Lubos Motl at The Reference Frame has a post that pokes holes in the Ozone hole scare. When the hole was discovered in 1985 it was assumed to be a bad thing, all man's fault and an omen of doom if evil humans don't change their capitalistic, wealth producing, life extending, freedom loving, rights respecting, pursuit of happiness encouraging ways.
It sure seems that everytime scientists make some discovery about climate, it always is man's fault and portends imminent doom if governments don't take bold and decisive actions to reduce their citizens' influence on the problem whatever it is. Those calls for governments to institute such 'effective measures' are nothing but calls for forced sacrifices, not to achieve some benefit, but sacrifices in their original meaning: the surrender of a value--technology, freedom, etc--in return for no value whatsoever; citizens sacrificing their standard of living to the ants and allegators, who have an absolute right to exist which humans obviously don't have.
As long as people think that someone's good can be achieved by someone else's sacrifice, they will always see the issue as man verses nature instead of man as part of nature and compatible with it. It will take the banishment of the concept sacrifice from the language and culture before people can see man's proper role as obeyer and master and protector of nature.
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