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.