Sustainability

[jltusten]

I agree with Solow’s argument that sustainability isn’t something that can be easily defined or measured, and I agree that this makes it a hard topic legislatively. In order to make specific and effective laws about something there needs to be a specific definition about that topic. No such thing exists for sustainability. I also agree with Solow that we can’t presume to make choices based on what future generations will want. Previous generations set up the infrastructure in this country for us, however, we don’t really appreciate that. We’re too busy worrying about climate change, and how the previous generation messed things up for us, that we completely forget to thank them. This could be related to the next generation. We don’t know what they’ll need, what elements of our society they’ll find a way to improve, so it can be hard to plan for them. However, I disagree with Solow’s point that we can use up a resource as long as we put something back to replace it in some way, and replace it only if it is valuable to us to replace it. I think that what we take should be in moderation so that the natural stock can replenish itself as we use it, rather than it struggle to replenish after we deplete it. Therefore I believe that we cannot rely on substitutes to replace our resources. In this way, I also think that aquaculture cannot replace wild fish stock. Wild fish are a natural resource and both we and other ecosystems rely on them to survive. Due to this, aquaculture cannot replace wild fish stock other than as a food source since the global population is growing too rapidly for the wild fish stock to sustain it. If we were not to protect the wild fish stock it would still die off, and therefore aquaculture isn’t enough to sustain it.

[Isabella Erickson]

I agree that Solow is not entirely correct about substituting replacing resources. However, I think a major flaw in Solow’s reasoning is that he does not acknowledge the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources. His theory about substitution works for nonrenewable resources, but, like you said, renewable resources can replenish themselves if they are given time. It is irresponsible for humans to be forced into substituting a renewable resource because we could not control ourselves.

[svsanchezbutler]

You make a good point that we shouldn’t try and predict what the future generations will need from us and that a population shouldn’t just use up an entire resource just because they have alternatives for it.

[rmwilliams7]

Yes, we can’t predict the future so it is hard to comprehend and understand what exact things we need to sustain and what in fact even is sustainably, but the most important thing is that we protect our current environment and resources because we can never predict the future.

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