Ep 9 | Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich: “Was the Population Bomb Defused?”
On this episode, we meet with Professor Emeritus of Population Studies at Stanford University and author of The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich.
Ehrlich discusses what has happened with the human population situation in the decades since he published The Population Bomb. Why has humanity not responded to our long-term sustainability challenges? How would Ehrlich frame contemporary discussions about population?
In a wide-ranging conversation spanning stories about his appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to how the environmental movement merged with corporate greenwashing, Ehrlich provides colorful and interesting commentary on the human predicament.
About Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich is the Bing Professor Emeritus of Population Studies at Stanford University and author of many books, including The Population Bomb.
Show Notes & Links to Learn More
Download transcript01:15 – Paul Ehrlich information and works
02:01 – The Population Bomb
02:21 – Population growth rate over time
03:11 – Johnny Carson
04:05 – Commonwealth club and Paul’s episode
05:53 – Genuine Progress Indicator
06:55 – Ecological polymath
07:15 – John Holdren
07:19 – IPAT equation
08:40 – Environmental impact of a person correlates with wealth
10:11 – 80-90% of carbon emissions in the world are by the top 10-15% wealthiest people
12:20 – The Race Bomb (co-authored with Shirley Feldman)
12:57 – Overshoot
13:56 – Tony Barnosky paper on 96% of biomass being humans and livestock
14:32 – 50% of nitrogen in our bodies comes from Haber-Bosch cycle
15:18 – Current 6th mass extinction event
16:46 – Energy Scientific Publications | Anthony D. Barnosky
17:53 – Sherwood Rowland and ozone depletion
18:58 – Norman Myers on extinction
21:37 – Number of malnourished people and child mortality
22:15 – Green Revolution
22:57 – Energy is the currency of life and this also applies to humans
23:15 – Kleiber’s law
23:39 – Thomas Malthus
24:22 – Energy surplus
24:36 – Economy’s imperative to grow and population
25:19 – Nuclear war risk
26:51 – Economics ‘circular flow model’
27:08 – We have over financialized the human experience
28:25 – Markets have long been a part of history
29:43 – Thorstein Veblen and Veblen Goods
29:23 – Conspicuous Consumption
30:17 – E.O. Wilson
31:06 – Silent Spring Rachel Carson
33:29 – The Social Conquest of Earth E.O. Wilson
34:49 – Changing age structure with slowed growth
35:41 – Humans have trouble with long term planning
36:44 – Proprioceptors
38:03 – Pseudo kin/Fictive-kin
39:36 – Women’s rights can reduce population humanely
41:17 – Our real history goes back 300,000 years
41:31 – Hunter gatherer groups were much more egalitarian
42:02 – Australian aboriginal paintings
43:15 – We have difficulty conceptualizing large numbers
44:14 – Greenwashing
44:41 – How does debt relate to ecology
46:54 – Second law of thermodynamics
47:15 – Superorganism
47:34 – Hoover institution
48:55 – Universities as mechanisms to help fight wars
49:45 – Criticisms of overpopulation theories
50:11 – Tucker Carlson
52:53 – Are borders ethical?
54:51 – De-development
55:22 – Niger-delta birth rate
56:48 – Population numbers do not necessarily represent strength
57:55 – Advance policy
59:25 – Avoiding a Ghastly Future
1:00:42 – Humans are highly social animals
1:01:32 – No one can be a completely self made millionaire
1:02:44 – The United States has used more hydrocarbons than any other country
1:02:54 – Garrett Hardin – ecolate
1:03:41 – Partha Dasgupta
1:07:45 – Pope Francis
1:08:35 – We can change consumption when incentivized
1:09:30 – One Earth Lifestyles
1:09:40 – We are creatures of our cultures
1:10:35 – US has 4% of the world population
1:10:48 – US holds 50% of the world’s medical prescriptions
1:11:39 – Rex Tugwell
1:13:21 – Indigenous North Americans’ ethics and social organization
