TANSTAAFL is Danish for “no deal”: What we really got out of Copenhagen.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like if we lived on the moon? On such a barren and lifeless rock, many of the things we take for granted – air, water, trees – would be imported and manufactured goods. Instead of exploiting them, we would almost certainly be paying for them. In his science fiction classic The Moon is Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein has a term for this: TANSTAAFL. It stands stand for There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. In his lunar cities of the future, even air is paid for.

Life mirrors art.

The most definitive message out of the UN’s two-week three-ring circus in Copenhagen is that if we want these things, we’re going to have to pay for them. But unfortunately, our institutions have been operating as if they are free for a long time. The value of trees as air scrubbers, carbon holders, and fresh water producers has never been factored into the cost of cutting them down, or a fair price to save them. The ecological impact of extracting and burning coal and oil is seldom considered as part of their true cost as an energy source. The environmental cost of garbage, beef, cars, bottled water, and a million other man-made items is not reflected in what we pay to consume them.

The concept of doing so is called natural capitalism. It’s not socialism or tree hugging, it is simply seeing the world’s economy as connected to the larger economy of natural resources and ecosystem services that sustain us, and placing appropriate value on the ecological commons. Another way to look at it is as achieving “sustainable resource use”; a lifecycle based perspective on growth, production, and consumption. As long as we are tethered to this one tiny planet, it is the only long term model that will work.

So what good came out of Copenhagen? Acknowledgment of TANSTAAFL – that there ain’t a free lunch. While no binding agreements were signed, there was explicit consensus reached (“The Copenhagen Accord”) that the current carbon and methane intensive model of global capitalism has a cost, and that it’s time to make a payment. Representatives from virtually every UN member country including the US, China, India, Brazil, and the EU members agreed that we need to come up with financial models to save rainforests, invest in cleaner renewable energy sources, consume less, and think holistically about how we achieve growth, wealth creation and a future world that is sustainable and socially just.

The bickering is all about who is going to pay for it, and of course the countries with the biggest wallets and the biggest bills are calling the shots. Did anyone really expect the Maldives to successfully set the agenda?

So while progress towards a binding solution to climate change was limited, at least the problem is now framed, and that’s something positive we can take out of what otherwise would be considered a complete fiasco.

Unlike the moon, the earth is a generous and forgiving mistress. But The era of the free lunch is over.

You can download the Copenhagen Accord at this link (courtesy of the Washington Post.)

Read more: climate change, copenhagen, global warming, redd

Photo copyright http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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autla l.

7:14PM PST on Jan 9, 2010

We need a solution like they had in earlier generations.

send a green star

Linda M.

12:10AM PST on Jan 4, 2010

thanks

Past Member .

6:07PM PST on Dec 30, 2009

Think about this, we just had Copenhagen and what did we see the good and the great coming to save the world in their big jets and big cars. President Barack Obama turn up to the meeting, to get to the meeting he used, three helicopters, two Air Force One's (ones is a back up), 1 C-5A/B Galaxy to take the cars, 14 cars, two being all-new custom-made £250k Cadillac limousine (ones is a back up) and over 100 people. So good to see the USA President doing his bit to help the world reduce carbon emission.

Megan S.

4:43AM PST on Dec 30, 2009

We don't usually use them, but I m going tostart bringing a couple wioth me when I go shopping with my parents, my dad never uses them, and my mom has used them maybe twice

pierluigi b.

2:58AM PST on Dec 29, 2009

so sad...

Teresa W.

9:05AM PST on Dec 28, 2009

Let's hope more progress will be made in the future.

Nicole C.

8:13PM PST on Dec 23, 2009

I hate to say it, but we already knew what the problem was before Copenhagen, and wasting two weeks (and one hell of a carbon footprint) just to reiterate what we already know was a total waste. It's hard for me to look at what (didn't) happen at Copenhagen and still find something to feel optimistic about.

Roma S.

1:16PM PST on Dec 22, 2009

well i think the Copenhagen summit is atleast a start.

its going to take alot more then a group of delegate discussing climate change
we as people have to contribute and work together optimism and encourage others for a better future :)

save the PENGUINS :)

Charles L.

11:53AM PST on Dec 22, 2009

"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water." Benjamin Franklin

Frances C.

11:02AM PST on Dec 22, 2009

A sustainable solution to the global warming crisis must include the restoration of the "commons." Communities of people can make responsible use of public space, air, water, etc. They have done so for centuries. Don't buy the "free rider" argument that corporatists put out there. They are the only free riders.