Posted by caraher on April 8, 2007, at 18:50:11
In reply to Re: It is not junk science!!!!! » Declan, posted by Meri-Tuuli on April 8, 2007, at 16:04:23
> The planet will cope fine - its whether it will cope in a way that is suited to human populace or not thats the issue.Exactly! Environmentalists make a huge mistake, in my view, when they use "Save the Planet!" language, or when saving endangered species is wrapped in Disneyesque sentimentality about the fate of cuddly anthropomorphized critters. The issue is ensuring an environment that *humans* can thrive in! And a practical reason to care about what we do to ecosystems and other species is that we simply don't know enough about how all these complex systems interact to carelessly destroy some of them with any rational assurance that we are not jeopardizing our own survival!
There is a place for the other kinds of concerns, about respect for nature in an abstract sense. But I think it's a terrible idea to bank on some kind of quasi-spiritual awakening among industrial nations when there is a perfectly compelling case in terms of self-interest for minimizing the impact of human activity on the ecosystem!
poster:caraher
thread:746268
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20070312/msgs/748197.html