Lovelock: "Sustainable Development" is meaningless drivel

Inscription for award of Edinburgh Medal 2006

James Lovelock, the well known environmentalist who formulated the Gaia theory, at 92 is still causing ripples with his views.  A few weeks ago he was quoted as admitting that his predictions about global warming had been 'alarmist' and 'extrapolating too far'.

Now, he has described 'Sustainable Development' as 'meaningless drivel'. 

Edinburgh University, an organisation with a growing reputation for hosting cheerleaders of alarmism about global warming, is one of those places where you can get a degree course in 'Sustainable Development'.   Here, from the course description, is a sample of what Lovelock was alluding to:

"Our accelerating consumption of natural resources is damaging the ecosystems on which all life depends, posing fundamental challenges to modern assumptions about economic progress, democracy and social relations. Sustainable Development refers to the challenges of reducing global inequity and poverty, and improving well-being, while reducing threats to the earth's life support systems from industrial production and consumption. Effective environmental care and management in relation to climate stability, other species and natural resources requires the examination of how humans relate to each other and to their surroundings. The critical analysis from diverse perspectives that this degree provides will be essential to understand these challenges, and to evaluate the proposed responses."

That seems to me to be pre-programmed to engender doom and alarm with little acknowledgement of positive effects of development and progress.