Page 52 - ECOlogic Book

such as wind and solar power, will not only cut U.S. carbon output (the
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highest in the world), but also make our economy more competitive.

“Without a wholesale transfer of the economic system to conform to the
principles of environmental sustainability, many ecologists believe that
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eventual economic decline is inevitable,” said Lester Brown of the
Worldwatch Institute in the 90’s. And again, we are faced with the question
of the cost of not making the necessary changes.

For the short term, energy efficiency and conservation are the most urgent
needs, in building and in transportation. According to the Union of
Concerned Scientists, it will be technologically possible to achieve a CAFÉ
(corporate Average Fuel Economy) standard of 40 MPG by 2001. The office
of Technical Assessment (the research arm of Congress), has stated that we
could lower emissions to between 20-35% of 1987 levels by 2015. The
Natural Resources Defense Council is calling for 20% below 1988 CO2 levels
by 1000. Greenhouse emissions could be cut by 10-40% from 1990 levels
at little or no cost, according to a report by the National Academy of
Sciences, just by improving efficiency as much as current technology
permits.

There are some hopeful signs. As mentioned before, by the time you read
the U. S may have found a way to enter more fully into the consensus that is
forming around the world on Global Warming, hopefully signing the
International treaty on Global Warming in Rio.

In February, 1992, the U. S. offered $75 million to encourage the use of less
polluting fuels in developing nations. Not enough, but a start. The new
Federal Highway Bill is another step in the right direction, doubling the funds
directly allocated to mass transit.

But much more is needed. Financial incentives are needed to encourage the
development of alternative fuels and/or technologies, especially solar, which
has made impressive gains in recent years. The sun may turn out to be out
best friend after all.

Most of all, a change in consciousness is needed; a recognition that we are
in the midst of a complex system that does not operate according to the
same simple rules of cause and effect we were raised on. “The problem,”

54 Amicus Journal, /Winter, 1989)

55 Brown, Lester, “Two Views of the World,” Amicus Journal, Winter, 1990.

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