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Sustainability an unreal idea

“The dominant note of our time is unreality” ” The Money Game by Adam Smith, 1967.

Aspen has long been known as Never-Never Land. Now TV, the news, politics, art, advertising, the Web and cinema have joined the town. The more things change the more irrational they get.

Take “sustainability” for example. It used to mean that it was management’s job to keep a business or a government alive and prosperous. Today this warm and fuzzy buzzword means that we all must manage to keep the planet alive and healthy.



Every knowledgeable person knows humans cannot sustain Earth. Scientists have logged its mass extinctions during eras of huge natural catastrophes. For example, it is unreal to believe that humans can prevent another Ice Age.

The Geologic Story of the Aspen region states that the Earth has been heating and cooling for billions of years. This U.S. Geological Survey adds that most geologists and climatologists agree that glaciers will return some day and cover Aspen with 1,500 feet of ice again.




Even closer to home is the unreal idea that government could manage to sustain Aspen by regulating its growth. The deadline for the City and County budgets was December 15th. How was fiscal policy used to sustain our economy? Remember that there are 32 other property taxing districts in the county. Are all their budgets coordinated so that our scarce resources can be shared in an order of priority?

The “sustainability” of Aspen’s growth is an unreal idea. Apparently we all missed the December 15th deadline for commenting in the overall budget process. At the same time, public hearings are being held about sustaining growth with more open space, trails, housing subsidies, urban renewal plans and regulations without any accounting for their financial impacts upon the community’s bottom line.

“Sustainability” in Never-Never Land doesn’t get much better than this.

Be Brave Comrades.

KNCB Moore

Aspen