Tuesday, June 7, 2011

A recipe for Environmental Euthanasia



“Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth”, said, Henry David Thoreau. But that was more than a century ago and well before the Wright brothers dreams took to flight. But the reality stares. It does not blink, it stares!


All Fools Day has passed and the next one is quite many months away. Nevertheless here is an opportunity to become a “Fool for Forests”. The Government of India proposes to mine coal in forests and forest lands of East and Central India. This quixotic plan if it becomes real will have the potency to emphatically destroy thousands of hectares of forests for coal. The plan when implemented will be more destructive than the Armageddon. It  will destroy forests,wildlife and displace millions of people dependent on the forests. This is, when there is clean renewable energy and energy efficiency measures to power our needs. But the Government of India seems to favour the recipe for environmental euthanasia.

"There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before".  ~Robert Lynd. 


India's Prime minister was widely quoted of having said that when it comes to development, environment will have to take the rear seat. Rotting food grains and millions going without even a repast a day are not a bolt to the conscience of this septuagenarian whose Curriculum vitae has been circulating the NET as the perfect example of academic brilliance and erudition.. He has like the medieval knight declared that India has world class safety measures in place at all her nuclear energy facilities. And there is no room for panic and alarm. Stupid that he is, he does not see that when it comes to nuclear safety there is nothing consoling called “world class”.
What Mr. Manmohan Singh should know is that the first country in the world to include “Environmental” protection in its constitution is Namibia . And which certainly does not have much to rest in form of laurels of a bygone and rich culture or civilsation as we do.

Those voicing against this disastrous path have been labeled foolish by the government. And now
Fools have joined Greenpeace, a civil society group working on environment, to help save the forest. 

Read more about this movement below and become a Fool for Forests. 

 
The government plans to mine coal in the last remaining forests in eastern and central India. Remember that multinational conglomerates and behemoths like POSCO and VEDANTA have almost got foot hold there. These forests support millions of livelihoods and are home to the last remaining vestiges of flora and fauna unique to India. There are clean energy options and energy efficiency measures which can help us meet our energy requirements.But yet.......!

 To quote the great Indian chief Seattle, "We do not own the land air and water we have borrowed them for our children".
If our “farsighted”' government' has its way it will slaughter and clear all the forests and leave barren open pit mines for posterity.Do we want this to happen? If all the Fools for Forests get together they can help strengthen the movement to save our forests from destruction. 

You should become a Fool for Forests to help save the forests. 

http://www.foolsforforests.org/english/join/?ref=982&refe=1031 

http://www.foolsforforests.org/english/join/?ref=982&refe=1031 


A study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reveals that renewable energy options can power the world.[3] Forests cannot be created , they have to evolve. And no extent of trumpeted afforestation can bring back the forests that have been killed.  

Become a fool and tell them "Now", and before its is too late.! 

http://www.foolsforforests.org/english/join/?ref=982&refe=1031 




Sources: 

1.Allow mining in 90% no-go zones', Hindustan Times, October 29 2010 
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Allow-mining-in-90-no-go-zones/Article1-619206.aspx 

2. Greenpeace provides an alternate energy vision for India, Greenpeace, March 24, 2009
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/news/greenpeace-provides-an-alterna/

3. Renewable energy can power the world, says landmark IPCC study, Guardian, May 9, 2011 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/09/ipcc-renewable-energy-power-world

"We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them.  We say we love trees, yet we cut them down.  And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved".  ( Unknown)

11 comments:

dr.antony said...

Despite strong international pressure and diverse initiatives by tropical countries, the deforestation rate has remained unabated for more than 25 years.Almost 70%of the Brazilian Amazon is gone.

The world has lost a very priceless inheritance of rain forests due to deforesting. The species of plants and animals are reducing rapidly. And more importantly, this is affecting the water cycle. Deforesting causes the soil water to evaporate quicker than the standard rate and dry the ground. The parched land fails to manufacture crops and grow any kind of vegetation except the few plants which are species that grow in parched places.

There is no doubt,this Utopian idea of our government is not for the sake of development.Another story involving lakhs of crores of rupees will come out,once it is done.The price of wood,the commission on contracts,deeds on land...many of our leaders would get richer and the poor get more poor.

Balachandran V said...

Dr Manmohan Singh is actually a Sick (sic) terrorist, avowed to destroy India.

Kavita Saharia said...

A terrorist indeed and he is great at it.

Insignia said...

Thats preposterous! Now how can we put some sense to this noble PM of ours!

Balachandran V said...

Those who would be interested to know how the so-called economists value nature, read this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/06/monetisation-natural-world-definitive-neoliberal-triumph

This is a very informative article.

anilkurup59 said...

@ Balachandran,
The article link you gave bares the anomaly in
equating social causes with economic and arithmetical interpolations .

Happy Kitten said...

am trying my best to understand MM Singh but fails every time.. Where is he taking our country?

anilkurup59 said...

@ Happy Kitten,
There is nothing difficult to understand about the Sardraji. He is plain nut, spineless, weakneed and insensitive. Wonder how he got to be the Governor of the RBI

Jijo Kurian said...

Dear Anil K.,
I came here very late. Yes, until the roof falls on our heads we will go on mining the foundations. Sharing the inmost feelings of the Great wise Indian chief, I quote him: " Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal, may change. Today is fair. Tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds. My words are like the stars that never change."

Jijo Kurian said...

Kindly change the colour of the subtitles and tags. Reading is very hard in the present colour (violet).

anilkurup59 said...

@ Jijo

Thanks for the visit and the comments.
Yes indeed the wisdom of the Chief Seattle is apiece of quote that would haunt immensely as 'truth' always does.
I hope the changed colors of the fonts are now ok