[Sustain-dev] Confluence of Gender Balance and Energy Balance

[Luis Gutierrez]

This article may be of interest and I would be delighted to get some 
feedback from you:

*The Confluence of Gender Balance and Energy Balance*
Mother Pelican, Volume 7, Number 9, September 2011
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv07n09page1.html

Summary

Energy balance is a non-negotiable requirement for a sustainable 
economy. Likewise, gender equality is crucial for a civilized transition 
to sustainability. That humanity must transition from fossil fuels to 
clean energy (and, more generally, from consumerism to sustainability) 
is no longer in doubt. The question now is whether the transition will 
be violent or peaceful - or at least civilized. It is argued that 
fostering gender balance in all roles of responsibility and authority is 
the best way to foster a civilized transition. Gender imbalance, with 
only (or even mostly) men making all key policy decisions, is 
biologically and psychologically bound to perpetuate the violence-prone 
patriarchal mentality of control and domination.

Most secular institutions worldwide already know by experience that 
gender balance mitigates violence and enhances capabilities for human 
development. Religious institutions that remain attached to 
theologically baseless patriarchal practices are doing a disservice to 
humanity by reinforcing resistance to gender equality and balance. The 
joint and fair resolution of gender balance and energy balance issues, 
which not insignificantly are emerging simultaneously at this point in 
human history, offers the best hope for a civilized transition to a 
sustainable world animated by solidarity, peace, and justice. It also 
offers the best hope for continuing progress in integral human development.

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*Mother Pelican* is an interdisciplinary journal at the intersection of 
ecology, economics, psychology, technology management, gender equality, 
sociology of religion, and sustainability science and engineering.

Please forward this notice to friends and colleagues who might be 
interested.

Sincerely,
Luis

Luis T. Gutiérrez, PhD, PE
The Pelican Web of Solidarity and Sustainability
Mother Pelican: A Journal of Sustainable Human Development
http://pelicanweb.org