Learn how humanity can exercise collective self-restraint to navigate the social and environmental crises of the 21st century. The world is in overshoot.
The optimum power principle can be defined as the tendency of natural and human systems to sacrifice some measure of power in the present, so as to maximize power over a longer period of time.
Over the 19th and 20th centuries physical power, social power, and economies grew explosively. The main cause was humanity’s exploitation of fossil fuels.
Richard Heinberg, renowned energy and sustainability expert, explores the development of social power – simply defined as the ability to get other people to do something.