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Saving the Planet
We live on a finite planet: there is only so much "stuff" we can consume before it runs out. This is true not just for oil but for things like potash for agriculture and molybdenum for computers and aircraft. While we can often find replacements when resources become too scarce or expensive, these increasingly come at greater environmental and social cost — and finding enough of any resource is increasingly difficult for an exponentially-growing global population. Plus, there is no "away" where we can throw things on the planet: municipal landfills fill up, toxic substances leach into our soil and groundwater, and even small bits of plastic accumulate in the ocean.
Fortunately, human history is full of examples of highly-developed civilizations living in balance with their available resources. And in the modern world, we know how to create many things we need from renewable resources, and change manufacturing processes so that little is wasted and much is easily reusable or recyclable. As with so many other 21st century crises, it's a challenge not so much of technology as of political and economic will.
Gloria Flora calls A) the equitable distribution of resources B) the end of wasteful use of fossil fuels C) zero waste D) an immediate carbon tax
Spread the word, folks. With enough demand, these are all achievable.
Amen, Gloria.
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Gloria Flora is the Public Lands Fellow at Post Carbon Institute and is founder and Director of Sustainable Obtainable Solutions, an organization dedicated to the sustainability of public lands and of the plants, animals and communities that depend on them.
In her 22-year career with the U.S. Forest Service, Gloria became nationally known for her leadership in ecosystem management and for her courageous principled stands: as supervisor of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in north-central Montana, she made a landmark decision to prohibit natural gas leasing along the 356,000-acre Rocky Mountain Front.
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what is pci?Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute is leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. The Institute has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
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