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Forum » Eco Car Forums » Environmental Discussion

What matters more - Health (Poverty) or Climate Change?

Author	Message
Written on: 29. 10. 07 [19:17]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 301	We all know it: Besides climate change there are other big challenges for the human race such as poverty, hunger, war, social unrest, health and... Government money is given to the poor, sometimes to a 'green' project. Sometimes even to the criminals... What in your opinion is more important: Saving the planet by going green or by investing in development aid? Stefan
Written on: 05. 06. 08 [21:50]
insight registered since: 26.04.2008 Posts: 10	Saving the planet plain and simple,the rest will follow otherwise there's no point. Insight
Written on: 06. 06. 08 [03:08]
Lensman registered since: 31.05.2008 Posts: 55	At the risk of sounding selfish, there will always be poor people. And blindly giving aid to poor countries might not be in their long-term interest. Is helping out a country in the grip of famine with food and medical care-- which is primarily concentrated on aid to children and expectant mothers-- really a benefit to that country? Or will it just increase the country's overpopulation problem, causing even more people to suffer and die in the next famine? We need to be aware that much or most of what we consider the world's problems are a direct cause of overpopulation. Famine, wars, resource shortages, epidemic diseases-- these are all an indication there are too many people trying to live in too small an area. The #1 priority should be making sure every country has effective and easily available birth control. Until we can control our population, we'll never be able to stop over-polluting and over-consuming the Earth's resources. The Earth has a certain capacity for absorbing and naturally recycling pollution and wastes, and it has a certain capacity for producing new resources such as trees and fresh water. If we use more than the Earth can provide... well, then we doom ourselves (or others) to misery, poverty, starvation and death. And yeah, the #2 priority should be preserving our environment. Cleaning up the water, the air and the land benefits everyone, not just the rich. Poisoning our own planet hurts everyone. Perhaps this post is more political than is appropriate for this forum. If so, then I apologize. But you did ask! P.S.-- I very highly recommend Jared Diamond's book Collapse for any educated person who wants to know the dangers of catastrophe our culture is headed towards, in rapidly depleting resources and creating massive amounts of pollution. But Diamond's book is not just doom and gloom-- it also points towards how we can avert disaster.
Written on: 07. 06. 08 [15:50]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 301	One of the reasons why I run this forum is because I can learn from others on the many questions I have regarding sustainable transport. When I first asked the question 'What matters more...Climate Change or Poverty' I only had a very basic understanding of the problem. In the mean time I've been reading books, got involved in discussions and I can say that I have now more questions than ever!! Thats not a bad thing at all and my knowledge on the issue has grown, but there is still a lot more I want to know. I agree with Lensman that Population Growth is one of the main issues. Our planet can only absorb a certain amount of rubbish. The more people we have on the planet the more difficult it gets to manage their waste. The rate at which the population grows has declined in recent years, but overall growth is still exponentially. And this fact should be of great concern to us... Cleaning up the environment should no longer be a special task but should come naturally. Limits to Growth (ISBN 1931498512) is another good book explaining the problems associated with growth. It was first published in 1972 and has been been updated several times since then. Attachment limits_to_growth.jpg (File type: image/jpeg, Size: 10.06 kilobytes) — 9 downloads

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