Fate of the Earth Conference: Can the World Be Saved from War?

The first Biennial Conference dedicated to saving the earth was recently held in New York City. Speakers included many prominent environmentalists: David Brower, Russ Peterson, Amory and Hunter Lovins, Paul Ehrlich and Linus Pauling.

They gathered to protest the Reagan administration’s escalation of the military budget and warned that more nuclear weapons could lead to a nuclear holocaust. They recommended diffusing the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union by promoting bilateral disarmament.

Russ Peterson, president of the National Audubon Society, placed nuclear war first on a list of five major threats to the planet; the others were population growth, global poverty, energy production, and toxic chemical waste.

All espoused a sustainable and secure society that emphasized renewable energy, population control and full employment—where cultural and biological diversity are encouraged and arbitration, rather than war, is the tool to settle disputes.

Editor’s Note: An article on this topic was published in The Boston Globe, Oct. 24, 1982, titled “Planning for a world without war,” by Gale Warner. Due to copyright issues, we are unable to reproduce it as published.