Steve Hallett Quotes

A society that supports a wealthy few at the expense of the larger population is unlikely to persist.

Millions are going to die of starvation and malnutrition... Food production will decline and food prices will rise when diesel (oil) and fertilizer (natural gas) become prohibitively expensive. The disastrous depletion of soil and water resources will become abundantly clear when we cannot afford to prop up production artificially.

Cellular systems, ecosystems, and civilizations are, at base, thermodynamic systems. ...The system uses energy, eventually releasing it as useless heat. ...there is one vital difference between natural systems and human systems: natural systems receive a fixed energy input that never varies. If we could set a strict limit on energy use, we could build a human system that is just as stable as an ecosystem.

Nothing can sustain a system that is in overshoot... Resiliance... is not the strength to hold back the tide, but the strength to bend without breading as the tide inevitably rushes in.

America does not have to rely on vast volumes of oil and natural gas to make food. ...It has to get smarter. Dedicated, hard-working, ethical, and ingenious farmers ...show us it can be done. ...Another very promising trend in many countries is the reemergence of urban agriculture, community gardens, and backyard gardens.

We should stop subsidizing the fossil-fuel industries and instead provide subsidies for local and community energy projects.

New technologies will not liberate us. Even if they do materialize they will not reduce our consumption of resources. They will not reduce our demand for energy. They will not diminish our impacts on the climate. And they will not bring about a better world.

Decentralization will prevent shocks from spreading throughout the system, like firebreaks in the forest.

We don't know exactly when out fossil fuels will run out... but by the end of the century, our oil and natural gas supplies will be virtually non-existent, and limited coal supplies will be restricted to only a handful of countries. ...We are at the peak of a remarkable two-hundred-year glitch in the history of civilization and are about to embark on the descent. The coming changes will be earth-shattering.

I find it hard to listen to fervent Republicans. Put the combined wisdom and honesty of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and a dozen others on the back of a postcard with a thick marker pen and you'll still have plenty of room for the address and stamp.

Human systems always bring about their own demise... Natural systems... do not destroy themselves.

You can feed a family on a quarter-acre lot if it comes down to it.

I encourage people to look into the Transition Network.

We seem to have quite a few problems: global climate change, peak oil, overpopulation, collapsing fisheries, desertification, wealth inequality, species extinctions, freshwater shortages, hapless governments, deforestation, disease epidemics, and agricultural failures top the list. ...our civilizations have been in similar situations before ...a long list of civilizations from the Maya to the Romans all collapsed. The precedent is set...

Our government has been hijacked by big business.