I've been running around the internet searching for the Amazon. Plenty of stuff out there and a lot of it is pro-green environmentalist stuff. I have no problem with it, though it does get tiresome. The Amazon is an important part of the world, 'lungs of the planet' if you will.
Constant de-forestation by foreign and domestic corporations for farmland, for wood pulp, have decimated the jungle in the name of profits, and this is an important part of my upcoming book for Nano.
What a lot of the sites do not address are the poverty-stricken populations who have no choice but to sell off their land or allow for these corporations to come in and give them jobs - for most, it's a matter of survival.
And it is singularly unhelpful for 'wealthy' people (tourists, environmentalists, foreign politicians) to lecture the local community on the evils of deforestation, when they don't live there and have yet to come up with a viable solution to bring them out of poverty.
I do believe deforestation should desist, that foreign companies have no right to rape the natural resources of another country for its' own profit. I also believe the governments ruling the Amazon should punish their corrupt officials and find an appropriate alternative, to protect what's left of the Amazon basin, even re-plant vegetation. Discussions with those who live within the jungle and on the edges would be a good start. But I'm not there, I don't live there and I cannot understand the situation the local communities find themselves in.
On the environmental issue, I was interested in the report that Al Gore refused to debate the issue of polar bears. Al says they're endangered, the Irishman claims the population is increasing. If Al is so assured of his position on climate change, why did he have the Irish documentary maker's microphone turned off and say 'this is not a debate'?
I'm not a climate change sceptic, I'm a 'man-made' climate change sceptic; that is, I don't believe climate change is caused by the Industrial Revolution. Climate change is Mother Nature all on her own - I think scientist should stop trying to find the proof that fits the theory, and try finding the theory that fits the proof.
I'll continue to recycle, to compost, to turn lights/appliances off when not it use - purely because it makes sense to reduce energy costs, to return organics to the garden and to reduce the landfill.
It all looks good for the veggie patch I'm putting in and for the Nano book. Both will take patience.
3 comments:
The fact that you have distinguished climate change from Man Made climate change places you ahead of most of the public and ahead of most journalists and politicians. The green movement have used this to trick people for years. Even the most hardened AGW skeptics recycle and turn of the lights too, it's just the correct thing to do.
The meeting in which Al gore spoke was a conference of environmental journalists. There should be no such thing as environmental journalists, this title alone indicates an inherent bias, but these journalists have been used by Gore and his ilk to move the media to become AGW crusaders rather than unbiased observers. Gore has used to environmental journalists to become a Carbon Baron. He will eventually become the world's first carbon billionaire.
Some countries (Peru is the best example) which share the Amazon in their borders have done exactly what you think are good ideas: they have made deforestation illegal in enormous preserves, they have punished the violaters with severe sentences, they have empowered the Amazonian natives living in and near those reserves to continue living their traditional lives without threat from poachers, they have appointed uncorruptible and dedicated officials to administer the laws, and they have pressured their neighbors to pass equal laws protecting the rest of the Amazon.
The sheer size of the Amazon, the difficulty of travel and communication, the isolation of the natives, contribute to atrocities in which natives who resist are terrorized, tortured and killed, singly and in whole villages. It is not just the trees, but gold and other metals, and impractical plantations of cattle or single crops that quickly fail because the land is inherently unable to sustain such operations, leaving behind a treeless waste.
The history of the Amazon in its various national guises is incredible, and especially the portions settled early by the Portuguese for rubber. The sudden rise of cities, a European style opera house in the middle of the jungle, colonialists living emperors - it is all bizarre.
I'm going to put the books I've read on the Amazon in a 'collection' on LT if you care to take a peek - I've reviewed several of them.
Will the Amazon be the world in one of your upcoming Nano books? If so, how cool - I want to read it when it is done!
Anon, I'm a man-made climate change sceptic because I kept seeing documentaries disproving the hysteria. Deadliest Catch had an episode where the fishermen had never seen the ice come down so far, for example. So why the accusations that the polar caps are melting due to pollution?
I don't mind journalists focusing on the environment, but I do object to biased reports that support agendas.
Al Gore refuses to debate any issue where his assertions in An Inconvenient Truth are proven to be false. In fact, he refuses to reply to the accusation that he 'cherry picked' the science to emphasise his claims.
P., yes, one of the books is set in the Amazon and I'll be interested in the books you link to. I need more info before I throw myself into Nano. The book won't be edited until January, so I'm thinking of posting it to Scribd sometime in Feb. 2010.
Post a Comment