Episode 16: Beyond Electric Cars and Renewable Energy The Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Podcast

In this episode, Sarah and Sheri talk about why renewable energy and electric cars and green growth won’t save us – and how these things are linked to the same extractive, dominating worldview of the Doctrine of Discovery.


For more information:



Link to Jason Hickel’s book Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World - https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more
Link to Jason Hickel’s article, “Degrowth is About Global Justice” - https://www.resilience.org/stories/2022-01-07/degrowth-is-about-global-justice/?mc_cid=cf9bf47bad&mc_eid=85fe19af5d
See chapters 7 and 8 of Sarah’s book, This Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery for more information on extraction and the impact it has on Indigenous communities. - https://www.mennomedia.org/9781513808291/the-land-is-not-empty/
See this article about exponential growth and how our ignorance of it causes problems from how we deal with COVID to the climate crisis. - https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/07/16/Exponential-Growth-Proving-Lethal/
This video talks about the difficulty of electrifying all sources of transportation, such as rail, shipping and air. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqSV06Bxcm8
This article talks about the growing scarcity of sand, which is the world’s most consumed raw material after water. - https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/sand-shortage-the-world-is-running-out-of-a-crucial-commodity.html
See this article for information about the San Carlos Apache’s fight to save Oak Flat from copper mining. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/04/12/oak-flat-apache-sacred-land/
This article talks about the “decoupling delusion” – that is, decoupling GDP growth from resource and energy use. - https://theconversation.com/the-decoupling-delusion-rethinking-growth-and-sustainability-71996