Mankind is a 'virus' and we need to 're-wild the planet.&#

[KeilanS]

I appreciate the comments Tubal-Cain, I would like to think my ideas are good And I hope you're right about hybrid's coming down in price. I'm starting to wonder how long my car has left in it, and I want to buy a hybrid once it dies on me. Hopefully five or six years will see some used hybrids priced around $5000.

And as for your idea on birth control via population limits. I do agree. We should try to stabilize the population with absolutely no bloodshed. However I decided not to mention that as it isn't as simple as "put limits on how many children people can have". I don't claim any education in these fields and the majority of my global environment crisis knowledge comes from high school biology courses. Perhaps you have answers to what I think are the two main problems that would have to be overcome before population controls could work.

1. We would essentially need to eliminate poverty. Many people have many kids because they need free labour to keep their families alive. Population controls would kill these people, and we are trying to avoid bloodshed.

2. Radical reform in the general viewpoint on premarital sex. This likely won't happen anytime soon. But many children are born from people sleeping around, and the general method to get rid of them is abortion. Again, we want to avoid bloodshed. So how do we ensure that children arn't accidently born in a society that loves sex while at the same time removing abortions? I don't even have a guess on how to handle that one.

And of course there is the issue of everyone going crazy because of their freedoms being violated. Humanity as a whole is generally reactive rather than proactive. So perhaps something will happen soon that will push us all over the edge. And of course, there is always the hope that Jesus will return and save us all from ourselves. Let us pray that that happens, but until then, we need to take care of the earth he created.

[KeilanS]

OMG Yes you are sooo right! It's simple, the earth is fine. Mankind will not destroy the earth, that is reserved for God himself when he creates a new heaven and new earth.

Besides, when he comes again, the earth will recover, population will decrease by at least 1/2. Its not going to be anything that he can't handle.

I'm trying to decide if this post was sarcastic or not Anyways, I do agree that mankind will not destroy the earth. It is quite clear that God will handle that. However we might be able to screw it up pretty bad in the meantime.

[Tubal-Cain]

And I hope you're right about hybrid's coming down in price. I'm starting to wonder how long my car has left in it, and I want to buy a hybrid once it dies on me. Hopefully five or six years will see some used hybrids priced around $5000.

You initially said a hybrid would be $40,000 but I see the Toyota Prius is at $22,795 right now. A $5000 car would be very cheap.

I don't claim any education in these fields and the majority of my global environment crisis knowledge comes from high school biology courses. Perhaps you have answers to what I think are the two main problems that would have to be overcome before population controls could work.

I have no expertise in such fields. I'm just throwing ideas out there like you are.

1. We would essentially need to eliminate poverty. Many people have many kids because they need free labour to keep their families alive. Population controls would kill these people, and we are trying to avoid bloodshed.

There would probably need to be some type of social security as well as universal health care. Good economies also seems to correlate with lower birth rates.

2. Radical reform in the general viewpoint on premarital sex. This likely won't happen anytime soon. But many children are born from people sleeping around, and the general method to get rid of them is abortion. Again, we want to avoid bloodshed. So how do we ensure that children arn't accidently born in a society that loves sex while at the same time removing abortions? I don't even have a guess on how to handle that one.

Suppose each woman was limited to one child. Under such a scenario, perhaps people would become much more cautious about how their one child was conceived and about sex in general. It's certainly a tough one.

And of course there is the issue of everyone going crazy because of their freedoms being violated. Humanity as a whole is generally reactive rather than proactive.

This is the biggest issue. Somehow people have to understand that they do not have the freedom to harm others and that harming the environment does harm others. Most of your suggestions aren't harsh but when it comes to reproduction I can't imagine a solution that would be popular by the vast majority.

So perhaps something will happen soon that will push us all over the edge.

As you said, it is not man's nature to be proactive. We also have to fight selfishness, greed, and materialism. I fear we will continue on our way until a major environmental catastrophe strikes.

[KeilanS]

I think a logical first step to overpopulation is to ban abortion. You said a one child policy would make people more careful with sex. Actually it would just make abortion appear a lot more inviting. I find it very interesting how discussing the environment and long term solutions can come to seemingly unrelated issues such as abortion. Because overpopulation is quite plainly the root of the environmental crisis, and solving it is a long slow process. Of course people like Al Gore are sure helping with it. Unfortunately this is where I personally hit a roadblock. Environmentalism is quickly becoming a "religion" of sorts and I have heard it referred to as such in a few places. So in comes the moral issues. We have to promote a huge increase in awareness of environmental issues, while at the same time presenting a 100% Christian viewpoint. And the idea of universal health care or universal anything also scares me. I suspect a "global community" will be followed quickly by the antichrist.

So we need to ban abortion, abolish greed, selfishness, and materialism, make sure we push a Christian viewpoint while promoting the environment, and do it without forming a global community. Haha, is that all?

[Tubal-Cain]

I think a logical first step to overpopulation is to ban abortion. You said a one child policy would make people more careful with sex. Actually it would just make abortion appear a lot more inviting.

I said a one child policy might make people more careful with sex. The means of controlling reproduction would open a huge can of worms regarding freedom and privacy since such a policy would seemingly require us being sterilized after having one child.

Because overpopulation is quite plainly the root of the environmental crisis, and solving it is a long slow process.

I don't think overpopulation is the only root of the problem. Man has been known to pollute the earth and drive species to extinction well before this century.

Environmentalism is quickly becoming a "religion" of sorts and I have heard it referred to as such in a few places.

Although there might be some people who hold up environmentalism as a religion, I think they are very small minority of those who would call themselves environmentalists. Most of the time when I come across someone decrying environmentalism as a religion it is so they can avoid addressing environmental problems.

So in comes the moral issues. We have to promote a huge increase in awareness of environmental issues, while at the same time presenting a 100% Christian viewpoint.

If by "100% Christian viewpoint" you mean a moral movement that is compatible with Christianity then I agree. Of course we need to work with non-Christians as well.

The Christian world view is quite advantageous for such an approach:

- It promotes sex within marriage

- It says being a eunuch for the kingdom is better than marriage (no children)

- It frowns on materialism, selfishness and greed

- It promotes kindness and self-sacrifice for others

Of course the world is not made up of perfect Christians.

And the idea of universal health care or universal anything also scares me. I suspect a "global community" will be followed quickly by the antichrist.

If that happens then we won't have to deal with these thorny issues

[Giaour]

Green lawns actually HELP the environment by providing natural cooling of the temperatures in urban areas,reduces dust and other airborn pollutants,prevents costly erosion and depositing of soil into nearby ponds lakes and streams.

I think you need a bit more research on the ecological benefits of grass.

[Giaour]

http://www.sustland.umn.edu/maint/benefits.htm

[kat8585]

Green lawns actually HELP the environment by providing natural cooling of the temperatures in urban areas,reduces dust and other airborn pollutants,prevents costly erosion and depositing of soil into nearby ponds lakes and streams.

I think you need a bit more research on the ecological benefits of grass.

Plus putting oxygen into the air.

[kat8585]

KeilanS, it's amazing that you have so much insight at only 16! I'd have thought you were much older.

[Giaour]

Grass also helps clean our air. With about 8 million individual grass plants in a well-maintained average-sized 10,000-sq.-ft.lawn, its no wonder that grass is a primary collector of dust and dirt. It is estimated that grass areas trap some 12 million tons of dust and dirt from the air annually. For example, just one acre of grass can absorb hundreds of pounds of fossil fuel-created sulfur dioxide in a single year.