SG-W:/ manifesto

    It is hereby proclaimed that this generation is abusing the small children of today by wasting resources both natural and human that will be sorely needed in the future. Presently the USA is using about 360 million btus/capita/yr of energy. In contrast Europe uses only about 160 million and China uses about 30 million.How can we ask other nations to reduce their consumption when we are using so much?
    Within the next 50 years our supplies of oil, and natural gas will be nearly depleted. Coal will not be energy effective to mine because of the large quantities of oil it takes to get it. The deposits of phosphorus, and potassium which are desperately needed for fertilizer may be depleted. Without the nitrogen fertilizer that is presently being made from natural gas our population could not survive. Our industries may be unable to function because of shortages of critical metals such as those of stainless steel. Top soil and aquifers are being depleted. Urban Sprawl and road building is covering many acres of farmland. Tremendous and completely unnecessary wasting of gasoline is taking place because of this spreading out of the population. Uninhibited immigration is allowing other countries to produce excess children and push them onto our land. By increasing our population to the breaking point this may cause a food crisis within 50 years.
     Take no comfort that these predictions might be pessimistic and that more supplies of fossil fuels might possibly be found. Continued burning of fossil fuels will undoubtedly cause Global Warming. This may affect weather patterns thus causing droughts, floods, and hurricanes. Furthermore there is the highly probable endangerment and mass destruction of low lying nations due to flooding. That we could do such a thing to another country because of our materialistic greed is entirely contrary to the ethical beliefs of Christianity and religion in general. There is a possibility that Global Warming may trigger an ice age due to a shift in the Gulf stream or by an unplugging of Arctic waters, thus causing billions to starve. There is also a possibility of regenerative and uncontrollable heating of the Earth due to the release of methane from hydrates.
     The Earth's population is being endangered by the single family house, the automobile, and the divorce of the general population from farming, manufacturing, Sustainability research, and other essential occupations. The spreading of the population means that disruptions in fuel supplies would make it impossible for people to work, go to school, or even go to the store. Without fossil fuels we could not farm or make essential goods.
     In its desire to please the voters, Government is making this situation much worse. Subsidies for single family houses, road building, people who are not productive, and airplanes are constantly increasing our consumption. We desperately need to subsidize apartments, total city planning, essential manufacturing, trains, solar energy, wind energy, and biomass energy. We need a mass tree planting program of enormous proportions right now.
    Apartment living makes it possible to walk to work, school, and most other places thus making car travel unnecessary. Shared walls and ceilings of apartments will greatly reduce heating energy consumption. It is necessary to combine agriculture, manufacturing, power production, and dwelling in totally planned villages so that minimum energy will be used. Cogeneration and Comanufacturing should furnish all winter heat. This should start in the piecemeal building of present cities into sustainable villages.
     Unless these precepts are heeded future generations will suffer terribly. The future of mankind depends completely on the husbandry of natural resources. We owe it to our children and our children's children to do this. Materialism is making a mockery of all religion and all ethical thinking.
     The time scale of our Unsustainability is completely unimportant. We know that mankind will have to face this problem and that it will take years of investment to make a difference. We must start right now!

                                                 Kermit Schlansker kssustain@provide.net
                                               Web page at http://www.provide.net/~kssustain