By the Numbers

Back in June when I started this blog, I mentioned Wallace Stegner, a conservationist and one of my favorite writers. One thing Stegner wrote sticks in my mind. He suggested that we should file a mental environmental impact statement every time we do something that effects the environment.
I thought about that today as I was reading “Lost Mountain,” by Erik Reece, a book about radical strip mining in Appalachia.
Reece writes:

“The twentieth century added more people to the world than all other centuries combined. Scientists calculate that each of the more than 6 billion humans on the planet needs 2.5 arable acres to produce the food and energy they need. The World Wildlife Federation estimates that the planet cannot regenerate its resources if every human being uses over 4.45 acres. Currently, the global average is 5.4 acres, which is still a deceiving number given that each American uses 23.47 acres. For the rest of the world to live like Americans, we would need four more Planet Earths.”

That doesn’t change the fact that we have only one Planet Earth.