Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Donella Meadows

Quote by Donella Meadows

“Why is our (US) government the only one in the civilized world with a stupid, short-term energy policy? Why do our elected officials consider a European or Japanese-type energy tax not only unpassable but undiscussable?”

Quote by Donella Meadows

Author

Donella Meadows
Donella Meadows

Donella Meadows was an American environmental writer and systems thinker, recognized for her significant contributions to the field of environmental sustainability and systems dynamics. She was a senior associate at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-founded the Sustainability Institute. Meadows is best known for her book 'The Limits to Growth', which she co-authored with Dennis Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III. more

You May Also Like

“The first commandment of economics is: Grow. Grow forever. Companies get bigger. National economies need to swell by a certain percent each year. People should want more, make more, earn more, spend more - ever more. The first commandment of the Earth is: enough. Just so much and no more. Just so much soil. Just so much water. Just so much sunshine. Everything born of the Earth grows to its appropriate size and then stops.”

“The long fight to save wild beauty represents democracy at its best. It requires citizens to practice the hardest of virtues--self-restraint. Why cannot I take as many trout as I want from a stream? Why cannot I bring home from the woods a rare wildflower? Because if I do, everybody in this democracy should be able to do the same. My act will be multiplied endlessly. To provide protection for wildlife and wild beauty, everyone has to deny himself proportionately. Special privilege and conservation are ever at odds.”