Imagine a world ruled by NIMBYs

All building materials, minerals, food, tools, energy etc would have to be derived locally to avoid upsetting nimby's in other parts of the world.

In the unlikely event of any of these commodities actually being available locally, the extraction of oil, gas, coal, uranium, peat, iron, copper, and virtually all other minerals would be banned in any case due to being non renewable. The banning of mineral extraction to produce metal or ceramic would rule out the construction and use of any form of combustion engine, steam engine or electric motor. The use of animals to provide motive power would be restricted by the animal rights nimby's. Attempts to harness wind or hydro power would have limited success due to the restriction of not being allowed to use metal, stone or any other non-renewable resource and would be severely hampered by strict environmental controls, closure plans etc.

Houses could only be built with locally derived renewable materials. Obviously bricks, stone, cement, concrete, mud, turf etc would all be banned materials leaving little option but to live in caves or use trees as the main building material. Metal to produce tools, screws, nails, bolts, staples etc would not be available. Tools would have to be made from renewable sources ruling out the use of stone, flint etc. The use of animal bone as tools would be strictly forbidden be the animal rights nimbys. As such, tools would be very cumbersome, inefficient and of extremely limited use.

A comprehensive environmental impact assessment would have to be submitted to an independent committee, written on locally produced paper which would have been subject to a thorough environmental assessment prior to manufacture using tools locally manufactured from renewable sources and subjected to rigorous environmental assessment prior to the exploitation of renewable resources used in the manufacture of the tools. Tree hugging nimbys would undoubtedly cause long delays to any planning consent for the trees to be cut in order for the paper to be produced.

The independent committee may allow the use of reeds to roof buildings with thatch provided that it can be demonstrated that the reeds are managed in a renewable manner without having any effect on local wildlife whatsoever. Prior to cutting the reeds, a closure plan would need to be submitted to show how the environment would be restored to it's original condition.

Prior to commencing construction of a house, a closure plan would need to be submitted to demonstrate that the site will be returned to it's original state prior to the death of the resident.

As their would be no metals, transport would be limited to things such as wooden carts, but construction would be difficult without metal or stone tools, so the use of rudimentary sledges seems more likely. Use of any such carts or sledges would be restricted due to the requirement to submit a closure plan for all wheel ruts, skid marks and other environmental damage which would be required to be repaired and restored within a strict time frame.

Farming would be very restrictive due to the necessity to ensure that it has a minimal impact on the indigenous flora and fauna and subject to a closure plan with a strict time limit.


Would anyone really like to live in a world full of nimbys?
If so, perhaps they should start off by giving away everything they own which was manufactured using materials extracted from someone else's back yard.
If they are still hell bent on being a good nimby, give away everything they own which was manufactured locally, using locally sourced materials but used electricity generated in someone else's back yard.
If they still want to be a good nimby, in the unlikely event they have any possesions left, they should give away everything they own which was locally manufactured using locally sourced materials, 100% derived local energy but involved the use of tools manufactured in someone else's back yard.



Click on this link for a classic example of a NIMBY website

Click on this link for the Inishown NIMBYs blog