Can the Planet Support More Americas?

I refer to this column, written by Chandran Nair, which has also been published in TheStar Can the Planet Support More Americas? which I feel should be more appropriately titled 'Can the Planet support relentless consumption?' It is a very sobering article, and the writer tries to catch the attention of Asian political leaders, that, while it's politically desirable to push their respective countries to high income status, and middle class abundance, Mother Earth has been stretched over its regenerative capacity, and simply cannot cope... Just taking one example, he asks, " Take cars for example; Estimates suggest that if China, India and other developing countries reach Western levels of car ownership, there could be 3 billion cars in the world, four times the current total, within four decades. Where will the fuel come from for these vehicles, and what about their environmental impact? ..." I may add, how much carbon pollution will they produce?

Again, if China and India consume the same amount of energy per capita as the USA, can the planet survive the effects of carbon pollution, and environmental degradation. Will there be any glaciers left to provide the world of drinking water, or for that matter, will there be anything left of the Arctic Circle?

I further quote from him, "Politicians, economists and businessmen remain in denial, using the crutch of technology, free markets and finance to spin messages about innovation and hope. But hope is not a plan.(underline mine) Asian governments must reject the blinkered views of those who urge Asians to consume relentlessly — be they Western economists and leaders who want the region to become a “motor of growth” to rebalance the world economy or Asian governments convinced that ever-expanding economies are what their populations need. .."

In the Malaysian context, there are many areas that we could look at, but I am not sure if the Govts (Federal as well as State), are just paying lip service to the necessary steps that we have to take to preserve the country and the world from further damage. To just mention a few:

• Are we serious about protecting what is remaining of our forest reserves and catchment areas, if State Govts continue to allow new and additional pristine forests to be 'harvested' for their valuable hardwood. Do we allow core timber companies to continue to project increasing production of virgin forest logs year after year, without even considering a moratorium for such activity. Virgin forest reserves, it is easy for me to say, is a finite NON renewable resource.
• The Govts are just paying lip service to the banning of the use of plastic bags in all business activities.Most of them cursorily ban the use of plastic bags on a Saturday. But walk among the hyper-malls, the night markets and the food courts, etc, you will find plastic bags being used as if there is no tomorrow. At the rate they are being used, there WILL be no tomorrow.
• The Govt is not doing anything much to move from inefficient industries, which seem only to be able to survive on cheap labour. For immediate and short term political expediency, foreign workers are imported, from any South and South East Asian country who are willing to subject their people to work in slave like conditions, to meet the desire to keep the inefficient industries alive and at a profit. By doing so, that is, by not exercising strong political will, we may seem to be flourishing economically in the short term, but in addition to not being able to meet the global challenges in the next decade or so, we will be also 'importing' social and environmental problems that millions of uneducated and famished foreign migrant workers are bringing into the country, not to mention the pressure they will exert on our housing, energy, food and transport resources.

Though in the end, as the writer says, it will depend on the Governments of Beijing, Delhi and Jakarta to determine if the planet can survive the challenges of relentless consumption, it is also essential that every country pull its weight, so that Mother Earth will have a chance to heal herself.

Assuming that a nation can survive based on the economics of infinite consumption growth in a world of finite resources is like assuming that you have the goose that lays golden eggs. That's a fairy tale.

Can Malaysia support relentless consumption?