[...] Wise, rational stewardship of the Earth is the right thing to do, but its cause is not advanced by screechy remoras fastened on the hide of the industrialized world, insisting that the rich be poor so the poor can be happy.

The conference, like its predecessors, generated speeches and garbage in equal amounts. The quantities stagger the mind: 300 to 400 tons of trash produced (the very weight of which may cause the Earth to wobble in its orbit); 2.4 million gallons of water used (see "toilet, flush" above); 5 million sheets of paper consumed (enough for three Tom Clancy novels); 300,000 tons of extra CO2 released into the atmosphere from all the planes and traffic. All to persuade people to use less and save the Earth. [...]