tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post7931999522773182550..comments2024-03-15T23:30:38.471+11:00Comments on Lindsay's Lobes: Post Card to the futureLindsay Byrneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11030132436987752741noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-26596310895747340262009-10-29T15:07:54.400+11:002009-10-29T15:07:54.400+11:00i've never liked pumpkin pie. i think its the ...i've never liked pumpkin pie. i think its the seasoning people use. <br />but but but... i LOVE pumpkin muffins. yummm.Seraphinehttp://encoreseraphine.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-51000236724655435312009-10-28T16:43:30.141+11:002009-10-28T16:43:30.141+11:00Oh yeah, birth rates are secondary in my view. The...Oh yeah, birth rates are secondary in my view. There is not a developed country yet that hasn't had a rapidly declining birthrate as soon as prosperity and education arrive. Most northern countries are already at a negative birth rate (including Canada). Even India's birthrate is on the decline as they attain a growing middle class.<br /><br />Focus on equity and sustainability and the birth rate will adjust. Lots of evidence for this...Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15148485566444804108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-54308169156740712542009-10-28T16:41:18.808+11:002009-10-28T16:41:18.808+11:00Great essay Lindsay. I'm glad that in spite of...Great essay Lindsay. I'm glad that in spite of such understanding of the underlying causes of the water issues, you remain optimistic.<br /><br />A warmer climate here has meant the mountain pine beetle, which used to die off every few years from a long cold winter, has had a free run for about 10 years now. There are dead forests the size of a European country just in BC alone now. They turn red, then brown then black. Then they become fuel for forest fires in our increasingly dry summers. This is not the future, but now. There was a 6,000 hectare fire right across the lake from us in 2003. <br /><br />In addition to mitigation... trying to pull back the carbon emissions and conserve - we better be ready to adapt to new systems. <br /><br />Like you, I am at least somewhat optimistic and look for good examples, which can be found.Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15148485566444804108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-38142606861434594512009-10-28T16:01:09.960+11:002009-10-28T16:01:09.960+11:00my drink of choice is tea. sometimes i brew my own...my drink of choice is tea. sometimes i brew my own from tap water, but mostly i drink bottled tea. <br />i like tea in glass bottles better, but there is a tea i like that only comes in plastic. <br />plastic isn't ideal, but at least i recycle it. <br />alas, i heard that most recycled waste doesn't really get recycled- the waste companies 'cherry-pick' what they want and send the majority of the collected items to landfills. <br />sigh. <br />what a world we live in.Seraphinehttp://encoreseraphine.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-31072350203769409182009-10-26T22:48:47.548+11:002009-10-26T22:48:47.548+11:00Hi Susan, Dennis, DK Reid & Sera
Thanks for ...Hi Susan, Dennis, DK Reid & Sera <br /><br />Thanks for your many interesting points.<br /><br />Susan. <br /><br />Indeed, time is running out but hopefully our race will use the collective wisdom before long. I notice about 60% of the population In the US now shop organically with the environment in mind – so the tide is turning in a country which has been traditionally a laboratory for change in the past –this time hopefully for the better I trust!! <br /><br />Dennis <br /><br />Town and country planners are continually thwarted in their sensible efforts to maintain sustainable development permits by politicians changing the goal posts. I note the large scale foreshore developments now subject to ocean erosion. The farming sector would benefit from a national audit to check which styles of farming are sustainable and sort out those enterprises whose methods are injurious to the long terms heath of the land. <br /><br />DK Raed <br /><br />Welcome. <br /><br />I have heard about the Colorado River from in Jared Diamond when he was last in Australia. I also learnt a good deal more from his epic narration entitled “Collapse” <br />I would like you do a posting about such matters which I think would be have interest. <br /><br />I agree water will become soon the most valued commodity of all. Thanks for visiting and for your insightful comments. I have added a link to your blog. <br /><br />Sera <br /><br />We have good reasons for concern, but as I mentioned to Susan the US has been a repository for new ideas in the past and maybe the tide is turning. Certainly at the consumer level change is evident with over 50% know careful to buy environmentally sound organic products. Corporate Social Responsibility is also on the increase worldwide with most companies including a sizeable narration to report worthwhile target reductions in waste and measure they are taking to lessen their carbon footprint. <br />Best wisheslindsaylobehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16774918551798647046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-76517639354392922132009-10-21T12:36:46.778+11:002009-10-21T12:36:46.778+11:00beautifully written lindsay, especially the parts ...beautifully written lindsay, especially the parts about our stewardship of the earth. water is the most abundant resource on earth, but clean, drinkable water is a finite valuable resource.