My Response to Catoismymotor
April 23, 2010
– Comments (41)
Earlier today Catoismymotor left us with this little gem of a publicity stunt. I would like to respond:
Earth Day predictions of 1970. The reason you shouldn’t believe Earth Day predictions of 2009.
From: www.ihatethemedia.com
For the next 24 hours, the media will assault us with tales of imminent disaster that always accompany the annual Earth Day Doom & Gloom Extravaganza.
Ignore them. They’ll be wrong. We’re confident in saying that because they’ve always been wrong. And always will be.
Need proof? Here are some of the hilarious, spectacularly wrong predictions made on the occasion of Earth Day 1970.
“We have about five more years at the outside to do something.”
• Kenneth Watt, ecologist
“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”
• George Wald, Harvard Biologist
“We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.”
• Barry Commoner, Washington University biologist
“Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.”
• New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day
“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.”
• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.”
• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.”
• Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day
“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.”
• Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University
Of all the idiocy in this post, this first quote is my favorite and the only one I would like to respond to at this time. “We have about five more years at the outside to do something.”
• Kenneth Watt, ecologist - 1970.
We have been doing something. Please get out of the way.
350.org refers to the level in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is deemed to be a safe upper limit in order to avoid a climate tipping point. [4] African Wild Dog Conservancy Aga Khan Trust for Culture American Consumer Council - http://www.americanconsumercouncil.org American Indoor Air Quality Council Antinea Foundation Antipoisoner International[5] ATWA (ATWA International) Bellona Foundation Biofuelwatch Biosphere Expeditions BirdLife International BLOOM[6] Blue Ventures[7] Borneo Orangutan Survival Center for a World in Balance [8] Center for International Environmental Law Coal River Mountain Watch Conservation Foundation Conservation Law Foundation Earth Charter Initiative Earth First! Earth Island Institute Earth Liberation Front (ELF) Earth Liberation Prisoner Support Network (ELPSN) Earth Policy Institute EarthLink e.V. Earthwatch [9] Earth System Science Partnership [10], worldwide integrated study of the earth system which includes: DIVERSITAS an International Programme of Biodiversity Science [11] International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) [12] Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) (UK) Environmental Investigation Agency Forests and the European Union Resource Network (FERN) Forest Stewardship Council ForestEthics Friends of Nature Friends of the Earth Gaia Mater (the mother Earth) Global Footprint Network Global Justice Ecology Project [13] Global Water Policy Project Global Witness Global Vision International Great Transition Initiative Green Cross International Greenpeace International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) International Analog Forestry Network International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Institute for Sustainable Development International Network for Sustainable Energy (INFORSE) Legacy Foundation The Mountain Institute NatureServe Nicodemus Wilderness Project Regenesis - the Global Movement for Environment Sustainability, Liberty & Social Justice Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue) [14] Tellus Institute The Climate Project The Nature Conservancy Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Surfrider Foundation Wetlands International Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society Wildlife Conservation Society Wolf Preservation Foundation (WPF) World Business Council for Sustainable Development Worldchanging World Conservation Union (IUCN) World Resources Institute (WRI) World Union for Protection of Life (WUPL) Worldwatch Institute World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Xerces Society Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative youthNoise
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