do needs to have a transition to a Degrowth society as the modus operandi. On the other side of the coin, it is currently very difficult, if not impossible, to tap completely out of today’s growth based economic paradigm.
To find out more about Carbon Collective, visit their website here. This includes a fantastic introductory video from James.
On PGAP, we’ve had a few discussions around the challenges of tapping out of the growth based system. In our interview with Dr. Alex Baumann (currently our top performing episode), he discusses why the private housing market provides a financial barrier to opting out of the matrix. We’ve also had a few guests on who have made a successful change to off grid living (tapping out if you will). Mike Stasse from Tasmania is one great example. Artist as Family (based near Daylesford Victoria) discuss how they made the change on a shoestring budget.
Please share this and other episodes of PGAP with your friends, family and networks. Rate and review us on Apple Podcast. Any feedback or ideas for future episodes? Contact us here.
All views, opinions and legacies of our guests are exclusive theirs and do not necessarily reflect those of PGAP.Special Guest: James Regulinski.

Jan 22, 2023 • 1h 3min
Women for Conservation with Isabella Cortes Lara
On November 15 2022 the global population hit 8 billion. Despite the fact that half of all the world’s pregnancies are unplanned, any talk of global approach to family planning and reproductive health care in the global south remains controversial. So often, this is debated across the global north without including stakeholders who live in the global south and work with the issues first hand. PGAP aims to make amends for this oversight by inviting Isabella Cortes Lara to the podcast, Vice President of ‘Women for Conservation’, who work alongside rural communities in Colombia and Nepal. An incredible artist and storyteller, Isabella shares with PGAP how W4C started, the decision to focus on family planning and reproductive healthcare as a solution to the environmental and reproductive issues affecting rural Colombia, and how her artistic and spiritual approach to life intersect and inform her activism.
You can find out more about Women for Conversation here. Please consider supporting their great work, by spreading the word or by making a donation. You can also read more W4C at the Sustainable Population Australia Newsletter here. The full interview can be read at the SPA website here.
On this episode, we played the track ‘Aguita de Paramo” that Isabella recorded under her artist name ‘Isavibe’. You can follow Isavibe’s music at her Spotify account here.
This interview with Women for Conversation is part of a wider dialogue on mythbusting when it comes to family planning and reproductive healthcare, especially for the global south. PGAP has been an active part in this debate. In season two we spoke with Florence Blondel, Ugandan born journalist, feminist and sustainable population advocate. In season one we spoke with CHASE Africa who work with communities in Kenya (a QandA with founder Robin Witt can also be read on the SPA website).
(Artwork from Isabella under the artist name 'Isavibe).
Of course, this discussion is not just exclusive to the global south. In season two PGAP spoke with proud childfree women living in the USA and Australia. We spoke with Nandita Bajaj, executive director of Population Balance, whose organisation aim is to counter systemic pro-natalism. Last but certainly not least, we spoke with Prof. Anne Poelina, Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council and a Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Owner. She brings to the table Indigenous wisdom and insight into the degrowth and population sustainability debates. The Martuwarra-Fitzroy river region is currently under much environmental stress with flash flooding in the Kimberley. Our thoughts are with all communities who live in this beautiful part of the world, human and non-human.
(Image courtesy of Isavibe).
PGAP is made by the kind support of Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). No strangers to tackling controversial issues, PGAP would like to take the opportunity to thank SPA for allowing us to take on the broader controversial issues of post-growth and degrowth with autonomy, including guests who may share different or opposing views on population. This is a good opportunity to remind that all perspectives and legacies of PGAP guests and their respective organisations are their own and may not always reflect those of PGAP and SPA.
During the interview, Isabella referred to the fantastic work of Kate Raeworth (of doughnut economics). A link to her Ted Talk can be watched here.
As always, we strongly encourage you to spread the post-growth message. Share this episode with your friends, family, colleagues and networks. Rate and review PGAP on Apple Podcasts. Contact us with your feedback, suggestions and guest recommendations.
Want to find out more about your hosts? You can find out more about Mark Allen, Holistic Activism and Town Planning Rebellion here. You can find out more about Michael Bayliss at his website here.Special Guest: Isabella Cortes Lara.

