A reporter from Dubai phoned last week and asked, “Can Dubai become a sustainable city?” and specifically, “could the tourism industry be sustainable?” In age of global warming and declining fossil fuels, the entire airline industry is probably not sustainable. Dubai, of course, is not even remotely sustainable. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">

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Recently, we’ve heard about ‘the death of environmentalism’ because – allegedly – the world’s corporations now understand ecology and will solve our problems with investment, innovation, and gung-ho optimism. Of course, what the investors want to create with all that optimism and ingenuity are profits, not real sustainability. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">

Critics regularly accuse environmentalists of being ‘doom and gloom’ prognosticators who complain of endless problems, but offer ‘no solutions’. However, if we check the record, we’ll discover that serious ecologists have been offering solutions for centuries.

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As a global community, we often appear as a dysfunctional family. We bicker constantly, the strong abuse the weak, and alleged leaders behave like addicts, unwilling to change the destructive habits that are destroying our home. As in any abusive relationship, the powerful proclaim a taboo against protest and vilify those who cry out as the crazy ones. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">

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