Das 1950er Syndrom Die Epochenschwelle der Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehung zwischen Industriegesellschaft und Konsumgesellschaft

Abstract

What are the historical roots of our environmental problems? Against the widely held opinion which considers the transition from renewable to non-renewable resources in the industrial revolution to be fundamental in this respect, it is argued that the transition from coal to cheap petroleum from the 1950's was far more decisive. The classical coal-based industrial society in Europe was rather sustainable compared to the petroleum-based consumer society today, though the existence of islands of pollution in areas of heavy industry should not be overlooked. Before the 1950's, agricultural production was mainly powered by biomass, urbanization was limited to areas opened up by public transportation, and food was bought in small retail shops within walking distance. The tradition of agricultural societies to curb consumption, to avoid the waste of energy and to recycle waste material was still alive. After 1950 Western Europe became a “Fordist” consumer society within two decades following the example of the United States of America. This involved the mechanization of housework, the mushroom growth of residential areas in the suburbs, and the rapid spread of automobiles: The large surplus of energy needed to sustain the rise of consumer societies outside the USA was mainly imported from the abundant oil-fields in the Gulf region, which had been discovered during World War Two. The energy transition led to a surge of pollution and environmental degradation that is traced back at the global level. The term of “1950 Syndrom” was coined to denote the entirety of these changes. In the coal-based economies the price of energy had risen with the average cost of life, because underground coal mining is labour-intensive. As a consequence it was profitable to steadily improve the energy efficiency in the production of goods and services. Due to the natural abundance of Middle East oil-fields, the low labour-intensity of petroleum production, and concessions favourable to multinational oil companies the price of energy declined in the long term in relationship to wages and to the average cost of life. This shift led to the erosion of energy-saving standards of production and consumption, it promoted a road-oriented reallocation of economic activities and residential patterns as well as long-distance leisure mobility. The constellation of interests resulting from this situation has blocked any attempts to make the life-style of Western societies more sustainable so far.