In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.

The London Times, 1894

Most of us by now are aware of the challenges we will face in coming decades – climate change, water shortages and mass extinction of species to name a few. Many believe that technology will solve all these problems. That we can continue to consume as usual because human ingenuity will, as it always has, find technological solutions to our most pressing problems. Lets review the four most important technological innovations of the last century to find out if our faith is warranted.

THE GREEN REVOLUTION

Thomas Malthus predicted that overpopulation would result in widespread poverty, famine and war. Population did grow from 1 billion in the 1800’s to 7 billion today. However, food production also grew rapidly as a result of a set of technological innovations, known as the green revolution. The hunger and poverty that Malthus predicted never came to pass (at least for those lucky enough to be born in the developed world). The key elements of the green revolution were hybrid seeds, chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilisers. They are the foundation that makes the modern world possible by freeing up people from having to grow their own food. They are also the source of some of the most serious environmental problems today.

The petrochemical fertilisers are causing vast dead zones in our oceans and rivers. Chemical pesticides are contaminating our soil and water, and causing the loss of biodiversity. Hybrid and GM crop varieties produce increased yields, but require much greater inputs of water and fertiliser. The irrigation required to grow high yield varieties is resulting in the alarming depletion of ground water. According to Lester Brown, our current farming practices based on the green revolution, are now a threat to world food security.  The solution has now become the problem.

ANTIBIOTICS

Before the invention of antibiotics, everyday ailments commonly resulted in unimaginable pain or even death. All the surgeries conducted today are made possible only by antibiotics. However, most of us are unaware of the fact that over 60% of all antibiotics produced are not consumed by humans.  Instead, they are being fed to livestock not to prevent disease but to enhance growth, so we can buy cheap meat. As a consequence of this widespread use, drug resistant bacteria are proliferating.

A recent Australian report says there is ‘a genuine threat of humanity returning to an era where mortality due to common infections is rife’. According to Australia’s top scientist, the overuse of antibiotics is threatening to return us to a world where deaths result from minor ailments such as sore throats and cut knees. England’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, warned in a March report that untreatable infections posed a “catastrophic threat” to the population.

ENGINE

In the 1900’s, there was a horse-manure crisis. In New York, a population of 100,000 horses was producing 2.5 millions pounds of manure a day. The streets were covered with manure and air was thick with flies. The technological solution came in the form of cars and buses powered by fossil fuel. The manure crisis was averted. Continue reading “Technology is the Answer…or is it?”

Golf has been in the news recently because it has been proposed that the government take back the land that the Hong Kong Golf Club (The Club) sits on to develop housing. It is argued that it would be preferable to eliminate the golf course rather than relocate villages and destroy farmland. In order to ascertain the validity of this assertion, we should examine the costs versus the benefits of golf.

BENEFITS

The benefits of golf have been clearly articulated by the local golfing community as they seek to justify the taxpayers continued subsidy of their exclusive, members only Club:

BUSINESS

In a recent SCMP article, a representative of The Club justified its existence on the basis that Hong Kong is an international business centre and golf plays a big role in business (lots of business gets done on a golf course). As a professional starting out in my career, I remember how golf was a constant topic of conversation around the office. Many of my bosses were avid golfers and corporate events were often golf trips followed by BBQ dinners. So yes, I do believe there is a connection between golf and business. It might be a stretch however to call it an important one. There has been no research that links golf to economic development (as there is with education, infrastructure and the rule of law). If there were, Scotland and Thailand would be business superpowers today.

OLYMPICS

William Chung Pui-lam, president of the Hong Kong Golf Association, said growth of the game – recently made an Olympic sport – would suffer if the Hong Kong Golf Club’s three-course, 170-hectare facility at Fanling were lost to housing. Bobsledding is an Olympic sport, and its development is also suffering due to lack of venues in Hong Kong. Perhaps we should also dedicate public resources to its development?

THE RICH LIKE GOLF

Another housing adviser, Lau Ping-cheung, said the land use of golf courses should be reviewed together with all other private recreational clubs. “But we need to discuss and understand the possible social impact, because Hong Kong is an open city with lots of rich people and foreigners who might be interested in golf.” Rich people also like private jets, perhaps we should subsidize runways for private jets as well?

THE PRESENCE OF DOMINIQUE BOULET

Golf commentator Dominique Boulet, a former Hong Kong representative and a member of the club for almost 30 years, said: “If we lost the Hong Kong Golf Club, I’m not sure I would live here any more.” I never realized how much I would miss Mr. Boulet until he threatened to leave. In fact, I had never heard of him before he made this statement to the SCMP.

COSTS

PESTICIDE USE

NY States Attorney General’s office published a report entitled Toxic Fairways. The report, which was particularly concerned with the potential for groundwater contamination, concluded that these [NY] golf courses applied about 50,000 pounds of pesticides in one year, or four to seven times the average amount of pesticides used in agriculture, on a pound per acre basis. Pesticide and fertilizer runoff contaminates ground water, poisoning both humans and wildlife.

It is quite ironic, the number of golf charity events held to raise money for cancer research when there is  evidence of major excesses of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain, colorectal and prostate cancers in golf course maintenance workers and superintendents exposed to high concentrations of carcinogenic herbicides and fungicides. The cost of cancer treatment for golf course workers will undoubtedly be borne by the taxpayer funded public healthcare system.

WATER USE Continue reading “Cost Benefit Analysis of Golf”