Originally Posted by velotimbe
Being sustainable is an ideal that is not truly attainable in developed countries.
.... So yes, it does mean back to stone-age.
It certainly doesn't. Sustainable means sustainable, not primitive. It's true we're burning through our non-renewable resources at an unsustainable rate, and the end of that will be forced on us, but the earth also has plenty of renewable resources. Stone age people didn't have solar panels or tidal generators or the technology to build 100m tall windmills. They didn't understand the scientific principles underlying organic agriculture and crop and field rotation, and practised them by default, not design. We can do a lot to harness renewable energy and protect our biosphere using skills that they had no knowledge of. The challenge is putting our technology and science to work to protect vital resources instead of exploit them. It will require a global effort at scaling down our ridiculously expensive lifestyles, and it will happen because we have no choice. The only question is whether it will be a hard transition, or an apocalyptic one.