Remembering William Catton Jr.

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Like many, I only recently heard of the passing of William Catton Jr, author of the 1982 book "Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change."

Richard Heinberg and John Michael Greer have both written excellent remembrances of Catton:

Greer writes of the one time he had the chance to meet Catton, a 15-minute conversation over dinner at the 2011 ASPO-USA conference. Since I had a hand in planning that conference in Washington DC, I'm happy to have had a small part in that meeting.

And it seems fitting to revisit Catton's talk from that conference in the video below. Through the large help of the offices of Congressman Roscoe Bartlett and Congressman Mike Honda (who were both in attendance), we were able to secure the Congressional Auditorium at the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center inside the U.S. Capitol as our venue for the first day of the conference. 

From this esteemed stage, Catton spoke of lessons learned over a long life and of visions for the future.

William R. Catton, Jr - Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Sociology, Washington State University;

An analysis of the fundamental trends underlying the Peak Oil and resource depletion issue, and the implications for the economy, energy security, and global stability.