The
REAP Report: Ecology and Economics
The
"eco" part of each of the two words in the title, ecology and
economics, comes from the Greek word for "home."
Most
people would agree that both ecology and economics help determine
the "home" environment - be it home in the family sense or home
as it pertains to the community (village), island or nation.
However,
ecologists and economists are often at odds with each other.
For most economists the world seems generally to be getting
better for people while many ecologists think life on earth
is getting worse. They have developed their thinking around
four big environmental fears.
The
truth is the evidence does not back up this thinking. First,
energy and other natural resources have become more abundant,
not less so despite temporary energy problems faced in California
or New Zealand.
Second,
more food is now produced for the world's population than at
any time in history. There is enough food being produced to
feed everyone. American farmers alone produce over 50% of the
world's food supply. Shortages in energy and food supply are
a result of poor government planning and temporary natural disasters.
Third,
although some species are indeed becoming extinct, less than
1% of them are expected to disappear in the next 50 years, not
25-50%, as has often been predicted.
Finally,
most forms of environmental pollution either appear to have
been exaggerated, or are temporary associated with the early
phases of industrialization and therefore are best cured not
by restricting economic growth, but by accelerating it.
It
is a proven fact by practically all measurable standards that
the better developed countries (first world) are those whose
people enjoy a better economic standard of living and a better
environment. People in these countries have learned the importance
of the total environment. Because of their economic development
they now have the financial resources to conserve their natural
resources. Ecology and the economy are both critical partners
in a country's and a people's sustainability.
Cook
Islands News 6th May 2003