Dec 18, 2022 • 59min
Fuzzy Logic on a Fragile Planet with Rod Taylor
Rod Taylor is a multi-talented broadcaster, videographer based in Canberra. In addition to hosting the "Fuzzy Logic Science show", he is author of the 2020 book “10 Journeys on A Fragile Planet”. This extraordinary book details the personal journeys of extraordinary environmentalists and game changers.
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Haydn Washington. Haydn was a prolific and passionate writer and speaker on sustainability, degrowth, the need for population stabilisation and denialism against both climate and population realities. He wrote or edited many books. He was active in CASSE and the Ecological Economics community. The Australian Degrowth movement owes much to Haydn’s work. A tribute to Haydn can be found on Rod’s ‘Fuzzy Logic’ science show here. The link includes an interview that Rod did with Haydn at the 2013 Fenner Conference, organised by Sustainable Population Australia.
You can find out more about "10 Journeys on a Fragile Planet" here.
Want to find out more about the Fuzzy Logic Science show? You can listen via Canberra’s radio 2XX or via the Fuzzy Logic Podcast.
As a prolific and energetic volunteer for Sustainable Population Australia, Rod worked with PGAP co-host Michael Bayliss with many of SPA’s video productions, including: “Talking Heads: Choosing to have children...or not” and an interview with the Ambassador of Costa Rica, “Pura Vida Costa Rica with Ambassador Armando Vargas”. Michael owes much to Rod’s impeccable talent for camera angles and lighting.
Rod was also co-editor of "Sustainability and the New Economics" (Springer, 2022) with Steve Williams. PGAP interviewed Steve on a season 3 episode of PGAP. This volume is an invaluable addition to the post-growth economic movement.
"The path to sustainable civilisation" co-written by Rod Taylor and Mark Disendorf is set to be published in mid 2023. With the tag line - 'civilization's broken, this is how we fix it" - we can't wait for the launch!
Sustainable Population Australia has recently launched a new discussion paper, “How many Australians? The need for Earth-centric ethics” authored by Patron Dr. Paul Collins. Paul was also interviewed for a season 3 edition of PGAP here.
Find out more about co-host Mark Allen’s Holistic Activism movement here.
Support PGAP! Share this episode and others with your friends, family and networks. Rate and review us on Apple Podcast. Got any feedback or a suggestion for a future episode? Contact us here.
It has been an epic 2022 for PGAP and the hosts. Thank you for being with us through this journey and see you again in the new year.Special Guest: Rod Taylor.

Dec 1, 2022 • 1h 8min
Organic, Regenerative & Carbon Negative: Oranje Tractor Winery with Murray Gomm
For season 4 of Post-Growth Australia Podcast (PGAP), we will be highlighting some extraordinary work being done by extraordinary Western Australians, who are bucking the dominant narrative of exploitation on scale on an ecologically unique yet fragile part of the world. In this episode, we speak to Murray Gomm from Oranje Tractor, award winning organic, regenerative and carbon negative winery/small farm holding near Albany.
Oranje Tractor certainly punches above its weight. It was the winner of the Gourmet Traveller Wine, Australia's Best Cellar Door Awards 2019. Oranje Tractor Farm was the winner of ACCI's Great Southern Business Awards for Environment and Sustainability in 2019 and was a Case Study for Circular Economy WA in 2022. It has been endorsed by Charles Massy (previous PGAP guest) and visited by then Prince Charles – now king (and not YET a PGAP guest).
But how do you produce good quality wine, along with an impressive variety of fruits, nuts and vegetables, in a manner that improves soil integrity and sequesters more carbon than what is emitted? Murray Gomm shares what happens ‘behind the scenes’ of how they do it and why Oranje Tractor is capturing the interest and imagination of so many people. Murray also provides some insight into the wider regenerative movement and the agricultural zeitgeist that is slowly beginning to influence new ways of approaching farming in the Great Southern of Western Australia.
For the introduction and outro of this episode, Michael is joined by co-host Mark Allen as they pick each other’s brain on topics such as: regenerative agriculture and permaculture; progress on the Asbestos campaign (as discussed in the last episode); and the result of SPA’s 8 billion competition and the commentary from the mainstream press for 8 billion day, which was reached on the 15th of November.
