Another great essay Anna. Are you sure it was not you who got a Ph.D. in Ecological Economics? The only fly I see in the degrowth ointment is that even if the US got by on less of the lion share of the world's resources, we are asking the rest of the world to stop developing, or develop sustainably (which is sort of an oxymoron). It might be possible, but not if we leave the global financial systems intact. Recall what Dennis Meadows (of the Limits to Growth fame) said: "We will never create sustainability while immersed in the present financial system. There is no tax, or interest rate, or disclosure requirement that can overcome the many ways the current money system blocks sustainability".