Page 4 RAIN Nov 197 5 Is people flying all agross the country to a conference that costs $32 S, held at a p'osh, $100/day luxury resort, to listen to people read from papers that have already .been printed a part of the problem or the solution? • The Lin:iits to Growth '7 5 Conference held last month in Houston was some of both-an interesting scan on how far people's heads have moved, a chance to get together with a lot of fine peoplebut all buried in·a diet of monotonous intellectual verbosity, general absence of answers and action, and a conference run'and located in a fashion that denied any real comprehension of our problems. Documentation from many sources • demonstrated that our present patt~rns can't continue-in food, energy, materials, capital, industrial production or health. Yet most dialogue was concerned with how long we can wait to change rather than how we can act NOW to a~low the greatest ease and time ·to change. _ . There was a general admission that political and social events rather than technical limits are provjng to be the catalytic caus~s of change. The grow,ing refusal of people-whether indiv.idual factory workers or the OPEC nationsto accept continuation of present in- • equities of wealth and power is alrea,dy causing major changes such as the redistribution of oil profits from consuming countries to producing countries. _ Few participants seemed aware that the local changes that they were proposing trying ro accomplish through cumbersqme and expensive governmental and managerial processes are already happening without their aid-conservation of energy, insulation, changed lifestyles, taking of.power and responsibiliLimits to Gross ty by individuals and local communities. 'The poor, the Third World, minorities, and people actively making changes were visibly absent. If the whole event could be looked at ·as an attempt by the rich and powerful "managers of society" to show that they are capable of understanding and resolving our current problems, it was a dismal failure. Yet there were a number of significant individual moments. ~ Many business people we.re sincerely trying to change-to find more appropriate products and processes. Almost everyone seemed to accept the need for fundamental changes. E. F. Schumacher's real and demonstrated actions in developing humanely viable economics, technology and insights into what DOES work under our 'emerging·conditions was a high point of the conference, as . was the presentation by Amory Lovins concerning ethical and social limits to energy \lse. Herman Daly, Hazel Henderson, John Todd, Jean Houston, Jahangir Amouzegar, all made significant contributic;ms to raising _the awareness of the participants. Yet here, as elsewhere, the small and personal exchanges amo'ng people outside the formal, visible., and presumably important s~ructure seemed to add ·up to more progress and value than the major speeches. Several interesting papers were prepared either for the presentations or for the accompanying competition. Eventually to be printed in conference pro- •ceedings, copies of the papers are probably available from the authors: "Some Limits to Ene~gy Conversion" Amory Lovins 11 Village Close Belsize Lane London, NW3 England A careful survey of general limits to energy use, limits t9 centraFzed electrification, limits to nuclear fission technology, and ethical, social and capital limits to present patterns. "Energy, Growth and Altruism,t Bruce Hannon 1208 W. Union St. Champaign, IL 61820 Winner of the $10,000 first prize.in.the competition. Quantitative exploration· of energy/employment interactions, effects of reduced consumption and what happens when those savings are spent. Raises interesting questions on strategies for change. "International Migration as an Obstacle to Achieving World Stability" John H. Tanton Rt. 4, Box 272 Petoskey,.MI 49770 Discusses economic and social effects of past immigration policies that encouraged expropriation of skilled and trained third world people by wealthy nations. Explores limiting of migration as essential mechanism to deveiopment of responsibility for local developments. "Towards a Primary Lifestyle" Robert Allen International Union for the Conservation of Nature 1110 Morges Switzerland Documentation of numerous mechanisms in traditional equilibrium cultures that limited growth without reaching physical limits. • (T.B.)
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