Economic Prosperity depends on Environmental Conservation
by kathy@truthisbetter.org
Last updated 2004-05-20
Economy is dependent on its ecological base. The U.S. has had a strong economy due to abundant North American resources and a free market Democratic system. Civilizations have collapsed by exhausting natural resources needlessly. For example, Easter Island's civilization was destroyed because its occupants burned and destroyed all the trees on the island to put up large stone statues facing the sea, killing each other fighting over trees, thus destroying the habitat of thousands of bird species and other life that they needed to survive. In this rational scientific age we can recognize and avoid such a demise. Oil: The GW Bush administration has begun an irrational race to gain control over, drill and quickly use remaining oil resources, rather than develop alternatives for civilization. Oil is needed to manufacture the parts for fuel cells, or to gather wind or solar energy. Civilization will collapse and few will survive if we use up all the oil before developing alternatives. The war in Iraq uses oil at a phenomenal rate. One B2 bombing flight uses more oil than it would take to drive an SUV for 300 years! (One B2 bombing mission needs from 6 to 12 KC135 mid-air refueling jets to support its one mission. An average KC135 flight lasts 6 hours burning 10,000 lbs of fuel per hour. Fuel density of jet and auto fuel is about 6.7 lbs/gal. SUVs get about 20 mpg and drive an average 12,000 miles/year. If anyone knows how much fuel a B2 bomber uses, please let me know.) As of March 31, 2003 the U.S. has dropped 8,000 bombs on Iraq. If anyone has seen calculations for total oil use in the Iraq war, please email me. It is astronomical. Short-sighted thinking is keeping the U.S. from focusing on preserving civilization, and is hastening us towards ecological/economic catastrophe. Corporate cronyism is now corrupting our political process, strangling our democracy and our economy and devouring our national treasures.
See Global Sources of Oil
Easter Island inhabitants used up their trees.
White House study: benefits of environmental regulation far outweigh costs
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