Last spring, in a piece at TechCentralStation, I disputed the notion that the world was “using up its resources,” and I cited the prevailing belief about the fate of the Easter Islanders:

There was a recent story in The Guardian about a new United Nations study, with the misleading headline, Two-Thirds of World’s Resources “Used Up”. It’s not the first time we’ve seen such hysteria, and it certainly won’t be the last. But relax — the sky isn’t falling. The headline is nonsensical, because it falsely implies that “resources” are a static quantity, and non-renewable. As an example, they often cite Easter Island, whose civilization supposedly failed due to running out of them.

At least one commenter at the time questioned the use of the word “supposedly,” asking (if I recall correctly) if anyone disputed that.

Well, apparently some people do now.

[Via Iain Murray]