<br />we have many of the same problems here in the american west.<br />but it is a world-wide problem, and poor land-management in one part of the world affects everyone else. i worry about the creeping deserts in africa, and the deforestation taking place in the amazon. <br />i also worry about the changing climate and the melting of the ice caps.Seraphinehttp://encoreseraphine.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-40561053621925488262009-10-21T04:01:15.599+11:002009-10-21T04:01:15.599+11:00much food (or water) here for thought, and a geolo...much food (or water) here for thought, and a geologic/economic history of australia to boot! <br /><br />living in the Colorado River watershed of the dry US Southwest, I think we are facing similar problems. this little thin ribbon of water has made life here possible and yet we have abused it so much.<br /><br />one abuse is siphoning off so much of the fresh water to supply huge cities like Las Vegas (talk about a Klondike Town) that seem to exist merely for the purpose of existing. <br /><br />The American Canal from the Colorado River has made desert farming possible, but at what cost? trying to rectify some of these mistakes by buying back farmer's water rights is a current issue here, too. Big Agro Biz (vs small farmers) is a water and environmental issue that seems to have been decided by those with money and means to gobble up small farms and turn them into huge water-wasting chemical-abusing pollution factories pumping out hogs (and other edible things) by taking advantage of govt subsidies avail to them (but not to the small farmer).<br /><br />I don't have much hope when money and access to power dictates everything, but of course that has always been our way in the US (despite some of Jared Diamond's optimistic observations about the rest of the world). as proof, our ex-prez bush & his capitalized cronies have purchased major portions of one of the world's largest underground fresh water supply (Aquiferi Guanari) in Paraguay. <br /><br />so it goes on, the struggle for control of oil might change to the struggle for control of water, but the game will be the same.D.K. Raedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01451065603615752038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-59586384838460868672009-10-20T08:18:34.868+11:002009-10-20T08:18:34.868+11:00Lots to think about there Lindsay, an excellent ov...Lots to think about there Lindsay, an excellent overview. It seems to me Kidman et al are symptomatic of the thoughtless way we have treated this fragile landmass. When that arid outback can only sustain two or three beasts per square mile (forgive the Imperial) and the produce requires delivery vast distances from the ‘farm’, then surely sensible planners should have seen problems ahead. Instead, the lure of the cash sustains this insanity.<br />In more fertile parts of Australia a different set of problems are in play. As farming becomes more corporate, the only important yield being profit, we are steadily witnessing a diminishing agriculture base. As you say, the land is over prices, the land and water resources badly utilized. And now we are seeing more prime production land sold to greedy developers or to mining corporations. <br />We need a radical approach, perhaps nationalizing agriculture and production land and encouraging real farmers back to the farms. But that is not likely to happen until there is a real crisis, and by then it will be far too late.Cartledgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11929350278316125588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-8756179145639156202009-10-20T08:17:41.367+11:002009-10-20T08:17:41.367+11:00This comment has been removed by the author.Cartledgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11929350278316125588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9716997.post-77551718926265383442009-10-19T11:21:56.319+11:002009-10-19T11:21:56.319+11:00I was delighted to read another of your very well ...I was delighted to read another of your very well thought out, well researched posts. It's also refreshing to read an article written from such a hopeful yet realistic perspective. Living in the US it's easy to become overwhelmed by the fact that so little is being done by the national government toward conservation measures. Although local efforts are being made in many communities it's a problem that requires much more input at national and state levels. If more financial resources were being aimed at the improvement of infrastructure and land management instead of toward a dead economic model we'd be in better shape to face the changes inherent in a world that's growing steadily hotter. <br /><br />I don't know if we as a race are wise enough to consider cutting our birth rate but it's something that's long been advisable in my opinion. Bill McKibbon of 350.org wrote a book a few years ago called 'Maybe One' where he makes a very reasonable argument for single child families.susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747450215034568033noreply@blogger.com