Between The Forest And Greed :: essays research papers

Between The Forest and GreedWithin the past decade there has been a rising "environmentally assured"movement. The spectrum of issues in contention by environmentalism has expandedvirulently and is reaching its zenith. Public dissatisfaction with theenvironmental movement is forming, as the movement has emergencen the fight for theenvironment withal far. Donella Meadows is an environmentalist who has yet tofully think about the issue she is arguing. In her piece "Not Seeing the Forestfor the Dollar Bills," she takes an almost infantile overture to the loggingindustry and the concept of clear cutting. The monetary motivations behind thelogging industry is her explanation for clear cutting, trying to portray thelogging industry as a cold money making machine. This of course neglects thefact that the reason logging generates capital is because the world needs wood.There are several economic and environmental issues that are considered whenloggers enter and area. Ha phazard clear cutting of forests, while it maybe whatMeadows would like us to think, does not happen. With every industry, everyaspect is guardedly debated and analyzed for the short and long term outcomes.     Any industry that capitalizes on earths resources figuratively signs apact with the earth. This pact bonds this industry to the earth and requiresthat any harvest-home of resources is not done so with haste and waste. There isa symbiotic relationship between the two. For the industry to exist there mustbe a constant supply of the resource. Without a constant supply the industrydies. Now, many people believe that the logging industrys objective is to cutdown all the trees that are shortly standing. As horrific as this scenariomay sound, it is far from the truth. Without trees to cut down there is noindustry. The logging industry is not so unadvisable as to rampage the forests andcut down all the trees. As they cut, they plant. Replacing forests withsampl ings may look inadequate, but over a long period of succession these samplingswill become a new forest. The earth as we know it today has been in existencefor millions of years. Even if newly planted tress take a century to grow backthat is only a pinpoint on the time line. The millions of acres of forestedland left untouched currently will not be engulfed by blades and tractorsinstantly. It will take time to cut down the trees, as it will take time togrow them back.     Meadows seems to train a misconception of industries and the service theyprovide. All industries, whether it be recycling to logging, are trying to