Friday, October 26, 2007

Seeing Things in the Round


I've read more than my fair share of bad news this week. Here's one more story, this one delivering the cheery news on the diminishing number our closest primate relatives around the world. The relevance here is this section:

Another problem is habitat destruction to make space for biofuel plantations such as oil palm. Developed economies such as the US and Europe are pledging to use more sustainable energy sources to combat climate change, but this is having a knock-on effect on tropical wildlife. "It is creating a huge market and now in several countries politicians are thinking of converting tropical forest areas to palm plantations," he said.


It seems to me that any thinking that fails to see -- or attempt to see and account for -- the full implications of various human actions simply prolongs the cycle of bad news.

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