Laserfiche WebLink
<br />and therefore would be incapable <br />either of generating a negative bio- <br />logical stress on it or of exerting a <br />positive ecological stress on the <br />aquatic ecosystem. But note that <br />this state of zero environmental im- <br />pact is not achieved by a return to <br />"primitive" conditions; it is achieved <br />by an actual technological advance, <br />the construction of a sewage pipe- <br />line system, <br />Or consider the example provided <br />by the technological treatment of <br />gold and other precious metals, <br />Gold is, after all, subject to numer- <br /> <br />ous technological manipulations that <br />generate a series of considerable <br />economic values. Yet we manage to <br />accomplish all of this without in- <br />truding more than a small fraction <br />of all the gold ever acquired by <br />human beings into the ecosphere, <br />Because we value it so highly, very <br />little gold is "lost" to the environ- <br />ment, In contrast, most of the <br />mercury that has entered commerce <br />in the last generation has been dis- <br />seminated into the environment with <br />very unfortunate effects, Clearly, <br />given adequate technology-and <br /> <br />ANNUAL GROWTH RATES OF PRODUCTION (OR CONSUMPTtON) <br />IN THE UNITED STATES, 1946-1968 <br /> <br />Percentage annual increase of production <br />+5 +10 +15 +~o +15 <br />Mercury forchloralkali. <br />No-return ~r bottles" <br />Plastics I <br />Fertilizer. 'nitrogen- <br />Active agents. detergents <br />Synthetic organic chc:micals <br />Chlprine gas I <br />Aluminum <br />AUl~motive horsepower <br />Elec~ric power I <br />Tala! horsepow~r <br />Synthetic fibers. <br />Synthetic peSlicid~s <br />W ood ~u\p <br />Truck freighl <br />~onsumer electronics <br />MOlar fuel. <br />C~ment <br />Tot~l fuel. <br />, <br />New.sprint. <br />Meal. <br />TOlai freight <br />S,<<I I <br />All fibers". <br />, <br />New copper <br />Bricks <br />Pro[ei~. <br />Popula'tion <br />HOSiery <br />Calories. <br />Shoes I <br />Major appliances. <br />Railroad 'freight <br />Milk' I <br />Lumber <br />Callan. fiber. <br />Harvested'acrc:age <br />Returnabl~ beer bottles <br />Wool fibe;. <br />Railroad horsepower <br />Soap. \ <br />Work-animal horsepower <br />, , <br />o +5 +10 +15 <br />Percentage annual increase of production <br /> <br />-JO <br /> <br />-5 <br /> <br />o <br /> <br /> <br />-10 <br /> <br />-5 <br /> <br />Source: Energy, Economic Growth. and <br /> <br />4 <br /> <br />+30 <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />+20 <br /> <br />.Consumption <br />I I <br />+25 +30 <br /> <br />lhe Enviro1l111enl, p. 39. <br />2698 <br /> <br />motivation-we could be as thrifty <br />in our handling of mercury as we are <br />of gold. thereby preventing the entry <br />of this toxic material into the en- <br />vironment. Again, what is required <br />is not necessarily the abandonment <br />of mercury-based technology, but <br />rather the improvement of that <br />technology to the point of satisfac- <br />tory compatability with the ecosys- <br />tem. <br />Environmental impacts resulting <br />from ecologically faulty technology <br />strain the basic ecosystems that sup- <br />port the life of human beings, destroy <br />the "biological capital" that is es- <br />sential 10 Ihe operation of industry <br />and agriculture. and may, if un- <br />checked, lead to the catastrophic <br />collapse of these systems, The en- <br />vironmental impacts already gen- <br />erated are sufficient to threaten the <br />continued development of the eco- <br />nomic system. Witness the current <br />difficulties in the United States in <br />siting new power plants at a time of <br />severe power shortage and the re- <br />cent curtailment of industrial inno- <br />vation in the fields of detergents, <br />chemical manufacturing, insecticides, <br />herbicides, chlorine production. oil <br />drilling, oil transport, supersonic <br />aviation, nuclear power generation, <br />and industrial use of nuclear ex- <br />plosives-all resulting from public <br />rejection of the cone-omitant environ- <br />mental deterioration. <br />It seems probable that, if we are to <br />survive economically as well as bio- <br />logically, much of the lechnological <br />transformation of the U ,5, economy <br />since 1946 will need to be, so to <br />speak, redone in order to bring the <br />nation's productive technology much <br />more closely into harmony with the <br />inescapahle demands of the ecosys- <br />tem, This will require the develop- <br />ment of massive new technologies <br />for systems to retufn sewage and <br />garbage directly to the soil; for the <br />replacement of synthetic materials <br />by natural ones; for supporting the <br />reversal of the present trend to retire <br />soil from agriculture and to elevate <br />the yield per acre; for the develop- <br />ment of land transport that operates <br />with maximal fuel efficiency at low <br />combustion temperatures; and for <br />the sharp curtailment of the use of <br />biologically active synthetic organic <br />agents, <br />.In effect, what is required is a <br />new period of technological trans- <br />formation of the economy that will <br />reverse the counter-ecological trends <br />developed sinee 1946, The cost of <br />