It is Earth Day tomorrow (BTW: on Monday, PBS aired a great American Experience program on the history of Earth Day and the environmental movement in the U.S., http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/earthdays/).
With Earth Day in mind, I saw a very good article in yesterday’s NYT that presents “7 New Rules [for the environmentalist] to Live By’:
1. It's the climate, stupid.
2. You can never not do just one thing.
3. “Let them eat organic” is not a global option.
4. Frankenfood, like Frankenstein, is fiction.
5. “Green” energy hasn't done much for greenery -- or anything else.
6. “New Nukes” is the new “No Nukes.”
7. We are as gods and have to get good at it.
The author makes insightful, scientifically-grounded arguments with each point that are designed as reality checks for the more idealistic green advocates. Regarding organic food, for example, the author states that:
“For affluent humans in industrialized countries, organic food is pretty much a harmless luxury. Although there's no convincing evidence that the food is any healthier or more nutritious than other food, if that label makes you feel healthier and more virtuous, then you can justify the extra cost. But most people in the world are not affluent, and their food budgets are limited. If they're convinced by green marketers that they need to choose higher-priced organic produce, they and their children are liable to end up eating fewer fruits and vegetables.”
Stewart Brand’s work is referenced throughout (he of the 10,000 year clock, http://www.longnow.org/clock/) and it is his quote that is #7 on the list—essentially a call for humans to master the natural environment or perish as a result of what we have done to it:
“Technological progress, not nostalgia or asceticism, is the only reliable way for greens’ visions of “sustainability” to be sustained. Wilderness and wildlife can be preserved only if the world's farmers have the best tools to feed everyone on the least amount of land. Solar power will be widely adopted only if there are breakthroughs that make it more efficient. Greenhouse gases will keep accumulating unless engineers build economical sources of low-carbon energy or develop techniques for sequestering carbon. And if those advances aren't enough to stop global warming, we'll want new tools for directly engineering the climate.”
Take care
DavidBill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
For Earth Day, 7 New Rules to Live By
By JOHN TIERNEY1195 words
20 April 2010
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/science/20tier.html
