Print this pageAbstract: Integrating Environmental Considerations in Development Planning
Because man is totally dependent on the environment for meeting his physiological needs, there can be no fundamental conflict between the environment and the activities necessary to meet those needs. However, there may be conflicts among people, sectors, countries, and generations over the priorities among various needs and the diverse means for meeting them. Environmental systems and resources are destructible and finite, and thus their uses cannot be open to everyone for everything, but must be limited.
It is in man's best interest to understand the potentials and limits of environmental and resource bases so that productive and sustainable development strategies can be adopted and implemented. The integration of environmental considerations into policy formulation--in all sectors and at all levels--is the only way to assure that the full implications of all activities are assessed. Without these considerations, the environment will be degraded and man's capability for meeting his needs will be diminished.
The normal process for dealing with environment is to wait until there are environmental problems--when damage is apparent or imminent. The sequence of public apathy, catastrophe, alarm, overreaction, retreat, and rethinking is almost universal. Bold steps must be taken by the public, the scientific and technologic communities, and political leaders to replace this wasteful and reactive mode with a sequence of concern, analysis, anticipation, and management. It is still within the power of countries, acting individually and collectively, to determine whether the prophets of doom will be proved correct.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90962©1978 AAPG 2nd Circum-Pacific Energy and Minerals Resource Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii