Where Have All the Resources Gone?
Posted on March 30, 2005
In a macabre counterpoint to the ANWR drilling disaster, The Guardian reports that two-thirds of world's resources are used up.
The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries--some of them world leaders in their fields--today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.So, to sum up: we've got too many people who are using up all the fresh water, we're destroying the forests which are the lungs of the planet, we're overfishing the oceans when we're not dumping toxic waste in them and--oh yeah-- a year or so ago the Pentagon issued a report saying that global warming was a greater danger to Americans than terrorism.The study contains what its authors call "a stark warning" for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.
"Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it says.
In the 70's people used to talk about population control. But that's a non-starter in today's America, where there's a growing movement by pharmacists to refuse to give women their lawfully-prescribed birth control prescriptions. A number of states actually are passing so-called "conscience laws" that allow pharmacists to refuse women access to their prescriptions that offend the pharmacist's moral or religious beliefs. So much for women's rights.