permaculture

["J. Kolenovsky" <garden@hal-pc.org>]

After re-reading Tom's synopsis, I remembered reading somewhere in the
last month that when America has a shortage or a problem or an anchor
around her neck, she will simply OUT-PRODUCE anything around in order to
mask the problem. Some more of that perpetual growth, Tom? And then with
those products produced, there will be massive amounts of energy used in
the production and energy used in the wasteful disposal of those said
products. What happened to the 3 R's that teachers pushed in the 90"s?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I beat the hell out of Kroger about their
employess having a crappy attitude about recycling paper bags.

Global warming  is being understood as something we will solve through
some sort of 'technology' and by simply altering our consumer choices to
'greener' ones. Yeah, right. We need to educate and head this one off at
the pass before they sneak thru.

Sometimes I think people's thinking is finite.

J
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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:28:22 -0400
From: Tom Gorman <tom@honeychrome.com>
Subject: Re: [permaculture] GLOBAL WARMING:- A different 'take' on it
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <DA512805-EA75-412E-9165-8FE5DBFD24CD@honeychrome.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

In many ways "global warming" and whatever its causes, possible  
solutions, etc. etc. is beside the point.  Whether global warming is  
happening or not, the broader (and related) issues of finite resource  
depletion and a population growth that has overshot the renewable  
carrying capacity of what is a limited system (the planet, that is)  
are to my mind far more important to have people fundamentally  
understand.  Global warming is already being used as a marketing  
'opportunity,' and though more and more people are becoming aware and  
accepting of it's reality, it is being understood as something we  
will solve through some sort of 'technology' and by simply altering  
our consumer choices to 'greener' ones.  Without understanding the  
mathematics of growth and a system of limited resources there won't  
be acceptance of the unavoidable conclusion that the solution to our  
problems is "less."  Less consumption, less economic activity, less  
people, less travel, etc.  Even if global warming wasn't an issue at  
all we'd still be coming up against all the same fundamental problems  
of overpopulation, environmental poisoning, resource depletion.   
Personally I don't see how the tools of our current global system of  
activity and interaction are possibly going to even attempt to solve  
the problems we face when the very 'toolbox' is built of the  
impossible notion of perpetual growth.

All of which is a windy way of saying global warming is a symptom,  
not the disease.


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