Ecolog: Might it be that "sustainable development" is more than a paradox, that it all too often is an oxymoron at best and an opportunistic buzz-phrase, a smoke-screen for business as usual at worst? This is not to say that there aren't sincere people more interested in moving away from a perceived trend toward diminishment and oblivion, but they, above all, should be concerned about such opportunism.
Are there not opportunities to restore biological equilibrium and simultaneously "rescue" species from the brink of extinction rather than continuing the rush toward degradation of truly sustainable systems by further sacrifice of ecosystems that truly sustain life on the altar of "human development?" Certainly the practice of imperial importation across ecosystems could be slowed, but the momentum is more likely to be restrained by economic considerations that by the intellectual imperialism of presuming to be right and others wrong, no? There is no secret about maximizing the productivity of ecosystems and humans staying more within than outside of the energy cycles of natural systems. Stop shipping grapes from, say, Chile, for example, to the USA and other distant points of the globe using aircraft and fuel that are a huge kick, not a mere footprint, to natural systems. Certainly ecologists understand the impact of agriculture and animal husbandry upon ecosystems, do they not? And certainly, would not development that increases infiltration, percolation, and groundwater recharge of precipitation in areas where it has been reduced by overexploitation could be a first step toward converting degraded systems to more and more sustainable ones? Might actually quitting not sometimes be the right thing to do? (See end of the web page linked in the Gutierrez email.) WT "Nine-tenths of the hell being raised in the world is well-intentioned." --Unkown ----- Original Message ----- From: "Luis Gutierrez" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 4:35 PM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] The Sustainable Development Paradox > The January 2009 issue of the E-Journal of Solidarity, Sustainability, > and Nonviolence has been posted. As always, it is open access. Simply > click the following link: > > The Sustainable Development Paradox > http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv05n01.html > > A series of articles on "dimensions of sustainable development" is being > published. The January 2009 issue shows the impossibility of > integrating the social, economic, and political dimensions of > sustainable development unless homo economicus becomes homo solidarius. > > Please post and/or forward this notice to friends and colleagues who > might be interested in the complex issues of human development, > international solidarity, and environmental sustainability. > See the archive for links to previously posted issues (annotated with > content outlines): > > May 2005 to December 2008 > http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisust.html > > The current economic and environmental crises confirm the importance of > the issues we are researching. Any feedback is deeply appreciated. > > Sincerely, > Luis > _____________ > Luis T. Gutierrez, Ph.D. > The Pelican Web > Editor, Solidarity, Sustainability, and Nonviolence > http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisust.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.5/1885 - Release Date: 1/9/2009 7:59 PM
