Carbonomics no.1: The Carbon Theory of Value.

Having outlined the degree of legitimacy of a Carbon spiral methodology as a measure of the Earth’s geophysiological health, this section looks at the range issues which this methodology can be used to investigate. However, there is no room here to present a detailed Carbon spiral analysis of each issue so the following sections highlight only the conclusions.

SIX: THE POLITICAL CONCLUSIONS DERIVED FROM THE CARBON CYCLE METHODOLOGY.

It was suggested that the more a species contributes to the maintenance of the Earth’s habitability, the greater its Earth value. The Carbon spiral analysis provides a scientific shortcut for measuring the geophysiological value of each species by looking at the impact of each species on the Planet’s Carbon spiral. The Earth value of each species can be measured in terms of its Carbon pollution and its maintenance of the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity. To the extent that a species helps to absorb more Carbon than it releases into the atmosphere it will have a positive Earth value; and the greater the net absorption of Carbon the greater its Earth value.[1] Correspondingly, the greater the Carbon pollution and the greater the ecological devastation to the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity, the more negative will be a species’ Earth value.

If a Carbon spiral analysis is carried out on all of the Earth’s species, it will become transparent that whilst most Animals produce little Carbon pollution and protect the Planet’s Photosynthetic capacity, and thus have a positive Earth value, the human race is dumping huge quantities of Carbon into the atmosphere and clear cutting the Planet’s Forests, destroying coral reefs, poisoning phytoplankton, etc., and thus has the biggest negative Earth value of all species on Earth.

The Carbon spiral analysis is capable of more refinement. It can show that within the human race it is the rich who are causing the most atmospheric pollution and razing the most Forests whilst the poor are causing far less damage. Thus the rich have a far larger negative Earth value than the poor - some of whom may even have a positive Earth value.

As has been pointed out, however, humans could increase their Earth value not merely by reducing their pollution and curbing their ecological devastation but, most importantly, by fulfilling their status as Planetary beings by regulating the Planet’s climate in order to create a sustainable Planet and to maximize Biodiversity.

The only way to create a sustainable Planet, and ensure climatic stability, is by allocating land to each species according to their Earth value; the greater the Earth value the greater the land. The Carbon spiral analysis will enable the amount of land which should be allocated to each species to be determined with a considerable degree of accuracy. Wildlife should be allocated huge areas of land because they are trying to stabilize the Earth’s climate, whereas humans should be allowed only a much smaller area because they are Earth wreckers.

The Biocentric principle has been highlighted above. Given humans’ geophysiological and evolutionary debts to Wildlife then morally, at least one-third of the Earth’s land surface should be returned to Wilderness where Wildlife can enjoy life without being maimed, mutilated, molested, and murdered by scummy humans. However, in terms of species Earth value then it may well be that even more land must be returned to Wildlife because they are more ecologically important than oomans.

Although it is not yet possible to verify the conclusion, preliminary investigations suggest that the Animal exploitation industry is the most ecologically destructive industry on Earth. It is currently even more destructive than the car industry, human overpopulation, capitalism, and militarism. It is quite staggering, therefore, for one supergreen to insist that, .. “there is nothing intrinsically unecological or unhealthy about eating meat.” (John Button ‘How to be Green’ Century, London 1989 p.92). There is nothing intrinsically unecological or unhealthy about eating meat if you happen to be Robinson Crusoe living on a large tropical island but since the reality is that tens of billions of Animals are being killed around the Planet each year, that nearly one-third of the earth’s land surface has been deforested in order to make way for pasture for livestock animals; that hundreds of millions of Animals are packed into factory pharms which produce prodigious quantities of pollution; and that most factory pharm Animals are stuffed full of drugs to fatten them up and to keep them from dying before they are dragged into the abattoir, then it should be transparent that such an insight is typical of the unreal world in which many supergreens live.

The Carbon spiral analysis shows that the biggest and most rapid ecological destruction has been caused by the exponential growth in the numbers of cars, kids, cattle, capital, and carnage in the over-industrialized nations. The united states of america is by far the biggest Earth-wrecking country in the world. It not only dumps the largest quantities of pollution into the environment, it also causes more Photosynthetic devastation than any other country on Earth.

