Earth provides endless resources, speaker says

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat J. Laurence Kulp, an adjunct professor at the University of Washington, lecturing yesterday in the Franklin Building, argues that the Earth's resources are not limited because technology will be able to replace them.

"We look forward and see that because of the graduate students' ideas, we are going to learn a lot more," J. Laurence Kulp said to a group of about 30 listeners. "We always underestimate what is going to happen."

Kulp, who gave the lecture titled "Are the Earth's Resources Limited?" in the Franklin Building, said the world's resources are very important when considering the future of the human race.

"In the last 40 years, the doomsayers and the optimists have had differing views that are quite extreme," he said. "Objections by the pessimists were all wrong, believing we are running out of this and that."

Kulp said that although he "fundamentally" believes that resources must be conserved, energy, materials and water are not running out.

He said that the "doomsayers" who believe natural resources are on the verge of extinction have ignored the scientific advancements of the last 100 years and believe that scientists have learned all they are going to about technology.

"If you believe in this, you might as well dismiss the grad students," Kulp said.

Opposing the idea that natural resources will someday be depleted, he said that exponential increases in usage will plateau, not continue to increase, then eventually decline.

Kulp said the natural resources will then be replaced with "something else" that scientists will construct and maintain.

He said alternative energy sources such as solar, geothermal and nuclear energy will be available for billions of years.

"The Tucson area will be the first spot direct solar energy will flourish," Kulp said.

Kulp also said the energy derived from electricity will be another force in the future.

"The heart of the matter is that electricity is taking over as a source of our energy," he said. "Oil was used mainly to heat homes 20 to 25 years ago and now we use electricity and gas."

Although electricity is becoming more popular, Kulp said that raw materials such as wood and water are not becoming scarce.

"We should put aside land for wood production - like we do with farm land," he said. "Then we could have paper and the forests."

Kulp said both paper and water are being recycled.

He said desalinization costs an average of $6 to $18 per 1,000 gallons of water at the world's operating plants.

"For the spring water you buy at Albertson's, you would be paying $800 per 1,000 gallons of drinking water," Kulp said.

A handful of listeners, however, were not quick to agree with his philosophies.

"His point of view is that technology will solve all of our problems," said Paul Damon, the geosciences professor emeritus who introduced Kulp to the audience. "He believes that technology can do everything, including solving pollution."

Proposing a technological solution to a technological problem, Kulp said the only way to solve pollution is to start using "electric cars."

"There is no way else it (solving pollution) could happen," he said.

Damon, who has known Kulp since 1954, said that although he has a lot of respect for his colleague, he does not agree with his "excessive optimism."

Neither did geology graduate student Tom Moore.

"There's no guarantees (that technology will continue to grow)," he said. "I think they are putting a lot of faith in technology that is not yet developed.

"In the long run, if technology doesn't live up to his (Kulp's) views, we'll all be paying for it."

"He's a little too optimistic," said Josh Lingerfelt, a media arts junior. "I'm 20 years old and I don't want to rely just on optimism and putting faith in technology."