Selected quotations from leading environmentalists

[editor]

While not strictly Houston-related, I found this list on the internet rather interesting. I'm sure it will spur some discussion here. I like the stuff at the end best.

--:--

The right to have children should be a marketable commodity, bought and traded by individuals but absolutely limited by the state.

--Kenneth Boulding, originator of the "Spaceship Earth"

concept (as quoted by William Tucker in Progress and Privilege, 1982)

We have wished, we ecofreaks, for a disaster or for a social change to come and bomb us into Stone Age, where we might live like Indians in our valley, with our localism, our appropriate technology, our gardens, our homemade religion--guilt-free at last!

--Stewart Brand (writing in the Whole Earth Catalogue).

Free Enterprise really means rich people get richer. They have the freedom to exploit and psychologically rape their fellow human beings in the process.... Capitalism is destroying the earth.

--Helen Caldicott, Union of Concerned Scientists

We must make this an insecure and inhospitable place for capitalists and their projects.... We must reclaim the roads and plowed land, halt dam construction, tear down existing dams, free shackled rivers and return to wilderness millions of tens of millions of acres of presently settled land.

--David Foreman, Earth First!

Everything we have developed over the last 100 years should be destroyed.

--Pentti Linkola

If you ask me, it'd be a little short of disastrous for us to discover a source of clean, cheap, abundant energy because of what we would do with it. We ought to be looking for energy sources that are adequate for our needs, but that won't give us the excesses of concentrated energy with which we could do mischief to the earth or to each other.

--Amory Lovins in The Mother Earth-Plowboy Interview, Nov/Dec 1977, p.22

The only real good technology is no technology at all. Technology is taxation without representation, imposed by our elitist species (man) upon the rest of the natural world.

--John Shuttleworth

What we've got to do in energy conservation is try to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, to have approached global warming as if it is real means energy conservation, so we will be doing the right thing anyway in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.

--Timothy Wirth, former U.S. Senator (D-Colorado)

I suspect that eradicating smallpox was wrong. It played an important part in balancing ecosystems.

--John Davis, editor of Earth First! Journal

Human beings, as a species, have no more value than slugs.

--John Davis, editor of Earth First! Journal

The extinction of the human species may not only be inevitable but a good thing....This is not to say that the rise of human civilization is insignificant, but there is no way of showing that it will be much help to the world in the long run.

--Economist editorial

We advocate biodiversity for biodiversity's sake. It may take our extinction to set things straight.

--David Foreman, Earth First!

Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental.

--Dave Forman, Founder of Earth First!

If radical environmentalists were to invent a disease to bring human populations back to sanity, it would probably be something like AIDS

--Earth First! Newsletter

Human happiness, and certainly human fecundity, is not as important as a wild and healthy planets...Some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along.

--David Graber, biologist, National Park Service

The collective needs of non-human species must take precedence over the needs and desires of humans.

--Dr. Reed F. Noss, The Wildlands Project

If I were reincarnated, I would wish to be returned to Earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels.

--Prince Phillip, World Wildlife Fund

Cannibalism is a "radical but realistic solution to the problem of overpopulation."

--Lyall Watson, The Financial Times, 15 July 1995

Poverty For "Those People"

We, in the green movement, aspire to a cultural model in which killing a forest will be considered more contemptible and more criminal than the sale of 6-year-old children to Asian brothels.

--Carl Amery

Every time you turn on an electric light, you are making another brainless baby.

--Helen Caldicott, Union of Concerned Scientists

To feed a starving child is to exacerbate the world population problem.

--Lamont Cole

If there is going to be electricity, I would like it to be decentralized, small, solar-powered.

--Gar Smith, editor of the Earth Island Institute's online magazine The Edge

The only hope for the world is to make sure there is not another United States: We can't let other countries have the same number of cars, the amount of industrialization, we have in the U.S. We have to stop these Third World countries right where they are. And it is important to the rest of the world to make sure that they don't suffer economically by virtue of our stopping them.

