Mick's unknown to most, but a friend to all

Chiltern’s Mick Webster would be unknown to most people, but it seems he is a friend of all.

A letter in today’s Melbourne Age suggests Mick understands that the demands humanity put on the Earth are beyond its capacity to supply.

Tomorrow being Earth Overshoot Day, it’s wholly appropriate that such a letter should be written, and published.

Here is what Mick had published in today’s Age:

Downsize expectations

Tomorrow is Earth Overshoot Day. We will have used in just over seven months the ecological resources (fish, forests, grasslands, soil fertility, carbon sinks and so on) that the planet will produce in a whole year. This means we have to borrow 4 months-worth of resources from the future. This year's Overshoot Day is five days earlier than last year. If everyone on Earth lived by the standards of Australians we would need five Earths. Do any leaders have the courage to explain to us that we must drastically downsize our expectations if we are not to hit an enormous wall?

Mick Webster, Chiltern.