We need to look at the warning signs about global warming, resource scarcity, overpopulation, deforestation and other environmental issues from a different perspective. Some of these problems are no longer present or have never existed, but technological advancements have done a great job in addressing them. The doomsayers pretend that the problems are not there, but this is simply false.
One example: After hearing the alarming talk about global overpopulation, U.N. and independent researchers now predict that the world’s population will stabilize by mid-century and then begin to decline. Why? Technology has led to great wealth, but affluent families are often smaller.
Europe’s social welfare programs are already facing problems due to the falling fertility rate. Insufficient workers are joining the workforce to pay for benefits. This phenomenon isn’t just a problem in developed countries. As Third World countries become wealther, the fertility rate also drops.
We used to hear about the dangers of overpopulation. However, it was also common for us to hear that if large industrial nations continued to make insatiable demands on limited resources, then we would run out. Technology has allowed us to enjoy abundance and not scarcity, instead.
Another example: The green movement would like us to believe that our indifference towards environmental preservation is causing us to cut down forests for our rapacious industries.
Jack Hollander, professor emeritus energy and resources at UC Berkeley, says that this is false. The American forests were saved by technological advances. New fossil-fuel-powered agricultural machinery was introduced in the early 20th century. This allowed farmers to produce more crops with less land. Hollander wrote this in his book The Real Environmental Crisis. Why Poverty, not Affluence is the Environments Number 1 Enemy.
Vermont’s story is an excellent example. Vermont’s forest cover was nearly complete in the 1700s. However, by 1850, so much agricultural clearing had occurred that Vermont’s forest cover had fallen to 35%. Many feared that Vermont would be a deserted land. However, Vermont’s forest cover has dramatically increased to the point that it can be seen in 77 per cent of the state.
Between 1600 and 1920, the United States lost more than 300 million acres of forest. This was due to both farming and heating with wood. Around the turn of 20th century, forest acreage started to stabilize and has been growing since 1920. The total forest area is now 737 million acres, almost three-quarters of what it was in 1600.
Timber growth has outpaced harvest since the 1950s. Because industry and government continue investing in efficient forest management techniques, the wood supply in the United States can be guaranteed indefinitely.
Let’s take global warming as a third example. Robert C. Balling Jr. is a professor of climatology at Arizona State University. He points out that the Kyoto Treaty doesn’t aim to prevent this phenomenon, but rather, it is intended to support a political process that has led to dubious U.N. and international consensus. While it has been difficult for science to determine whether the threat is real or not, Balling and other respected scientists argue that what is known is not cause for alarm.
It is important to note that Kyoto supporters and Kyoto critics are not ignoring the possibility of global heating. It is being taken seriously instead by scientists, whose research challenges the consensus.
Unfortunately, the environmental movement now cares more about its fund-raising than it does protecting the environment. Regardless of the facts, the greens want to scare people into believing that environmental disaster is imminent and that they can stop it with their dollars.
The reality is not so scary after all. And when real problems arise, they
They are being addressed, not ignored.