Multi-national corporations are disturbing the global Carbon spiral far more than individuals, “The top 500 companies of the world now control about 70% of world trade, 80% of foreign investment and 30% of world GDP (about $300 billion a year),” says Richard Tapper of the WWF. “Apart from controlling trade the top 500 companies now generate more than half the greenhouse emissions produced by global industry” says Kevin Watkins of Oxfam.” (Guardian 8.5.92 p.27). This, however, will undoubtedly change as the human population doubles.

There is not a single ecological habitat on Earth which has not been damaged or ruined by pollution or ecological devastation. Given that the main causes of ecological destruction are growing at an exponential rate it is hardly surprising that the rate of ecological destruction is also exponential.

There is an important conclusion which can be drawn from the scale, and the rate, of Photosynthetic devastation - that humans, but primarily the Earth’s over-industrialized oomans, are engaged in a war against the Earth. The uruguay round of the gatt agreement is a formal ratification of the war which these oomans are waging against the Earth. If current trends of Photosynthetic destruction continue, it is only a matter of decades before this results in a global geophysiological collapse.

The global Carbon spiral could be used to determine whether the human race is living beyond its geophysiological limitations. This can be done by determining the concentration of atmospheric Carbon and the scale of Forest needed to reestabish climatic stability. As has already been noted, the level of atmospheric Carbon should be in the region of 200 parts per million and the Earth is one continent short of the Forests it needs for geophysiological health.

The global Carbon spiral could also be used to determine whether countries are living beyond their geophysiological limitations. Once the concentration of atmospheric Carbon and the scale of Forest cover needed to maintain climatic stability have been established for the Earth, it should then be possible to determine each countries level of atmospheric Carbon emissions and the scale of Forest cover. The current ecological state of each country can then be measured to determine whether they are living within their ecological limitations. These issues are explored in more detail in the New Ecological order below.

The Carbon spiral analysis can also be used to determine which is the biggest threat to the Earth’s life support system. Although the threat posed by the greenhouse effect is significant that posed by global warming is more substantial. An even bigger threat is the destruction of the world’s renewable resources (i.e. Micro-organisms, Plants and Trees). The biggest, and most immediate, threat to the Earth is probably the destruction of the Planet’s Wildlife since Wildlife are responsible for protecting the Earth’s soils. This focusses attention once again on the Animal exploitation industry which is the biggest source of ecological destruction. This makes it even more imperative to establish Wilderness areas for Wildlife.

As has been pointed out Lovelock suggests that once 65% of an ecological system has been destroyed the destruction of the remainder of that ecosystem is likely to follow. This could be used to suggest that humans should not reduce the Earth’s Forest cover by 65%. Since the end of the ice age the Earth has lost one-third of its Forest cover. However, there are difficulties since it is not clear whether this 65% threshold concerns Photosynthetic efficiency or Photosynthetic suffocation.

It is not yet known how much it is possible to reduce the efficiency of the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity (for example, by replacing the Earth’s Forests with pastureland or crops) before the Earth’s life-sustaining processes collapse. It should be possible, however, to determine this threshold using the Carbon spiral analysis.

Whilst the efficiency of Photosynthesis remains the same, the suffocation of the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity takes place either through desertification, covering the Earth’s surface in tarmac or cement, or the suffocation of the sea bed by siltation. Once again, however, it is not yet known how much it is possible to suffocate the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity before the Earth’s life-sustaining processes collapse. It should be possible, however, to determine this threshold using the Carbon spiral analysis.

Another way of assessing the Earth’s proximity to a global ecological collapse is through the notion of the final doubling which has been outlined earlier. It has been estimated that humans have already taken over 40% of the Earth’s terrestrial Photosynthesis. Although concern was expressed that if this figure doubled it might cause ecological trouble neither the nature of these troubles nor an estimate as to how long this doubling would take were given.

Alternatively, it has been estimated that humans have reduced the terrestrial Photosynthetic capacity by 13% since the second world war. Given the exponential rate of destruction caused by the five main human activities mentioned above, then humans could end up destroying nearly 65% of terrestrial Photosynthesis within the next 50 years. This is roughly the time it will take for the number of humans to double in number. The doubling of human numbers from 6 billion to 12 billion could represent the final doubling phase of human expansionism. In other words, humans will soon enter the final doubling phase of their existence. There are a number of international scientific institutions which believe that humans have got around three decades to stop the ecological destruction before the momentum of ecological damage is so great that a global ecological collapse will be unavoidable.

