Peaked for the United States, which represents something like 25% of world economic activity. That's also accounted for the in the book. You're right about certain long-lived problems like CO2 because of how long it takes them to clear from the environment, but that doesn't mean that it isn't good news that we've decreased our consumption/pollution of a particular resource. It's certainly better than continuing to increase demand. The farmland one is a great example: I defy you to explain to me how it isn't good news that the amount of farmland in the United States has decreased by an area equivalent in size to the state of Washington. Blind optimism is indeed stupid, but willful pessimism is equally stupid.

> I defy you to explain to me how it isn't good news that the amount of farmland in the United States has decreased by an area equivalent in size to the state of Washington.

It's not bad per say but it's a drop in the bucket, they import and export more than every before, which means insane amount of pollution due to the shipping industry, this alone would defeat everything else they attempt: https://container-xchange.com/blog/shipping-emissions/

Out of sight out of mind I guess...

Zoom out, look at the big picture, we shouldn't stop at borders but look at the global scale. France banning plastic bags when China builds so many coal power plants is no more than virtue signalling. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-coal-idUSKBN2A308U