Welcome to Consumercide.com     |  environment

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How  much clean air do we need?"

 --Lee Iacocca,
Transnational CEO

id·i·ot (id?e-?t) noun

1. A foolish or stupid person.
2. A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

 

 

Ian Frazier

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environment links

If not for the environment,
what would you have?

see blog entries on environment for the latest news

People enjoy the experience of buying more than
having the product, because the moment of buying
is one of enthusiastic fantasy and escape.

The environmental crisis is really a crisis of desire.

Annie rages against the (linear) machine...

A great video doc on the mess that we are in.

 

A Bill of Rights for Future Generations...

WE, THE PEOPLE of the future, like twenty thousand generations who came before us, have the right to breathe air that smeels sweet, to drink water that runs pure and free, to swim in waters that teem with life, and to grow our food in rich, living eart.

We have the right to inherit a world unsullied by toxic chemicals, nuclear waste, or genetic pollution. we have the right to walk in untamed nature and to feel the awe that comes when we suddenly lock eyes with a wild beast.

We beseech you, the people of today: do not leave your dirty messes for us to clean up; do not take technological risks, however small, that may backfire catastrophically in times to come. Just as we respectfully ask that you not burden us with your deferred debts and depleted pension plans, we also claim our right to a share of the planet's ecological wealth. Please don't use it all up.

We, in turn, promise to do the same. We grant these same rights and privileges to the generations who will live after us; we do so in the sacred hope that the human spirit will live forever.

A curse on any generation who ignores this plea.

Barefoot Economics.org

Planet, Inc. 2004 Summary of Assets

AIR
Global consumption of coal, oil and natural gas has increased almost fivefold since 1950, pushing carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere to a record high. Still, urban air quality in China and Europe improved during 2003, while US vehicle emissions fell by 10 percent. Even with best practices like the EU's new anti-C02 legislation, air pollution raises an environmental red flag that may negatively impact Planet, Inc.'s future profit margins.

WATER
In 2003, two billion people in more than 40 countries suffered from water shortages. Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and North America saw their agricultural water tables degrade due to overpumping and contamination. However, river quality improved in Europe despite pollution and water overuse in some areas. The US Environmental Protection Agency made legal changes that put 20 million acres of wetlands at risk. While sales of bottled water may increase in the short term, the Board sees this as a temporary solution, at best.
SOIL

Worldwide, between 10 and 20 percent of cropland has been degraded by water and wind erosion, deforestation, overexploitation and other causes; the same goes for 70 percent of rangeland. In South Asia alone, soil degradation costs $10 billion a year. Despite the growing popularity of organic farming, pollutants continue to find their way into the ground via acid rain, agricultural chemicals, landfills and heavy industry. Work generated for clean-up crews will be outweighed by loss of future arable capacity.

FOREST
Half the planet's original forests have been cut down, and one-third of what remain is damaged or fragmented. Worldwide demand for wood products is more then twice what it was in 1950. But Earth has grown six percent greener in the past quarter century, partly as a result of conservation programs and advances in farming. Eighty percent of that growth took place in tropical regions and the Far North. To stay competitive, Planet, Inc. must find the right mix of sustainable silviculture practices and value-added products.

OCEAN
Seventy-five percent of fisheries are either fully exploited or exhausted, 88 of the 126 marine-mammal species are at risk, and 90 percent of large ocean predators have vanished. Rising temperatures may kill off coral reefs in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia within 20 years. Pollution, habitat destruction, algae blooms and sediment flow also threaten the marine environment. Sea level continues to rise one to two millimeters annually. The Board regrets the imminent loss of many Pacific island nations, and is monitoring the situation in Bangladesh. These indicators call for an ongoing strategy that leverages current resources while remaining sensitive to weak links in the ocean value chain.

Thanks Adbusters V12#5 Sept 2004

Miscellaneous works on consumercide.com

  • Guardian UK Report: More than 30% of our food is thrown away - and it's costing billions a year
  • "Some like it Hot" by Chris Mooney
    Forty public policy groups have this in common: They seek to undermine the scientific consensus that humans are causing the earth to overheat. And they all get money from ExxonMobil.
  • Planet of the Plants
    "In a world changed by global warming, crops may grow more abundantly, but be unable to nourish us."
  • Huge CDC report on toxins shows need for further study, by Bob Condor

 

There is also a lot of info on pollutants in the section of this site.
environment: links