Key conference quotes
| “We human beings are energy junkies”, American author Richard Heinberg. |
| “We are not about to run out of oil but we do face the end of the first age of oil. Fifty countries are already past their peak of production.” Dr Colin Campbell, geologist and founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil. |
| “If we panic and use coal and not renewable, efficient energy, it will probably be the epitaph for our species” Dr Jeremy Leggett, chief executive of Solarcentury. |
| “Until recently, my only direct action (on climate change) has been restricted to turning off lights and TV monitors and driving and flying a little less. “I suspect that future generations will look back with incredulity on the 20th century as that period of history in which we squandered the accumulated energy capital of 150 million years of planetary evolution in a little over 100 years” Patrick Holden, Director of the Soil Association (in the booklet One Planet Agriculture: The Case for Action.) |
| “People will come to admire the Soil Association in the future because its one of the very few progressive organisations in the world today that dares to live within the concept of limits – rather than this ruthless pursuit of a life without limits,” Jonathan Porritt, broadcaster and chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission. |
| “We need to redefine the term ‘farmer’. We should start thinking of a farmer as someone who may well have 3-50 acres, who uses much more hand labour plus animals, complemented by strategic use of a small tractor that is fuelled by ethanol or biodiesal produced on site” American author Richard Heinberg, in the booklet One Planet Agriculture: The Case for Action. |
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