I have read a lot about this 'biodiversity'-thing. Seems to upset a few people. I even read a serious suggestion that the loss of biodiversity was so important that the equivalent of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) should be formed to tackle it. Earlier attempts to tackle the matter at a UN level have gone nowhere. (I would prefer an "IPCC" for tackling the implementation of the Oil Depletion Protocol but that is another story..)

So, why don't we care? I guess because it doesn't impact people who matter. There. I said it, "People who matter." Rich people. Well, comparitively rich. Those in the northern industrialised Nations. Those in the West. The first worlders. The minority. Of course if you are an eskimo or other 'primitive' (excuse the term - I mean it in the nicest possible way, I see 'primitive' as sustainable) who live in close contact with nature you will be the first person to miss all that biodiversity. So that probably includes the majority of the Planet... Until the rest of the Planet catches up with Western Consumerism and starts living in an Unsustainable way too. As if THAT were possible...

So? It seems we would all be happy with that loss of biodiversity as long as we can't see it happening and it doesn't effect us. Our problem is that we are so divorced from nature we don't see its value. It scrubs the dirt from our air and waterways whilst supplying us with a good view. None of this has any 'value' because it has no price.

The way I see it is this: 'biodiversity' just means all the bits of the complicated ecosystems that make up this planet's "Life Support Machine". Mankind is like a terminally ill patient lying in his bed with a screwdriver. He has the back off the life-support machine he is plugged into. He is slowly removing bits of it to sell. He is happy because it keeps working - he is still alive. And he is making money. Lots of money. He has removed all the bits that are not essential for HIS well-being. Sure, the life support machine will not last long enough for the next patient who needs it. But who cares about the children anyway?

So what will wake up this suicidal patient to his folly? Well, if he unplugs the power-cord..... Well, that will kill him. Of coure he could remove the cooling fan from the back so that the machine is slowly over heating. In fact there is a smell of burning in the air.... BUT what needs to happen is something dramatic. Pulling the Power Cord out of the Life Support Machine is the equivalent of Peak Oil. It will probably kill the patient but, at least he will stop wrecking the machine. Sure, he might be choking on the fumes of Climate Change but that is happening too slowly for him to care.

We need to quickly wake up. Something really nasty has to happen and it has to happen soon to someone who matters. And 'nasty' and 'people who matter' can have far reaching consequences. Just look at Sept 11th 2001.