--Michael Oppenheimer, Environmental Defense Fund

The continued rapid cooling of the earth since WWII is in accord with the increase in global air pollution associated with industrialization, mechanization, urbanization and exploding population.

--Reid Bryson, "Global Ecology; Readings towards a rational strategy for Man", (1971)

The battle to feed humanity is over. In the 1970s, the world will undergo famines. Hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. Population control is the only answer.

--Paul Ehrlich, in The Population Bomb (1968)

I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000.

--Paul Ehrlich in (1969)

In ten years all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish.

--Paul Ehrlich, Earth Day (1970)

Before 1985, mankind will enter a genuine age of scarcity...in which the accessible supplies of many key minerals will be facing depletion.

--Paul Ehrlich in (1976)

This [cooling] trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century.

--Peter Gwynne, Newsweek 1976

There are ominous signs that the earth's weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production--with serious political implications for just about every nation on earth. The drop in food production could begin quite soon... The evidence in support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologist are hard-pressed to keep up with it.

--Newsweek, April 28, (1975)

This cooling has already killed hundreds of thousands of people. If it continues and no strong action is taken, it will cause world famine, world chaos and world war, and this could all come about before the year 2000.

--Lowell Ponte in "The Cooling", 1976

If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder by the year 2000. ... This is about twice what it would take to put us in an ice age.

--Kenneth E.F. Watt on air pollution and global cooling, Earth Day (1970)

[bachanon]

editor, you're asking for a windstorm.

why aren't people quoting these "scientists/specialists" now? three decades ago they were predicting a new ice age because of human consumption, now they predict apocalypse from global warming. it is amazing the stretch of reasoning that people will embrace when they have no religion.

it is intrinsic, this notion of a creator or higher purpose. reject a known deity and people seem to find new fervor in nature itself. the recent environmentalist mindset is similar to that of young earth creationist evangelicals; they are intent on emotional fervor without acceptance of scientific information. tree huggers are so close in thought to bible thumpers where careful thought is concerned.

[editor]

editor, you're asking for a windstorm.

I know. I admit I posted it to stir up controversy.

why aren't people quoting these "scientists/specialists" now? three decades ago they were predicting a new ice age because of human consumption, now they predict apocalypse from global warming. it is amazing the depths of reasoning that people will embrace when they have no religion.

Definitely NOT the direction I expected this to go.

it is intrinsic, this notion of a creator or higher purpose. reject a known deity and people seem to find new fervor in nature itself. the recent environmentalist mindset is similar to that of young earth creationist evangelicals; they are intent on emotional fervor without acceptance of scientific information. tree huggers are so close in thought to bible thumpers where careful thought is concerned.

Aye, there's the rub. People aren't taught to think anymore. There used to be critical thinking classes in school. Children were learned to sift fact from opinion. I took countless tests where we were presented with lists of maybe 50 statements and we had to mark which ones were facts and which ones were opinions. I don't think the average high schooler today could tell you if there's a difference at all.

[bachanon]

the old professor in "the lion, the witch and the wardrobe" said it best......."what do they teach in schools these days?"

i heard a school teacher on rush limbaugh this week. she was perplexed that she couldn't profess her christianity to her classroom per the school's lawyers. i'm thinking.......how do you have time to worry about that?. you have 45 minutes to get a lesson across. if these teachers were focusing on basic education they wouldn't have to "teach to the test" when TAKS comes around. they seem to be so concerned with "environmental" and "social" concerns that algebra has a back seat in algebra class. why would anyone NEED to profess their personal religious ideology in most classes.

i can see where environmental issues might come up in science or government classes. but why did my nephew's eighth grade teacher have them writing and discussing the issue of "who am i?" and "what events in life have made me who i am.". his high school algebra teacher somehow came across buddhism and moral relativism. SATs are around the corner. he can seek spiritual information elsewhere.

the entire public school system is "re-educating" kiddos to be morally vacant, but socially "concerned". here is where environmental "wackism" comes in to play.

