We Are In An Environmental

What The New Fertilizer Technology Has Accomplished For The Farmer Is Clear: More Crop Can Be Produced On Less Acreage Than Before. Since The Cost Of Fertilizer, Relative To The Resultant Gain In Crop Sales, Is Lower Than That Of Any Other Economic Input, And Since The Land Bank Pays The Farmer For Acreage Not In Crops, The New Technology Pays Him Well. The Cost-in Environmental Degradation-is Borne By His Neighbors In Town Who Find Their Water Polluted. The New Technology Is An Economic Success-but Only Because It Is An Ecological Failure.

It Is Simply Economically Impossible To Require Controls That Even Approach Zero Emissions.

By Adopting The Control Strategy, The Nation's Environmental Program Has Created A Built-in Antagonism Between Environmental Quality And Economic Growth.

For That Reason The Simple Test Of The Slogan 'consume Less' As A Basis For Social Action On The Environment Would Be To Tell It To The Blacks In The Ghetto. The Message Will Not Be Very Well Received For There Are Many People In This Country Who Consume Less Than Is Needed To Sustain A Decent Life.

Seen That Way, The Wholesale Transformation Of Production Technologies That Is Mandated By Pollution Prevention Creates A New Surge Of Economic Development.