Bioregional ecological economics: a prescription for health:
by David Haenke

Part 7 of Ecological Economics and Bioregionalism, a cornerstone document for creating a regenerative economy.

I have characterized our present economic modalities as the
prime cause of kind of sickness -- cancerous in nature -- inflicting the Earth and all its life with what is, on our present course, terminal entropy. Below I will describe what I characterize as a "prescription for health": bioregional ecological economics.

"Eco-economics" means bioregionally-scaled economies designed
on the basis of ecological principles. It means running an
economy the way nature runs a forest. Ecological principles
mandate decentralization, deconcentration, and regionalization of
our economic systems. As much as possible, there must be local
production, consumption, and full-scale recycling, drawing from
local resources. It further mandates that no economic activity
be allowed that is destructive or compromising to the ecological
integrity of the region within which it takes place

Under bioregional economics," capital and resources are
cycled within the region. As little as possible is allowed to
"leak out." Presently macro-economic activity creates a continual
hemorrhaging from localities, which are bled dry of capital,
energy, resources, people, etc. This is true in every country on
Earth, even within the first world nations.

Under bioregional economics, the consumer society must become
the producer-conserver society, where the real work for people
becomes economic and political empowerment through each home,
family, community, and region producing as many of its own basic
requirements, using ecological technologies, as possible. This
considerably disintermediates the need for money, effectively
beginning the necessary demonetization of human life.

Instead of working a meaningless job to get the money to
buy necessities, part of our real work becomes the efficient
production or more direct involvement (such as through working
membership in cooperatives) in procurement of these things
ourselves. This bypasses the circuitous, wasteful, and
entropic formation, procurement, and expenditure of capital
to do the same thing. Thus the formal "work week" wherein we
labor for money can drop considerably, perhaps to 20 hours or
less. Of course for some significant part of the rest of the working
week we would be laboring to more directly produce some of
what we formerly used money to buy.

This eco-economy runs as much as possible on solar energy,
just as ecosystems run entirely on solar gain. We make
judicious use of "capital" resources such as fossil fuels,
which are used according to their most efficient application,
as in the "soft energy path" ideas of Amory Lovins.

Eco-economics means bringing the economy home, and embedding
it cooperatively in the web of life of our bioregions.


To summarize, the basic bioregional economic prescription
is, to the greatest extent possible:

* Participants in, invest in, and support local, ecologically-
responsible production, by locally owned, operated, and
controlled enterprises.

* Buy, trade, consume locally and bioregionally-produced goods
and services.

* Work to strengthen the local and bioregional economy.

* Keep resources, capital, energy at home: plug leaks.

* Use solar energy, and other "renewable" energies and resources.

* Radically efficient use of non-renewables.

* Intense conservation and efficiency in all sectors.

* Full scale--90-100 percent recycling done by local and biore-
gional enterprises.

* Pay true, ecologically-audited costs: internalize "externalities."

* (Work toward) formal or informal local and bioregional trading
system or currency.

* Support a humane and socially responsible economy.

* Don't support business that pollute or destroy the ecology.

* Conversely, whenever possible, avoid buying from national
or multinational-scale corporations, their subsidiaries, or
state-owned enterprises. Each locality, region, bioregion, or
state would establish an up-to-date database identifying what is
being sold, and the ownership is of the company selling a given
product in their territory. This information would be furnished
to the public so that they can choose the local and regional
alternative where possible. Ongoing development of economic
alternatives to nationals and transnationals would be a focus of
each bioregion.