One of my main personal and professional interests is the relationship between environmental issues and economics, which includes resource management. I have two degrees in agriculture, I've taught college courses in environmental science and environmental ethics for many years, and I've observed ecosystems and human activity on every continent.
My conclusions from my studies, observations, and conversations have not always coincided with the mainstream, mostly because I (i) don't think humans are destroying the planet and (ii) do think the best way to protect the environment is through economic growth and technological development. Certainly, if we wanted to, we could destroy the planet. However, throughout the world, people are learning to live in better harmony with nature, thanks to a combination of scientific achievement, technological development and implementation, and a more enlightened ethical approach.
Here's a good example. In my environmental blog, I mentioned the concept of Peak Farmland that will be explained in a paper to be published in 2013. The authors have made the paper available online.
http://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/PDR.SUPP%20Final%20Paper.pdf
A lecture by Jesse Ausubel is available here:
http://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/Peak%20Farmland%2018%20Dec%20lecture%20Ausubel(1).pdf
Essentially, the paper debunks the Malthusian theory that human population would outgrow food supplies, leading to mass starvation.
Being LDS, I find it interesting to realize that Malthus died in December 1834. In April 1834, Joseph Smith received a revelation about the united order that included this passage that is rich with meaning when thinking of environmental issues:
13 For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man
a, as a
b over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures.
14 I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and
a the earth, my very
b; and all things therein are mine.
15 And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.
16 But it must needs be done in mine own
a; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the
b shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
17 For the
a is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be
b unto themselves.
18 Therefore, if any man shall take of the
a which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the
b of my gospel, unto the
c and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in
d, being in torment.
Verse 17 is a direct refutation of Malthusian theory, and yet the media continues to write stories premised on the validity of Malthus' ideas. Paul Ehrlich became rich and famous by restating Malthus with alarming predictions of mass starvation that never materialized.
Since the Peak Farmland study was featured in the dotcom blog at the NYTimes, maybe finally the media, and then public opinion, will finally catch up to what Joseph Smith taught back in 1834.
