Which point of view in Debate 1.2 do you find most compelling? Why? What logic or evidence do you find most supportive of that position?

Debate 1. 2

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DEBATE 1.2 What Does the Future Hold? Is the economy on a collision course with the environment? Or has the process of reconciliation begun? One group, led most notably by Bjrn Lomborg, Director of Denmark's Environmental Assessment Institute, concludes that societies have resourcefully confronted environmental problems in the past and that environ- mentalist concerns to the contrary are excessively alarmist. As he states in his book, The Skeptical Environmentalist: The fact is, as we have seen, that this civilization over the last 400 years has brought us fantastic and continued progress.... And we ought to face the facts that on the whole we have no reason to expect that this progress will not continue. On the other end of the spectrum are the researchers at the Worldwatch Institute, who believe that current development paths and the attendant strain they place on the environment are unsustainable. As reported in State of the World 2004: This rising consumption in the U.S., other rich nations, and many developing ones is more than the planet can bear. Forests, wetlands, and other natural places are shrinking to make way for people and their homes, farms, malls, and factories. Despite the existence of alternative sources, more than 90 percent of paper still comes from trees eating up about one-fifth of the total wood harvest worldwide. An estimated 75 percent of global fish stocks are now fished at or beyond their sustainable limit. And even though technology allows for greater fuel efficiency than ever before, cars and other forms of transportation account for nearly 30 percent of world energy use and 95 percent of global oil consumption. These views not only interpret the available historical evidence differently, but also they imply very different strategies for the future.