Timestamp for the episode
Intro (Michael Bayliss and Mark Allen): 0:00:00 – 0:06:37
Oranje Tractor interview with Murray Gomm: 0:06:38 - 0:58:24
Outro (Michael Bayliss and Mark Allen): 0:58:25 - End
Liked this episode and the themes of regenerative agriculture? You will love our interviews with Charles Massy, Shane Simonsen, Artist as Family and David Holmgren.
Like PGAP? Rate and review us on Apple Podcast and share the podcast widely with your family friends and networks.
Have a question for us? Got any suggestions for future discussion topics or interview guests? Contact PGAP anytime on our contact page here.
Further links you may be interested in:
Independent Australia published an article co-written by Mark and Michael: “Working towards an asbestos-free future.” A more extensive version can also be read on the PGAP blog. Our various asbestos misadventures were discussed in the season 4 premiere of PGAP.
There is an excellent article, published by Carbon8, showcasing FarmHand wines, another excellent regenerative winery. Written by Elena Burger Guimaraes. Currently available to read on Facebook.
ABC has interviewed Oranje Tractor on several occasions. Examples include here and here.
SPA (who supports PGAP) announced the winners of the 8 billion writers' competition here.
You can find out more about Mark Allen's other work with Town Planning Rebellion here.
You can find out more about Michael Bayliss at his website here.Special Guest: Murray Gomm.

Nov 6, 2022 • 1h 13min
Welcome to Asbestosville! Season 4 Premiere with Michael Bayliss and Mark Allen
We can’t believe that PGAP is into its fourth season already! So, to shake things up, Michael is joined by Mark Allen from Town Planning Rebellion and Holistic Activism as the co-host for this season. You may remember Mark from his two previous guest appearances on PGAP here and here.
This first episode of the season is the culmination of a personal journey for them both. For Michael it is an opportunity to share his lived experiences in the West Australia rental market (in what has been labelled as the asbestos capital of the world) - that is too broken to care about whether the basic health and safety needs of renters are being met. Mark who shared in some of those experiences, goes on to look at how it all fits into a wider discussion on the systemic changes that are so urgently required in our town planning and housing sectors.
These experiences have also been written down in the form of a blog: “A Year in Asbestosville: A Farcical Tale of Systemic Failure.” This can be read on the PGAP blog or at Michael’s author profile on Medium. You are spoiled for choice!
In addition to our personal journeys, we also discuss some Degrowth related current affairs. For example…
Did you know that November 15th is the date that our global population will reach 8 billion people. Yay! But what does 8 billion mean for the planet, the environment and for you? Sustainable Population Australia (SPA), who support this podcast, are inviting you to answer this very question in 100 words (or less!) for your chance to win a prize. A link can be found to the competition here. The competition is open to all Australian residents who are not currently members of SPA and it is open until November 11th.
Also, how could we not talk about Liz Truss on a program about Degrowth? Before her six weeks as PM was over, Truss bemoaned the supposed anti-growth coalition. So, a growing number of people thought that this was a great idea and started one up. Mark is currently in conversation with the coalition about how best to frame the population issue in a way that prevents it from becoming overly divisive. Want to find out more? You can visit their website here.
(image found through internet image search).
Finally, we would like to give a nod to Dr. Alex Baumann, who has just released a YouTube video, “The Land Issue | A Social Science Sustainability Breakthrough". Our season 3 interview with Alex, ‘A Public Housing Revolution for Degrowth’ has become PGAP’s highest performing ever episode. Hopefully this will help bring the importance of public housing and its role in our transition to degrowth, further into public consciousness.
Perhaps we are making a difference because this year, PGAP nudged into the top 6% of global podcasts! With your help, we can get PGAP into the top 5% of listens, which we would like to think is where it belongs. You can do your bit by sharing this and other episodes of PGAP with your friends, family and networks. You can also rate and review us on Apple Podcasts so that others may be inspired to give us a go. Let’s help to build a movement of movements 😊.
You can find out more about Mark, Holistic Activism and Town Planning Rebellion here
You can find out more about Michael at his website here

Sep 2, 2022 • 1h 7min
Season 3 Finale with Charlie Mgee from Formidable Vegetable
From the very beginning, PGAP has delighted in playing music from Formidable Vegetable on our permaculture themed episodes. So, for the final episode of Season 3, host Michael Bayliss is especially thrilled to meet with Formidable Vegetable mastermind Charlie Mgee at his new eco village home at Living Waters, Denmark WA. An engaging storyteller as well as musician and performer, Charlie shares the incredible history of forming the permaculture themed band and their mission statement from the get go. We also explore the role that music place in activism and societal change and we cap it off with Charlie’s vision for a Post-Growth future.
