At present all these decisions are being made by a tiny minority in their own short term interests. Irish Times February 10th 1998 2. We stress the importance of democracy, of people having a say in the decisions that affect them. We also realise that some decisions are too far-ranging in their effects, too intertwined with the situations of others to be made at a local level. After all, there will always be a clash between the needs of society and the needs of a particular area, the only question is about how to balance them.
Factories have to be built, and food grown, somewhere.
The difference, in an anarchist society, is in who makes the decisions, and why. Capitalism is notoriously short-termist, decisions are made based on their immediate profitability, thinking even a few years ahead is unusual. All the green consumerism in the world won't fix this insane system, if we want a rational economy we're going to have to run it ourselves. Agriculture and industry need not be as damaging to the environment as they are at the moment - we already know of cleaner and safer ways of doing things, that aren't used because they aren't profitable. We don't have to believe that science has all the answers to know that there is a lot of room for improvement.