Our Future

A Problem of World Views

E.O. Wilson's The Future of Life, notes that the "average amount of productive land and shallow sea appropriated by each person in bits and pieces from around the world for food, water, housing, transportation, commerce and waste absorption" is approximately 2.5 acres for the five billion inhabitants of developing nations but is 24 acres for the average U.S citizen.

Wilson noted that if every person in the world is to attain the status of the average citizen of the U.S, four more planet earths would be required -- all this with the population expected to climb from the present seven billion to more than eight billion by mid-century. Wilson further notes, "The great dilemma of environmental reasoning stems from conflict between short-term and long-term values. To select values for the near future of one's own...country is...easy. To select values for the distant future of the whole planet is...easy -- in theory.... To combine the two visions to create a universal environmental ethic is...very difficult. But combine them we must, because a universal environmental ethic is the only guide by which humanity and the rest of life can be safely conducted through the bottleneck into which our species has foolishly blundered."

Many U.S. policies and the voting records of too many elected representatives encourage resource consumption and immigration while discouraging family planning efforts in the developing world. It is critical that we understand these issues and support candidates and policies that will result in a safe, sound, and productive world for succeeding generations.

Let Them Know- Pass on your feelings on environmental issues to your elected officials. Communication usually takes only a few clicks to find their websites.