(Consell Assessor per al Desenvolupament Sostenible)
Sala Seminarios IFIC (Edf. Institutos de Investigación) Lunes, 10 de Mayo de 2010 a las 12:00 PM
Resumen
Most of us were born after WWII and grow infatuated with the miracles of science, firm in our faith that the same kind of minds that had unlocked the secrets of the atom could solve any physical problem, and above all, convinced that the atomic age had solved once and for all any problem of future energy supplies.
From today's perspective, it may be hard to recall that the idea of unlimited resources, of "free" atomic energy that would eliminate resource shortages anywhere on earth by making it possible ultimately to synthesize whatever was needed, was universally and eagerly accepted at midcentury. Whatever was theoretically possible seemed technically feasible and whatever was technically feasible would ultimately become economically affordable. Cheap energy, unlimited economic expansion and global industrialization seemed to be rational goals and were equated to "progress". All this was assumed to have provided a conclusive rejoinder to the arguments of "Neo-Malthussian pessimists".
Myths die hard, but the evidence of our overshoot is accumulating daily and perhaps at no time in human history there has been a more compelling need to re-examine public assumptions and to change our expectations accordingly. Malthus formulated a law that, no matter what the "optimists" may say, has not been disproved by a transitory Age of Exhuberance fueled by fossil energy. This law, stated in today's terms, says that the cumulative biotic potential of any species exceeds the carrying capacity of its habitat, and it applies to each and every species, including us.
It is certainly not easy to take a society conditioned to believe that every problem has a technological solution that a major change of orientation has become a necessity, but a realistic awareness of our ecological predicament and of our own nature are the best means of equipping ourselves to adapt to an uncertain future brought upon us by our past "successes".
It is incumbent upon the scientific community to find, promote and undertake the much needed change of orientation.