tell my niece that mount pinatubo released more green house gases than the entire industrial revolution and she will still think george bush is killing the planet, along with car manufacturers and litterbugs. reason is not taught in schools, at least where it conflicts with political agendas.

there was a great article in some magazine (maybe "reason") i read awhile back. the author of the article interviewed environmental activists at protests and festivals around the country. what he/she found was that many of these people had rejected organized religion and practiced no system of faith (other than environmentalist fervor). they couldn't explain half of what they believed where destruction of the planet was concerned, yet they were out professing their angst at how big oil was killing the planet and so on. the focus of the article was how it appeared that the human need for spiritual affirmation had evolved in these "earth people" in a new, illogical way. faith in god/saving mankind replaced by faith in nature/saving the planet (at all costs).

i thought it an interesting spin on the subject.

[musicman]

the entire public school system is "re-educating" kiddos to be morally vacant, but socially "concerned". here is where environmental "wackism" comes in to play.

tell my niece that mount pinatubo released more green house gases than the entire industrial revolution and she will still think george bush is killing the planet, along with car manufacturers and litterbugs. reason is not taught in schools, at least where it conflicts with political agendas.

as usual, another thought provoking post. with respect o being morally vacant, i'd hope the only introduction to morality wouldn't be at school. The home is where we should receive our core values but i agree that if children are out of line morally, the teachers should provide guidance. i remember an incident in 4th grade with my favorite teacher ever. someone came to school in a t=shirt with the famous farrah fawcett pose. i remember she thought that was inappropriate in a school setting and he was taken out of the room to be spoken to by her. to be honest i don't remember if she sent him home to change (i don't think she did) but i sure do remember this incident clearly. today i don't think a teacher would have the guts to do this.

this reminds me of another incident where we did a christmas project and someone used the word xmas. i remember a small lecture regarding this. today, this would never happen and i mean never.

i agree with your comments invoving politcal agendas and a lack of reason. i think much fault should be placed on the teachers. i know you teachers will take offense, but i do think the teaching profession has changed for the worse since i was in school. and i don't mean all teachers, but i honestly believe there has been a shift towards the wrong side.

[RedScare]

Definitely NOT the direction I expected this to go.

Hijacked in the 2nd post! That appears to be a record that cannot be broken...unless you get sidetracked while posting the initial content.

Let's see. A post listing quotes by scientists and environmentalists taken out of context, but who appear to have to have overextrapolated the limited data at their disposal for dramatic effect. This is followed by an unfounded accusation of godlessness, and the blame of an apparent lack of morality on these godless scientists. By the 5th post, Farrah Fawcett and the assault on Christmas have appeared.

No thanks, editor. While I might enjoy mocking the ridiculous exagerations of people to garner attention, I have no interest in contributing to the crisis of faith apparently being experienced by another poster. I think I will go work in the garden instead....as a replacement for church, of course.

[KinkaidAlum]

the entire public school system is "re-educating" kiddos to be morally vacant, but socially "concerned". here is where environmental "wackism" comes in to play.

tell my niece that mount pinatubo released more green house gases than the entire industrial revolution and she will still think george bush is killing the planet, along with car manufacturers and litterbugs. reason is not taught in schools, at least where it conflicts with political agendas.

there was a great article in some magazine (maybe "reason") i read awhile back. the author of the article interviewed environmental activists at protests and festivals around the country. what he/she found was that many of these people had rejected organized religion and practiced no system of faith (other than environmentalist fervor). they couldn't explain half of what they believed where destruction of the planet was concerned, yet they were out professing their angst at how big oil was killing the planet and so on. the focus of the article was how it appeared that the human need for spiritual affirmation had evolved in these "earth people" in a new, illogical way. faith in god/saving mankind replaced by faith in nature/saving the planet (at all costs).

1) Where are the parents? If people who had children took an active role in their own children, then schools wouldn't have to do half of the things they are forced to do now. However, more and more kids are arriving at school with zero skills and it isn't just the children of the poor. As for the teacher upset she can't be professing her Christianity; that IS NOT her job.

