The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Environment: don’t mention people > Comments

Environment: don’t mention people : Comments

By Melvin Bolton, published 5/2/2010

Politicians loathe being asked about population policy; in Copenhagen the impact of human numbers was officially invisible.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. All
no doubt in the 1960's the social engineers had Australia's ideal population at under 12 million. Today our living standard has never been higher, more food available than ever before and nearly all families have at least one car. No doubt just like the global cooling prophets of the 60's the population growth scaremongers are out today. We still have plenty of food, water, land and jobs. Any country that can afford to send hundreds of people to a tax payer junket to CopenHagen certainly has plenty to share with many more who are not so blessed. It seems like those who worship nature has fooled many into thinking we are 'full'.
Posted by runner, Friday, 5 February 2010 4:55:41 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
If we have plenty of water, why is there so much conflict over it? Why do we have permanent water restrictions in almost all of our cities, with startling increases in water bills and electricity bills beginning to appear because desalinated water is 4-6 times as expensive as dam water and the desalination plants are extremely energy hungry?

We already consume 80% of the food we grow (by value)

http://www.agmates.com/blog/2008/01/01/report-into-ag-production-export-discrepancies/

When it comes to volume of grain, we export about half of what we grow in an average year and much less in drought year. Now imagine that Kevin Rudd and the other politicians have doubled the population. Forget about climate change, just think of those long, severe droughts that have occurred since European settlement. Nor can we assume that we can make up any shortfall by buying on the world market. After all, there wasn't enough to go around in 2008. The people at the bottom are likely to get pretty hungry.

Urban land prices are skyrocketing along with utility bills. The cost of an average house in 1973 was 3.5 years of the median wage, with the cost of the land counting for about 30%, now it is 7.5 years of median wage, 8-9 years in some cities, with the land representing 75% of the cost. Average block sizes were much bigger in 1973 as well, so that ordinary people could have a garden and even grow much of their own food. Families are overworked, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, and family life is sacrificed due to coping with those housing costs. Some improvement.

It is true that cars, clothing, and consumer trinkets are cheaper, but this benefit is more than wiped out by the higher housing costs.

Runner might take a look at the government's Measuring Australia's Progress reports on the Web. Every environmental indicator has been deteriorating, apart from urban air quality, where there have been some easy technological fixes. In international environmental comparisons, we are near the rock bottom of the developed world. See

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/details/environment.aspx#rptcard_large

http://epi.yale.edu/
Posted by Divergence, Friday, 5 February 2010 5:43:28 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
One of the most beautiful vectors of 'anti-pop analysis' is that people are fornicating more because real estate agents want to build more houses.

We have more food than we know what to do with. 30 years ago we were dumping wheat in the Indian ocean. Look, the Unsustainable UnAustralian Unpeople lobby mean well and I'm sure they'd hate being labelled puppets of the National Front.

They are advocates of good old Fortress Australia. I can't wait. Here comes Bob Menzies! What are we going to do about all those Poms, Greeks, Italians, Latvians, Vietnamese and Lebanese who crept in and are having kids as we speak?

None of their projections add up, none of their theories are valid. But I admire their zealotry. I look forward to reading their non-forced sterilisation programs in the next election. Maybe Sandra Kanck could run.
Posted by Cheryl, Friday, 5 February 2010 5:44:22 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Good article,Melvin but I'm not sure what level of disaster will be necessary to convince the Population Boosters that they are on the wrong track,or should I say in the wrong hole and digging deeper.

Not to mention the rabbits who believe thay have some sacred right to breed as they wish regardless of the effect on other Homo Saps or our fellow creatures and plants who have the unenviable task of trying to exist on Spaceship Earth with a bunch of monkeys gone feral.
Posted by Manorina, Friday, 5 February 2010 7:13:56 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Cheryl - instead of ranting in the comments section I think it is time for you to actually write a piece for publication by OLO! Please lay it all out for us. Everyone has a right to your opinion! Love from your admirer...
Posted by michael_in_adelaide, Friday, 5 February 2010 10:01:12 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Not having studied biology, Runner and others seem to mistake "current prosperity" for "more is good".

Maximum growth rate ("prosperity") for bacterial growth is achieved just short of confluence (on plates) or lysis (in liquid culture).

The immediate next step is watching all your bacteria, or any other cell type die, no matter how much extra nutrient you add to temporarily delay.

Hopefully we are nowhere near "maximum" and have the brains to stay away from excessive growth.

Rusty.
Posted by Rusty Catheter, Friday, 5 February 2010 10:58:46 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy