Well, guys, the square footage. total water and other crucial elements in this country alone are enough to support twice the population we now support, at a rough guess, feed them, keep them warm, shelter them and bathe them and clothe them. But we'd have to learn to do with significantly less cavalier waste in our systems, and we'd have to get a lot smarter about steering Nature gently, rather than bludgeoning her into temporary submission as has been our wont.

We are not just users of home turf, the way elephants and beavers tend to be. We design, and we can do so well or nay. If we got a wee bit smarter about it we could have all the goddamn energy we needed to reclaim deserts and make them bloom, probably just with the gray water from Chicago alone!

The flaw is in our methods of building walls -- the ones we use to play NIMBY and "I'm all right Jack" behind.

But if we do not change those habits a bit faster than we have been, the worst case scenario will approach faster than the alternatives, and significant growing pains will ensue for the species.

A