Putting the Ecch in "Eco-Economics"

Over at the continually interesting Spiked, Daniel Ben-Ami, author the invaluable 2001 tome Cowardly Capitalism: The Myth of the Global Financial Casino, throws a flurry of haymakers in the direction of anti-growth environmentalists:

There is good reason why environmentalists are coy about attacking growth directly. For they realise that the benefits of economic growth—including better living standards, better health and greater longevity—are enormously popular with the public. Few individuals are likely to welcome a sustained cut in their standard of living.

The implementation of environmentalist economics means consigning most of the world's inhabitants to poverty. Even in the developed world there is still a long way to go before material want can be abolished. In the third world the consequences of 'sustainable development', holding back economic growth, are even starker.

Whole thing here.