The ability of the Carbon spiral methodology to determine which human activities/industries/countries cause the most ecological damage could be used to determine the priorities for reforming these activities/industries/countries to prevent a global ecological collapse.[2] It is imperative to concentrate on tackling the biggest causes of ecological destruction. There is no point in wasting huge amounts of time, effort and resources formulating policies to reform a particular activity if other activities are causing more serious damage. The Carbon spiral methodology should also be able to determine which ecological disaster poses the bigest threat to the Earth’s ife support system. This is imperative since, once again, there is no point in formualting policies to curb one threat if there are bigger threats to the Earth. There are also dangers involved in trying to combat less important environmental disasters since it is possible that reforms may exacerbate other, more dangerous, threats to the Planet’s geophysiology.

The most ecologically destructive human activity is the animal exploitation industry and the biggest geophysiological threat is the destruction of the Earth’s Topsoil and its Wildlife. There is, then, a convergence concerning Animals. This should not be surprising since, to a large extent, Animals are the Planet’s ecology. To take no action to stop Animal exploitation is to refuse to take any action to stop the destruction of the Planet’s ecology. To refuse to create Wilderness areas is to refuse to create a sustainable Planet.

Some environmentalists believe that climate regulation threatens to usher in a global green dictatorship in which the climate will be controlled through technological means. There is little doubt that this does pose a real danger. However, climate regulation is also a rationale for global democracy but the abolition of global injustice between the rich and the poor worlds. A sustainable green Planet can be created only through global justice and the only possible basis of global justice is that those countries which have damaged the Earth should be responsible for repairing the damage. The Carbon spiral analysis can determine how much ecological damage has been caused by each country around the world and evaluate what they have got to do to repair this damage. In other words, the Carbon spiral methodology is the means by which to create global ecological justice.

SEVEN: THE CARBON SPIRAL METHODOLOGY AS THE BASIS OF GLOBAL JUSTICE.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the over-industrialized nations have dumped far more Carbon into the atmosphere than they have absorbed through Photosynthesis and can be defined as historical Carbon debtors, whilst third world countries have imported far more Carbon than they have exported and can be defined as historical Carbon creditors.

Third world countries will never be persuaded to co-operate in preventing a global warming disaster unless it is recognized that since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the over-industrialized nations have released far more Carbon into the atmosphere and have destroyed a far greater proportion of their Forests than third world countries. The over-industrialized nations have made the biggest contribution to global warming and, correspondingly, it is they who must take primary responsibility for combating this growing ecological disaster. The third world will play its supporting role only if the over industrialized nations restore the damage they have inflicted on the Planet’s global Carbon spiral during the industrial revolution.

But why, it might be asked, should the over-industrialized nations take responsibility for the ecological damage they have caused over the last couple of hundred years? The answer is that half the Carbon released during the industrial revolution is still in the atmosphere. Whilst it is impossible for the over-industrialized nations to rectify the centuries old political injustices they have perpetrated against third world countries, they cannot escape their historical responsibilities for boosting global warming. The over-industrialized nations’ crimes against the Planet are not dead and buried in the long distant past like so many imperialist crimes but are omnipresent and about to take their toll not merely on present but on future generations. The over-industrialized nations have been sponging off the third world’s ecology for centuries and if this is not stopped there will be a global ecological breakdown.

A global agreement to combat global warming is possible only on a just and equitable basis i.e. in which the different contribution each country has made to global warming since the start of the industrial revolution is taken into account. The basis of global ecological equity is that each country must balance its historical Carbon budget by absorbing (importing) as much Carbon (through Reforestation) as it has released (exported) since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

If no agreement can be reached between the over-industrialized world and the third world as to how much each country should reduce its Carbon emissions and increase its Forest cover then every country around the world will continue polluting the atmosphere and deforesting the Earth until there is a global ecological collapse - and, on present trends, this collapse could happen within the next three decades. The only way to create a sustainable green world is through a global agreement about a global Carbon budget in which there is global ecological justice for all countries. This global agreement will be the foundation of a New Ecological Order.

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PART THREE: THE PRESENT; THE ROLE OF CARBON IN POLITICS.

SIX: THE POLITICAL CONCLUSIONS DERIVED FROM THE CARBON CYCLE METHODOLOGY.

SEVEN: THE CARBON SPIRAL METHODOLOGY AS THE BASIS OF GLOBAL JUSTICE.