EYEING THE FUTURE LET YOUR LAWN GO Theo Colborn Environmental health analyst President, The Endocrine Disruption Exchange I THINK THE NEXT BIG ISSUE IS WATER—potable and alible [nutrientrich] water. We have very little left. How are people going to get the water they need? Especially in the West, where I live, everyone’s fighting over water rights. The federal and state governments have not assumed the responsibility to protect our water supply. Water is going to become privatized. People in Washington, D.C., don’t understand this situation. They think that the Colorado River looks like the Potomac or the Delaware or the Hudson. They don’t realize that in many places during the year, you can wade across the Colorado. We need to start protecting the water that we have already, especially the underground aquifers. We could do that through conservation measures that could change things almost overnight in many areas. People have got to stop growing lawns, for example.
SAVE MEGAFAUNA Paul Butler Vice-president for programs, Rare (an international conservation group) POPULATION ISSUES ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF MY MIND. As places like China and India continue to develop, every commodity you can think of, from copper to steel to timber to oil, is going to be in greater demand, and this demand is going to place increasing pressure on all developing countries to exploit their natural resources. I’m also concerned about the impact on wildlife. Over the course of the next couple of decades we may lose some megafauna—tigers, gorillas, orangutans. What happens when we lose something that every single person knows about? “Sorry, guys, there are no more tigers, that’s it, gone.” If we can’t preserve a species like the tiger, how can we save the species that are of lesser interest to the broader public? Even so, I’m optimistic. All over the world, I see local, often impoverished people working hard. In St. Lucia, for example—an island where I’ve spent many years—they’ve protected virtually all the animals except for mongooses, mice, and rats. If these people can remain optimistic, then I should be optimistic.
WATCH THE ANIMALS Dr. Jonathan Epstein Veterinary epidemiologist, The Consortium for Conservation Medicine WE REALLY NEED TO EXAMINE HOW WE INTERACT with animals and impact ecosystems. We’ve seen an increase in emerging infectious diseases, and about three-quarters of those come from animals. It’s largely because of human activity—international wildlife trade, travel, agricultural practices, expansion into wildlife habitats. We’re creating opportunities for disease to emerge. Avian flu is knocking on our door, but we also need to worry 62 | P L E N T Y
about the things we don’t know anything about yet. The key is understanding the ecology of the virus. We need to really look into wildlife reservoirs for disease, and then we need to understand how we interact with those animals. There’s a relationship between human health, animal health, and environmental health. We can’t be naïve that there’s a growing human population that’s going to have demands, but we have to find ways to balance those demands with the rest of the environment.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF SHARKS Susan Casey Author, The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks WHAT I’M REALLY AFRAID OF IS THE END OF PREDATORS—the end of sharks. I can’t see how they can survive very much longer without drastic changes in commercial fishing quotas and methods, and not just in the United States but globally. Ninety percent of large predator fish have disappeared from the ocean since 1950. These animals have been around longer than trees, they’ve survived four global mass extinctions, and we’re going to wipe them out in the space of two generations. And what happens when the top of the food chain is lopped off? We’ve got no idea. One likely outcome is that the lower levels of the food chain start to sprawl—there’s nothing to keep them in check. In my book, I said that an ocean without sharks is likely to be a pestfilled place, and I think most biologists would agree with that. So 70 percent of the planet, the part that’s underwater, is reduced to a guppie tank, and the magnificent apex predators are gone. That’s what scares me—and it scares me a hell of a lot more than great white sharks do.
GET UNHOOKED Bruce Babbitt United States Secretary of the Interior, 1993-2001 Author, Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America I THINK THE CURRENT IMPASSE over the environment is going to lead to a resurgence of interest and a demand for a new vision of what we can do. Right now, the environmental groups are understandably locked in day-to-day combat trying to slow down this administration’s attempt to repeal environmental laws, but it looks like the president is increasingly a lame duck and we must now begin to focus on the future. Here in the United States, we’re going to need a river management policy. New Orleans showed that. And we need reform of the Army Corps of Engineers—either reform them or abolish them. It’s our largest land-use planning agency, but they have been relentlessly destroying the rivers of this country in the name of development. And of course energy policy. It’s the twin of the global warming problem. I’m certain that the American people are ready to hear some sensible debate about getting unhooked from fossil fuel and moving toward alternative energy sources. I am optimistic about that. One must begin each day with an affirmation of our ability to improve the environment and our presence on the planet. ■ December/January 2006 www.plentymag.com