2) Well, I would assume your niece would think she'd have a greater chance of eliminating green house gases from human sources, basic littering issues, and finding alternative means of transportation much more doable than stopping natural volcanic eruptions. You know, "Let Go, Let God."

3) So, radical environmentalists are expected to explain every belief they have? Is it possible that what they believe in (saving the earth) is their faith? If so, then do we all have to be able to explain our faith? If that is the case, I'd love to hear Christians explaining why the Bible would tell us to whore out our daughters to traveling strangers and the like when a random reporter points a microphone in your face at Jazz Fest.

[bachanon]

2) Well, I would assume your niece would think she'd have a greater chance of eliminating green house gases from human sources, basic littering issues, and finding alternative means of transportation much more doable than stopping natural volcanic eruptions. You know, "Let Go, Let God."

my niece, like many of her friends and kids her age, rage about environmental issues but still throw wrappers out their car windows and leave lights on all night. like wacko christians they spout their environmental "convictions" expecting others to comply never requiring sacrifices from themselves.

3) So, radical environmentalists are expected to explain every belief they have? Is it possible that what they believe in (saving the earth) is their faith? If so, then do we all have to be able to explain our faith? If that is the case, I'd love to hear Christians explaining why the Bible would tell us to whore out our daughters to traveling strangers and the like when a random reporter points a microphone in your face at Jazz Fest.

i simply referenced a story on environmental protesters/earth-day-festival-goers that made an interesting connection. it is interesting that the majority of protesters had little or no religious/spiritual affiliation with the exception of wiccans. no one is expecting environmentalists to explain themselves.

[TJones]

I know. I admit I posted it to stir up controversy.

Definitely NOT the direction I expected this to go.

Aye, there's the rub. People aren't taught to think anymore. There used to be critical thinking classes in school. Children were learned to sift fact from opinion. I took countless tests where we were presented with lists of maybe 50 statements and we had to mark which ones were facts and which ones were opinions. I don't think the average high schooler today could tell you if there's a difference at all.

Editor, I will help you reap the whirlwind ! ! !

Dammit bach, get back on topic would you ? Climatizing Theorist are just a new type of terrorist. They are trying to instill fear into their fellow humans by making ridiculous claims that if we don't change our ways we are all doomed with no concrete proof to back up the claims? Hogwash, they couldn't get everyone to go along with their theory that it is MAN creating a "Global Warming trend", so now they are trying to get everyone to believe that this is a "Natural Warming" or "Climate Change" that the Earth is going through to try and fight the pollution WE have caused. Yet, when confronted with information about previous "Climate Changes" before the industrialization of man occurred, they don't have a bucket to hold water in, and their 3 word answer is always the same, "I DON"T KNOW."

[musicman]

No thanks, editor. While I might enjoy mocking the ridiculous exagerations of people to garner attention, I have no interest in contributing to the crisis of faith apparently being experienced by another poster.

I think you just did. welcome to da hijackers club.

[TheNiche]

Hijacked in the 2nd post! That appears to be a record that cannot be broken...unless you get sidetracked while posting the initial content.

Although I am not so keen on suggesting that a belief in a creator/god in some form is natural and inescapable, or that one set of metaphysical convictions are superior to others, as bachanon might, I must say that the very first thing that came to my mind when I saw even the title of the thread was the word 'religion'. I knew even then what would be presented within. Read the quotes that Editor posted and tell me whether there is a moral imperitive that is not justifiable by atheism or agnosticism alone. These are conservatives in the strictist sense imaginable, in that they not only want to halt change, but turn back the clock and revert to pre-industrial times.

I am not in total agreement with it, but Bachanon's post is as valid a set of commentary as my own, above.

[N Judah]

If radical environmentalists were to invent a disease to bring human populations back to sanity, it would probably be something like AIDS

--Earth First! Newsletter

Hah, that's such a Falwell type quote. Too funny.