Petroleum companies respond by stating that new technologies enable oil to be extracted without incurring the type of damage to the environment that occurred earlier. Industrial supporters, pointing to the large capital expenditures spent in the area, urge their continuance, implying that only by such endeavors will Alaskans be able to achieve long-term material prosperity. Clearly, such debates fall within the mainstream of discussion regarding the best strategy for the sustainable development of the North's nonrenewable resources. Underlying this message is the belief that once nature is subjugated, it becomes an object for human satisfaction. Furthermore, whatever problems emerge in the process of achieving this subjugation can be solved through the utilization of advanced science and technology.
Science thus becomes the means of controlling nature for the material benefit of humankind.
Yes there is, but it is so well concealed by the cultural and economic values associated with the professed ability of science and technology to solve our energy and environmental problems, and by the perceived separation of nature and society into two distinct realms, that one has to search diligently to find it. This is quite ironic for the essence of this alternative view has been around since the beginning of human history. Its fundamantal edict is that human beings are not distinct from nature but are a vital part of it. It is perhaps easy to disregard a perspective on the human condition that has such a small voice and limited ability to challenge a core assumption of industrial society. Yet the implications of such a step are highly significant.