[GreenYes] re fazil mihler article

[Ben Bennett <bbc@albedo.net>]

Hi everyone
The Fazil Mihlar article was written for Southam News, which owns
several paper across Canada. I don't know how many this appeared in, but

it did appear in the Halifax Daily News. Here's how I responded:

Dear Sir,
About every two or three years or so, someone makes a high profile
comment about what a waste of time recycling is. The remarks are
invariably widely reported (it is, after all a great story angle) and
all those folks who are marginal recyclers, and heavy energy and water
users say "I told you so" and head off in their SUV for the
drive-through.
Fazil Mihlar's piece trashing recycling is a case in point.
Mr. Mihlar makes a couple of fairly good points in the body of his
article but his opening salvo and early comments are just plain
bone-headed.
He acknowledges "we live in a world of scarce resources". Indeed we do.
Raw materials cannot be mined from this planet indefinitely and there is

always a heavy environmental cost to pay when we extract them. So
disposing of them after a single use is not only wasteful and immoral;
it is also dumb.
But do we really live in a world of scare resources for environmental
programs? No. After several years of economic growth, any scarcity is
more a reflection of the success of Mr. Mihlar's friends at the Fraser
Institute (a right wing think-tank, for our US friends) than any
shortage of money.
It may be a coincidence, but market-oriented governments invariably
spend less on the environment, having made a strong economic case for
doing so, and their citizens end up paying the price with their health.
--
Ben Bennett,
Publisher,
Product & Packaging Stewardship Review



--
Ben Bennett Communications
"We only work for nice people"

127 Wyndham St. N, Suite 100
Guelph, Ont. N1H 4E9
Tel: 519-823-1188 Fax: 519 823-0084
Email: bbc@albedo.net
Web site:http://www.bbc.guelph.org


******************************************
To post to the greenyes list,
email to: greenyes@grrn.org

subscription, faq and netiquette info for
this list are available here:
http://greenyes.grrn.org/
Please be sure to read the faq and netiquette
pages before posting.
******************************************