Economic decline turns warming---tanks alternative energy

In a broader sense, it is unlikely that even ecological concerns can be addressed by degrowth as illustrated in Fig. 1. First, the environmental issues would be less important during the economic implosion, which could delay the development of sustainable alternative energy. Second, while the environmental picture could temporarily improve during the economic implosion, the carrying capacity will eventually be exceeded yet again as the economic growth resumes, as we illustrate in Fig. 2. Third, given that crude oil is an investable asset, it is likely that the price of crude oil would correct during the implosion due to deleveraging, deflation, and the decrease in demand for energy, which are likely to be only temporarily positive for ecological concerns. However, the temporary lower crude oil prices would also put climate change issues on the backburner, and thus, limit the interest in development of alternative energy projects. Thus, in the long run, the economic implosion would be a net negative for ecological concerns. As soon as the economy rebounds, energy consumption growth would resume and eventually exceed the carrying capacity, this time perhaps even more damaging for the environment due to the significantly delayed development of effective alternative energy sources.