Sunday a.m. Breakout Session featuring a presentation by Greg Lepard:

From Renewable to Non-Renewable - Changing our perspectives.

This session featured the environmental challenges now faced by mankind and a solution being persued by the National Resource Defence Council (NRDC). The NRDC is a group of lawers that is using policy and the rule of law to change the way businesses and governemtal entities operate using the environment. The reason that things are bad is that they remain too expensive to fix.

In regards to agriculture, soil depleation of the world has degraded as follows: 85% U.S., 76% South America, 76% Asia, 74% Africa, 72% Europe and Australia at 55%. With soil degration comes mineral and nutrient depleations that show up in food - food is not a nutrious as it once was. Elements of Sodium, Potassium, Magnisium (sp?), Calcium and Iron are, not found in food in past quantities.

This presentation went into what people can do followed by traditional ideas involving Compact Flor. light bulbs, buying efficient appliances, etc.... One person asked what the solution to the problem would be - "A reduction in lifestyle?" The general response from the attendees was that "No reduction is needed" and an adjustment to sustainablity would be all that's necessary. Another general feeling is that somehow things can be better if we adopt electric cars, solar Photovoltaics for our electricity and buy organically grown vegetables.

JohnK