In 1987 REM, a rock band from Athens, Georgia, released their song It’s the end of the world as we know it: a song about how humans are abusing the Earth with war. Today, people would argue that the end of the world is due to limited natural, non-renewable resources. Jared Diamond, author of Twilight at Easter, relates the destruction of the Easter Island society to modern civilizations, stating that the similarities are “chillingly obvious,”[1] and concluding with a feeling of hopeless abandonment. The essence of apocalypse lingers in his words and chills the reader into submission. However, when his work is examined more closely, the “chillingly obvious” becomes the recognizably different. Such an apocalyptic theory should be and will be challenged.
The Polynesian colony on Easter Island started around 900 A.D. The land was full of life, both of the plant and animal variety. The culture was thriving and progressing, developing enormous boats for deep-sea fishing, as well as constructing some of the most impressive statues the world has ever seen. These things, however, came at a cost to the land and the people of Easter Island. The Polynesians of Easter Island used trees for practically everything; boats, clothing, fire, houses, and transportation of their mighty statues. Diamond writes about the end of this resource, and questions if the people knew the outcome of their actions. He says, “What did the Easter Islander who cut down the last palm tree say while he was doing it?”[2] By using the entirety of just one of their resources, the collapse of the society came slowly, like natural gas filling a house: waiting for the event that would end it all, like the flip of a switch. With the last of the trees cut down, much like a pebble thrown into a still pond, the ripple effect began. No longer able to build their fishing boats, they had to rely on inshore species of fish. The birds that were once plentiful now had to find a new place to shelter themselves. Grasses and herbs were burned for warmth, and soon, those were gone too. With no source of food, and no means of traveling to find new sources, the people of Easter Island were forced to resort to cannibalism and by the mid 1800’s, ceased to exist entirely.
Compare that to the world today. Mining, cutting, and using our natural and quite often non-renewable resources to fuel our society. Energy sources such as oil, coal and wood are being used faster than they are produced. Due to a low supply and a high demand, oil prices have skyrocketed to $61.64* per barrel. Deep in the Earth’s surface, low-grade coal is becoming more economical to mine because the need for energy is increasing, thus pushing its value up. Wood is being used as a form of cleaner-burning energy with hopes that it will eventually be a replacement for coal when the supply runs out. Predictions have been made that some of our resources, such as oil, will be gone in the next forty years. Is this the beginning of the end? Hardly.
As Jared Diamond pointed out, there are some similarities between the Easter Island civilization and present-day society, such as the over-use of natural resources. Much like the Easter Islanders, modern civilizations use natural resources at an astounding rate. The differences lie elsewhere; whereas the Polynesian people were cut off from the rest of the world by water; planes, trains, and automobiles allow the inhabitants of the current world to find resources elsewhere. Then comes the question of how long the world’s resources will last, and if our modern society is not a reoccurrence of Easter Island’s collapse just on a larger scale. Unlike the Polynesians of the island, modern civilizations are taking steps to preserve our natural resources. With things like National Forests, woodlands are preserved as habitats for the wildlife which sustains our lives.
As for energy, the truth shall not be denied: we are running out of coal and oil. Within a relatively short period of time, they will be gone, and then what will we do for energy? Chaos will arise, wars will break out and everyone will die! That is, unless some new means of sustainable energy were discovered that would not only be technologically possible, but would provide power for the entire world. But wait, there’s something like that already being used: wind. As of right now, there is enough technology to economically power the world with those gentle breezes that grace us everyday. Wind is sustainable and environmentally friendly. Currently, one electric company in particular is making a world-wide impact with its five thousand wind turbines, which generate enough power to heat over two million homes each year. Truth be told, the giant blades of the windmills do kill a couple birds every now and then, but they don’t produce the carbon dioxide emissions that tear away at our ozone. By using wind power in place of coal, oil or wood, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 18.3 million tons per year. That’s the equivalent to taking three million cars off the roads.[3] This doesn’t sound apocalyptic at all. In fact, it sounds like a bright future. Could it be that the idea of apocalypse is driving our society to a better tomorrow?
The major concern with the disappearing resources is fuel for our automobiles. Currently, our vehicles require it in order to perform. Technology is attempting to move us away from our dependence on oil with inventions like the solar-powered cars. Although solar power for automobiles is a great idea, it is not for everyone. For those of us further from the equator, solar-powered vehicles are not economical at all, thus why technology is turning toward cellulosic ethanol, an alternative fuel source that can replace or be coupled with oil. Unlike ethanol from corn, wheat, or soybeans, cellulosic ethanol is produced by plant or paper waste that is usually plowed into the soil or deposited in a landfill. At present, paper waste is the most economical for cellulosic ethanol because it has already been pretreated: one of the steps in extracting the cellulose from the waste. The greenhouse gas emissions from this form of ethanol are also fifty five percent lower than that of ethanol from corn. With improving technology and funding, it is estimated that the price per gallon of this new fuel will fall between $.59 and $.91 by the year 2015. By using this type of fuel, “America’s farmers could one day be filling both our refrigerators and our gas tanks.”[4] Although the inhabitants of Easter Island didn’t have to find an alternative form of energy for automobiles, the fact that present society is working toward a sustainable substitute for the non-renewable resources being used sets us apart from the extinct civilization.
The argument can, and has been made that the two situations are similar, with the exception of modern society being on a much larger scale. Instead of the collapse of one culture, it is the end of the world as we know it. Of course, that’s what we thought about Y2K too, is it not? Society has a difficult time realizing the truth when they have been blinded by apocalypse. The truth is that the “chillingly obvious” similarities between the present-day world and the former Easter Island society are evidently insignificant. We have the technology and the resources to fuel our world with wind and, in the near future, cellulosic ethanol. If the supply of coal and oil is the only thing we look at when determining our fate, then it is as REM said in their song, It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
[1] Quote comes from Jared Diamond’s Twilight at Easter in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2005 pp.52
[2] Quote comes from Jared Diamond’s Twilight at Easter in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2005 pp.51
* Price of a barrel of oil as of 3/02/07 according to http://www.wtrg.com/daily/crudeoilprice.html
[3] Information provided by General Electric’s Wind Turbine Environmental Benefits and Detailed Information page. http://ge.ecomagination.com/@v=030220071715@/site/index.html?kw=sustainable%20wind%20power&c_id=windpower#wind/envmodel
[4] Taken from Diane Greer’s 2005 article Creating Cellulosic Ethanol: Spinning Straw into Fuel in BioCycle. http://www.harvestcleanenergy.org/enews/enews_0505/enews_0505_Cellulosic_Ethanol.htm
| Stephanie Teig |
