2008 Woodie Awards
A modest proposal
Jackie Mirandola Mullen
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Viewpoint
George W. Bush tells us we need to remedy our addiction to foreign oil. Al Gore tells us that greenhouse gases that we create are contributing to global warming, which will cause catastrophic climatic disasters, resulting in the deaths of billions. Thomas Malthus warned - as early as 1798 - that exponential population growth would lead to widespread famine and poverty. Jonathan Swift provided a solution to rampant poverty in Ireland in his Modest Proposal of 1729, radically suggesting the Irish eat their babies to prevent them from roaming the streets in destitution.
No matter where you look, you can find impending crises whose roots trace back to overpopulation, excessive energy usage and dwindling resources. Many hippie-minded environmentalists suggest we put our money into finding alternative energy sources, developing more fuel-efficient cars, and reducing our consumption by sacrificing the lifestyles that we have earned through our persistent work and technological innovation. They then warn us that oil is running out, that coal will not be around forever, that the earth is limited and that one day, the resources we expend will supersede those which the earth provides.
Instead of listening to this doom-and-gloom nonsense, I propose that we stay the course, that we continue on with the way of life we have cultivated and justly deserve thanks to our unique ability as humans to extensively impact the environment and ecosystems around us. If we have the ability to shape the earth's outputs to our needs, why waste time preserving what "used to be"? Nostalgia for the good old days does not translate to sound survival strategies.
One of the biggest fear-embedding catch phrases these days is "peak oil" and, increasingly, "peak coal." Energy Watch Group, an environmental organization out of Europe, predicted in summer 2007 that the U.S. has only 200 years of coal left - and that China has a mere 37 years of coal reserves if it continues at its current rate of consumption. The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) predicted as recently as this January that peak oil will occur in 2010.
No matter where you look, you can find impending crises whose roots trace back to overpopulation, excessive energy usage and dwindling resources. Many hippie-minded environmentalists suggest we put our money into finding alternative energy sources, developing more fuel-efficient cars, and reducing our consumption by sacrificing the lifestyles that we have earned through our persistent work and technological innovation. They then warn us that oil is running out, that coal will not be around forever, that the earth is limited and that one day, the resources we expend will supersede those which the earth provides.
Instead of listening to this doom-and-gloom nonsense, I propose that we stay the course, that we continue on with the way of life we have cultivated and justly deserve thanks to our unique ability as humans to extensively impact the environment and ecosystems around us. If we have the ability to shape the earth's outputs to our needs, why waste time preserving what "used to be"? Nostalgia for the good old days does not translate to sound survival strategies.
One of the biggest fear-embedding catch phrases these days is "peak oil" and, increasingly, "peak coal." Energy Watch Group, an environmental organization out of Europe, predicted in summer 2007 that the U.S. has only 200 years of coal left - and that China has a mere 37 years of coal reserves if it continues at its current rate of consumption. The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) predicted as recently as this January that peak oil will occur in 2010.