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10.The Future of Natural Resource &

Environmental Management

Larry D. Sanders

AGEC 3503

Spring 2006

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FACT OR MYTH?(relative to planet Earth)

1. There will always be more people.

There will never be more land.

2. The world was made for humans.

Humans were made to conquer and rule it.

3. All production processes/systems have limits.

4. Ignorance of social benefits/costs leads to inefficiency & possibly irreversible impacts.

5. Humans are superior to all life forms.

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1. There will always be more people. There will never be more land.

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2. The world was made for humans.Humans were made to conquer and rule it.

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3A. All production processes/ systems have limits.

OUTPUT

INPUT

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3B. The ‘Law of Diminishing Returns’ shows that all production processes/ systems

have limits. But, technology helps . . .

HUNT/GATHER

AGRICULTURE

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE

META-INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE

OUTPUT

INPUT

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4a. Ignorance of social benefits leads to inefficiency & possibly irreversible impacts:

undervaluing of benefits.

MB(p)

MB(s)

$

OUTPUT

MC(p, s)

Q Q’

P

P’

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4b. Ignorance of social costs leads to inefficiency & possibly irreversible impacts:

undervaluing costs.

MB(p, s)

MC(s)

$

OUTPUT

MC(p)

QQ’

P

P’

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5. Humans are superior to all life forms.

“The history of life on Earth . . . refutes the claim that ‘it is better to be smart than to be stupid’, at least judging by biological success: beetles and bacteria, for example are vastly more successful than humans in terms of survival.”

--Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival, p.1, Metropolitan/Owl Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2003; (Chomsky was summarizing the thoughts of biologist Ernst Mayr on the future prospects of human survival).

Are we nearing our 100,000 years of species’ average life span?

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What to do? (if you’re a believer that human perception

of & use of the planet needs to change)• Remember the ad “Teacher seeking student who wants to

save the world”? The key is to “undo” misperceptions & abusive behavior:

“If it’s undone, it will be undone by a whole new generation of authors & teachers. One of which is you. . . . Parents, teach your children. Children, teach your parents. Teachers, teach your pupils. Pupils, teach your teachers. Vision is the river, and we who have been changed are the flood.. . . The world will not be saved by old minds with new programs. If the world is saved, it will be saved by new minds with no programs. “--Quinn, D., The Story of B, Bantam Books, New York, 1996.

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You have changed . . .

• You are a different person than when you started the course. Yet much of you is the same. Think on that.

• Steel your opinions with accurate & insightful information (knowledge).

• Temper your informed opinions with critical thinking.

• Test your critical thought with open-minded dialogue.

• Share what you know & learn.

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We are only here to learn and have fun . . .

Thinking outside the box means giving up the packaging, and perhaps the contents.

Reframe the questions in ways that free you up to be creative in finding new solutions.

Applying such focus to natural resource and environmental issues will be among the most important work you’ll ever do.

If you don’t know how to do that yet, that is your next learning challenge.