[kitchencabinetforum] GOVERNMENT IS THE LARGEST POLLUTER IN ANY COUNTRY!

Orthodoxies are traditional and established beliefs. Most environmental orthodoxies have major drawbacks. They usually overlook the biophysical factors and adaptive practices. The usual orthodoxies of desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, and climate change have major faults. They are mostly the result of nature, not of human activity!

Janez Potocnik points out the enormity of climate change is contributing to hard debate and choices in the search for solutions. The very longevity of forests adds an extra dimension this. What we do in our daily lives today will affect forests for generations to come. We must prepare if we want to leave healthy functioning forests to future generations.

The best way to go green is fixing environmental problems at their
source, and that source is government. Government is by many
accounts the largest polluter in any country. By reducing the size
of government and recycling redundant and unnecessary government
bureaucracies, we will shrink the size of our government footprint,
and in turn, help our environment. More government is not the
solution to environmental woes, it's the problem. Until we reduce
the size of government, our environmental problems will continue to
grow.

Potocnik declares we cannot take the relatively stable status of forest cover in Europe for granted and we cannot either take for granted that forests will remain a sink for carbon sequestration. Sustainability will be challenged and it will be especially in forests. We need to improve our knowledge to face this reality.

Socialists and radical environmentalists have been trying for decades to reshape communities to conform to their preferred pseudosmart-growth policies. These advocates work to impose land use regulations that would force citizens into denser living arrangements, curtail freedom of choice in housing, discriminate against lower-income citizens, and compel people to pay more for their houses and give up their cars in favor of subways, trolleys, buses, and bicycles. http://venitism.blogspot.com

These efforts - often described as New Urbanism, sustainable development, or open land preservation - have long been resisted by most members of the community due to their negative impact on economic growth, competitiveness, and the standard of living. Communities implementing pseudosmart-growth policies have significantly higher home prices, which precludes moderate-income households from homeownership. In turn, these high home prices have forced buyers to take on excessive levels of mortgage debt, which has contributed to default and foreclosure problems.

Potocnik notes new demands for bio-energy and new types of wood-based products, for example, are likely to put an increased demand on our forests. Part of these demands could be met through an increased use of currently under-managed forests and a more efficient use of wood already harvested. However, there is a risk that excessive new demand could lead to an excessive use of certain forests.

The population has exploded by an extra one billion in a decade. When I was born in 1945 it was only two billion and now it's seven billion. We've got a small planet, constraining the goods and services it can provide, while we are pursuing infinite growth not just of the number of people, but a growth in what we're consuming as well.

Innovation could alleviate the pressure on our limited resources, allowing the
population to grow without compromising individuals' quality of life. The growth
rate peaked in 1963, and some people anticipate a negative population growth in
Western European countries. Our lifestyles, including our ever-increasing
appetite for goods, are also having a dramatic impact on the consumption of the
world's resources.

Potocnik warns there is a risk that we use our resources beyond the planet's capacity. The key word has to be efficient use of our resources. Sustainability. Forests should be used at a rate and in a way that will not compromise their biodiversity and other environmental functions, and in a way that does not reduce the future productive capacity of the forest in terms of quality and quantity of wood and other products.

Potocnik says that while European forestry has strong credentials in having increased forest area, standing stock and increment over the past decades, we should not be complacent. Climate change is already making its signature on forests, and projected future changes in climate, present an existential threat to our forests on the medium-to-long term.

Climate change alone questions whether our forests are truly sustainable. Changes are unpredictable, but likely to be significant. To be resilient, forests should be diverse and in good health. Potocnik laments many EU forests are not in a favourable condition, and are subject to pressures, such as fragmentation and the spread of invasive alien species, including new pathogens.

Wow! Smart words are more effective than smart bombs! Mighty words of a charismatic keynote speaker can transform your people to a new dimension of organizational climate, efficiency, self-actualization, enthusiasm, belonging, and motivation. I would like very much to speak at your conference in order to explain critical points much further. Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com