The new romanticism

The Times has a book plug headlined with 'a leading scientist has warned that opposition to nuclear power by environmental campaigners is irrational as well as dangerously misguided'.

I'm not going to write any arguments about nuclear power specifically, but about a lifestyle trend amongst the mediaratsi (which probably means it'll be on everyone's radar eventually - aspiration and all that) which encompasses organic food, new ageiness and endless articles about fleeing to quiet parishes and living in eco communes (near the bottom).

I am a very keen environmentalist but realise that food produced using 'traditional' farming methods, living in the countryside or choosing to live without electricity is a wealthy person's dream. It's like Marie Antoinette playing being a shepherdess.

If we want to feed the world, we can't feed them organically-reared, GM-free, bacon dry-cured using 17th century techniques. Productivity just isn't high enough to feed the current world population. We need to either reduce the world population or produce more food. Both of these need technological solutions. Farmers using manual labour have lots of children - they need to be able to leave the land, be educated and have access to working contraception (not least to tackle the tragedy of HIV). And we need to devise techniques for tackling insect attack and crop failure whilst increasing yield that don't produce resistant/dangerous cross-bred species or pollute water courses.

There is a reason why we chose to develop modern medicine. Life expectancy was low, women died in childbirth and infant mortality was high. Yes, we should try to limit side effects, eschew medical intervention unless necessary and be open to alternative medicine where there is evidence to suggest it works. But no crystal-waving please. Likewise, in order to reduce both unnecessary flights and land travel we need to encourage people to live in high density housing in cities, close to good public transport. We also need to improve computing technology to the point where business people feel they can have as useful a meeting by remote as they can by flying. So writing:

has just got his first computer, though I try and limit his time on it

Is probably barking up the wrong carbon-neutral tree. Computing and urban life is not the enemy. And old-fashioned rural life was not romantic, authentic and fulfilling. It was nasty, brutish, narrow-minded and short. That's why it's 'old fashioned'.

So, media-people, can we have rather more about green lifestyles long-term achievable by all the 60 + million people in the UK and, more generally, the world? And rather less about wealthy Londoners embracing their inner tree hugger? If we want to save the world - we need the former, not the latter. Because if you rolled it out nationally and internationally, much of the latter would do about as much for long-term sustainability as a humvee.