In his Eco-Economy Update (November 21, 2001-2) titled “Rising Sea Level Forcing Evacuation of Island Country,” Lester R. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, reported, “Sea level is rising because of the melting of glaciers and the thermal expansion of the ocean as a result of climate change. This in turn is due to rising atmospheric levels of CO2, largely from burning fossil fuels.”Wow! Big stuff, only now what do you do with the information?Global warming is big news. It is without doubt a major topic of environmental discussion, but we seem to have chosen it as the primary focus of our environmental concern. Yes, global warming is a serious issue. Yes, we need to study its mechanisms and consequences. Yes, it’s important that we develop the strategies and tools for answering the challenge, but the problem is that while we can debate global warming until the cows come home, the issue is so remote and diffuse, we’re hamstrung in our efforts to deal with it. Indeed, what strikes me the most is the lack of consensus among supposed experts about whether global warming is taking place, not to mention the processes involved. So I suggest we narrow our focus on things we can deal with.The Challenge of GlobalizationDoes anyone doubt there is more than ample evidence of the damage being done to air and water resources and soils worldwide by our free-wheeling assault on resources? The primary mechanism here is the export of industrial processes and facilities under the banner of globalization and is manifest in the explosive expansion of the global economy. So rapidly is this largely unregulated phenomenon proceeding that we in the industrialized world-the fomenters and supposed beneficiaries of the situation-have yet to recognize its implications, much less begin to develop a workable strategy for the sustainable extraction and use of the earth’s resources. So far-and we’re nearly two decades down the road in this-the vast majority of citizens in the developed world still view this as a marvelous source of cheap goods that costs us a few jobs here and there without giving adequate thought to the real consequences involved. And even when we stop to consider the immediate environmental consequences of our industry and lifestyle, we somehow avoid taking into account the issue of sustainability in terms of economics, environmental preservation, and the very way we’re able to go about our everyday lives.Suspend for a moment what you believe to be the threats to the environment and our choice of lifestyle today and imagine a situation five years from now when the number of people on the planet with the means to purchase and operate automobiles-and everything else we produce and consume-will double…and perhaps double once again before the end of the decade. I hope you find this vision as stunning as I do. At the very least it ought to unleash a number of questions along the lines of:How does the way we currently manage our resources fit that vision?How applicable are the policies and practices we go by today?How sustainable is the lifestyle we’ve always considered ours by something akin to a divine right?How do we proceed when, with so many competing philosophies and so much conventional wisdom floating around on sustainability, we are hard-pressed to say for certain what it is, much less how to achieve it?Lost in the complexity of the situation is a clear understanding of what globalization means and where the problems lie. To the extent that most of us think about globalization, we allow our vision to be obscured by the belief that these issues are restricted to remote areas of the globe, beyond our control or concern. But nothing could be farther from the truth. If anything should be clear in the midst of all this change, it is the recognition that the course we’re on is not sustainable and that the responsibility for redress lies in the hands of those whose demands fuel its progress.What does this mean? Well, for starters we need to depoliticize environmental issues and develop and apply truly scientific methods to assess the situation. Concurrently we must make some fairly conservative assumptions about what we believe constitutes our environmental means and look for ways to live within them rather than pushing every limit just because it’s in our power to do so. What does this have to do with erosion control and more particularly your role as an erosion control professional, you ask? While your practice and livelihood depend on specific projects, like it or not the value of your knowledge and experience saddles you with special demands. You might never be called upon to ply your trade in Gambia, Sumatra, or Brazil, but that doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility of speaking out and making others aware of the consequences inherent in wholesale habitat destruction and our options for future development.
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Andrea Weissenbuehler