Want to explore more of the Formidable Vegetable discography? The video for ‘No Such Thing as Waste’, the featured song for this episode, can be seen here. We also play brand new track 'Short Attention Span' from brand new album 'In Real Life' at the end of the interview. Bandcamp is the best place to go to hear all the back catalogue. Link here.
PGAP will be taking a – hopefully – short break before rejuvenating with Season 4 later this year. Just because we’re on pause doesn’t mean you have to be! Share this and other episodes of PGAP with your friends, family, colleagues and networks. Rate and review us on Apple Podcast. Contact us here to give us your feedback and especially what topics and guests you’d like to see for season 4.
In the meantime, if you enjoy the permaculture theme you may also like PGAP’s interview with David Holmgren (who Charlie lived with back in 2020) or Meg and Patrick from Artist as Family. Or you may be interested in the Tasmanian Perspectives series of interviews in season 2, including the quiet permaculture revolution of Tassie’s northern shores, or Charles Massy, regenerative farmer, from Season 3. Most of these episodes have Formidable Vegetable providing the music.
If you want to find out more about host Michael Bayliss, please head to my website here.
Otherwise, episode timestamp below and see you all in a few months! Until then, until then….
Timestamp!
0:00:00 - 0:08:13 Introduction with Michael Bayliss
0:08:13 - 0:10:59 'No Such Thing As Waste' - Formidable Vegetable, reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.
0:11:00 - 1:03:11 Interview with Charlie Mgee
1:03:11 - 1:04:05 'Short Attention Span' - Formidable Vegetable, reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.
1:04:06 - 1:06:31 Outro with Michael BaylissSpecial Guest: Charlie Mgee.

Aug 23, 2022 • 44min
Greenprints with Dr Michelle Maloney
In this episode of Post-Growth Australia, we welcome back Dr Michelle Maloney, National Convenor of Australia Earth Law Alliance (AELA), to discuss the exciting new Greenprints initiative.
Quoting from the AELA Website, Greenprints “provides a practical, step-by-step approach to help people understand both the big picture and the small details, of how to transform our societies and thrive within our ecological limit”. Greenprints “offers a process to help us find and use the very best sustainability & regenerative approaches, so we can redesign societies to thrive within our local, regional & global ecological limits.”
This episode was recorded online during severe gale force winds in Albany and severe rainfall in Brisbane, which unfortunately impacted on the resulting sound quality. Unfortunately folks, climate change even impacts our podcast listening experience!
More information can be found on the Greenprints website here. An introductory video from Michelle on Greenprints can be watched on YouTube here.
(A model of the greenprints steps reproduced here with courtesy from the Greenprints website)
Greenprints is a practical tool for community groups, workplaces and local government. If you or your community would benefit from Greenprints, please contact AELA, details on their website here.
The online seminar from Prof. Will Steffen, where I first heard about the Greenprints initiative, can be viewed on YouTube here: “Planetary Boundaries: 2022 Update with Professor Will Steffen - Greenprints Exchange Workshop Series.” Steffen also presented at the March 2022 Fenner conference which I helped to organise with Sustainable Population Australia. A video of the presentation can also be viewed on YouTube: “Can we feed all the people and not destroy the Earth?”
Dr Michelle Maloney was previously interviewed by PGAP all the way back in Season 1. One of our more popular episodes, “Reimagining an Earth Centered Economy with Michelle Maloney” can be heard here.
You may also be interested in the second season PGAP episode: “Saving the Martuwarra-Fitzroy river with Professor Anne Poelina.” Anne Poelina is a Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Owner who chairs the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council and is working alongside AELA and the Greenprints initiative.
Did you enjoy this episode? You can support PGAP by sharing this and other episodes of PGAP with your friends, family and networks. Rate and review PGAP on Apple Podcast. We are grateful for any constructive feedback or ideas for future guests and episodes, contact us here.
More information regarding PGAP host Michael Bayliss can be found at my personal website here.
