A few weeks ago, I mentioned the funnel vs. the cylinder.  It would be hard to do a shorter version than what I put in that post, but I’ll give it a shot.

Funnel v. Cylinder “Class Notes”

• Ecological barriers = walls.
• We think we’re in a cylinder.
• Trying to avoid hitting the walls, invent our way into a wider cylinder.
• Actually in a funnel.  Forces acting to push the walls inward = population growth, market demand, positive feedback loops, resource availability, etc.

So if we accept that we are in a funnel and not a cylinder, the rational response changes.  In a cylinder, it might be rational to edge away from the walls, try to nudge them outwards, or even try to decrease our speed so that we don’t hit the walls quite as hard.  In the funnel, none of these responses make sense.  Because ecological systems are complex, we don’t know exactly how quickly the walls of the funnel are sloping inward.  Therefore, the only rational response in the funnel (or the only one I see – any others?) is to move as quickly as possible towards the center.

In other words, if you’re running from an avalanche, you don’t try to calculate the exact speed of movement that will put you just out of reach of the debris.  You just haul ass and hope you make it.

TSCA in the Funnel

Congress is currently in the process of reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Take a look around you.  From the computer on which you’re reading this post to the glaze on your coffee mug to the clothes that you’re wearing, you are probably surrounded by chemicals.  It may not be particularly reassuring that TSCA has been around in its present form since 1976.  A lot has changed since 1976.  (But My Little Ponies are back.  And composed of chemicals.)

(Random Sidenote:  The TSCA is sometimes referred to as “TOSCA.”  Once upon a time, I wanted to go to Julliard. Who am I kidding?  I still want to go to Julliard.  But anyways, I took a lot of voice lessons and had season tickets to the opera.  Tosca is still one of my favorite operas, which has weirdly translated over into a fond affection for the Toxic Substances Control Act, or at least its name.  I’m glad Congress is taking a look at reforming TSCA – it needs it – but I’ll miss the name.)

I’m sensitive to many chemicals.  By sensitive, I mean I burst into hives and want to rip the skin from my body.  No fun.  Why am I telling you about my hives?  Because it’s a constant reminder that in addition to the obvious environmental ramifications, there are human health issues at stake with TSCA as well.  Human health issues and environmental issues are similar in that we often don’t identify them until they are widespread.  And until it’s too late to fix them.  We find ourselves in a continual game of catch-up, with our health and our planet at stake.

I can’t help but wonder how TSCA and the TSCA reform efforts would look different if our political leaders were operating within a funnel paradigm rather than a cylinder.  What would it look like if they designed a bill to move us rapidly towards the mouth of the funnel rather than playing chicken with the walls of the cylinder?

Photo borrowed from The Natural Step framework.

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Here’s a nice little clip of Rob Hopkins at TED, speaking about the Transition Initiative, peak oil, climate change, and cultural narrative.  For those interested but not well-versed in Transition, it’s a really nice intro.

In the video, Hopkins mentions the idea of “running into a wall” in terms of peak oil and climate change.  He showed a picture of a truck crashing into a brick wall.  (Some days I feel like that.  Not the world, just me.  But that’s another story.)

My Intro to Sustainable Engineering class calls this concept the “illusion of the cylinder.” We (society, individuals, corporations, etc.) are traveling through a cylinder, the walls of which represent our limitations – resources, ecosystems, etc.  We are trying to avoid hitting the walls, tweaking systems based on “as much as possible.”  Limit our impact as much as possible.  Reduce consumption as much as possible.  Minimize pollution as much as possible.  As long as we can either keep ourselves from hitting the walls or, as we have done in the past, push the walls outward through technological innovation, we will be okay.

Except that according to my class (and Rob Hopkins, a bunch of climate scientists, sustainability activists, environmentalists… the list goes on), we’re not really in a cylinder.  We’re in a funnel.  The walls of the funnel are closing in on us, propelled by positive feedback loops in ecosystems, population growth, market pressure, resource availability, etc.  As the funnel narrows, our options are increasingly limited and the time frame for consideration, discussion, debate, and action grows shorter.  We have to start moving, and fast.

By the way, there’s a massive oil spill going on right now…

Are we in a cylinder?  Are we in a funnel?  Or are we in a truck with failed brakes, hurtling towards a brick wall?  Discuss.

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