All opinions from PGAP guests, including their past or present legacies, are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of PGAP or Sustainable Population Australia, who support this podcast.Special Guest: Dr Michelle Maloney.

Jul 26, 2022 • 1h 2min
Earth Overshoot Day 2022 with CASSE's Brian Czech
For the 2022 Earth Overshoot Day special of PGAP, we observe the occasion by welcoming Brian Czech, founder of the Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE). As a figurehead of the Degrowth movement, Brian makes a perfect voice of reason for this year’s Earth Overshoot Day, which falls on July 28th. In this episode, Brian reflects on the formation and history of CASSE with host Michael Bayliss and how the Steady State and Degrowth movements intersect. He shares his decades of experience and fascinating anecdotes to draw the point home that a steady state revolution is necessary to stop the endless growth paradigm from bringing earth overshoot day all the way to January 01st.
Brian Czech has a Ph.D. in renewable natural resources. He is the founding President of CASSE, and a prolific author. His scientific articles have appeared in dozens of peer-reviewed journals, dealing primarily with ecological and economic sustainability issues. His books include Supply Shock: Economic Growth at the Crossroads, released in May 2013, Shoveling Fuel for a Runaway Train, which calls for an end to uneconomic growth, and The Endangered Species Act: History, Conservation Biology, and Public Policy. Brian is also an Interdisciplinary Biologist in the national office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where he received a 2010 Star Award for outstanding performance. He has played a leading role in engaging the environmental sciences and natural resources professions in ecological economics and macroeconomic policy dialog.
Check out Earth Overshoot Day and Global Footprint Network for a rundown on Earth Overshoot Day. According to their press release for Earth Overshoot Day 2022:
“Each year, Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the entire year. Humanity currently uses 75% more than what the planet’s ecosystems can regenerate—or “1.75 Earths.” From Earth Overshoot Day until the end of the year, humanity operates on ecological deficit spending.”
Further:
“Earth Overshoot Day 2022 lands on July 28, earlier than last year. Over 50 years of global overshoot have led to a world where aggravated drought and food insecurity are compounded by unseasonably warm temperatures. As the date indicates, humanity continues to widen its annual ecological deficit two years after the pandemic-induced resource-use reductions exceptionally pushed the date back temporarily by 24 days.”
As you can see, EOD2022 is an absolute riot!
What can YOU do for Earth Overshoot Day? Glad you asked!
Use the hashtag #movethedate in your social media correspondence
Donate to Earth Overshoot so they can continue their good work
Sign the CASSE petition calling for a Steady State Economy
Support Sustainable Population Australia, the only Australian environmental NGO willing to investigate the ‘P’ part of the IPAT equation
Last but not least, share this and other episodes of PGAP and rate and review on Apple Podcast
(This list is not exhaustive of course. Reduce your consumption, embrace small families, annoy big business and property developers and TRY not to vote for one of the major political parties next time -as tempting as this may be. Basically, be the opposite of Elon Musk)
Enjoy this episode and want to down a rabbit hole of links? With PGAP’s help, you’ll never have to leave your computer screen again! (Thank us later).
The CASSE website is a great place to start!
The Steady Stater Podcast (which Brian hosts) can be found here. A fantastic program with a rotation of extremely high quality guests. I was part of that rotation not so long ago! ‘A Song For Post -Growth Australia (with Michael Bayliss) can be found here.
The first ever episode of PGAP interviewed two Australian Chapter directors of CASSE: Martin Tye and Jonathan Miller. See where we began and where PGAP (and CASSE!) have gone since.
July has been a busy month at PGAP – on July 11th we commiserated World Population Day. You may be interested in an article I wrote for the YourLifeChoices journal on behalf of Sustainable Population Australia: “Should we rethink a Big Australia for World Population Day?” (The question is rhetorical). You may also be interested in SPA’s media release.
In the interview I mentioned the EarthX interview with Brian and Degrowth expert Anitra Nelson. PGAP also interviewed Anitra Nelson back in Season 1
More information on PGAP host Michael Bayliss can be found on his website here.
_All views and opinions expressed by our guests, including references to their past and present work are totally their own and do not necessarily reflect any views or positions held by Post Growth Australia Podcast.
_Special Guest: Brian Czech.