On Equity and Environmental Issues

 Thanks Shobin Mathew for the post/blog. I had similar views 15 years back and my minor thesis for Bachelor in Philosophy was on Pritvi Sukta (Earth Chat from Vedas) on enviornmental issues and published an article in Kerala Times daily (that daily is no more running now!). But I have changed my postion after that. "Its all about economy, stupid" (Cliton's famous quote). Developing nations dont have a responsibility and should not take responsibility for the mess created by others for centuries. They need to progress and for that they need to consume. That is a question of equity. Otherwise their poor masses will remain poor for ever. But its good to use clean energy technologies as long as it dont hurt their economies. Any argument agaist that is to make poor poorer in the present world order. Peace and progress. 

I wanted to  promote a campaign for Earth Hour, like "Keep a light Burning" during "Earth Hour" to keep those poorest masses in our minds and their right to develop. 

 

Eco Warriors of ANU after me..

It started with an email to ALL @ CECS.

One Rita (I changed name to keep her privacy), encouraged us to Save Fellows oval, which was marked by ANU-parking to turned into a new parking lot. I clicked 'reply all' button to query whether they got any alternative suggestion to provide parking lot which is a pressing need for me and others. Then came a wave of e-mails to ALL@CECS and to me personally.

They want to link Oval & Parking with sustainability. But I got some very unconventional ideas about it. The following is an excerpt from the discussion. I purge the names of people to keep save their privacy.

Rita wrote:
--------------------

Anyone who would like to keep Fellows Oval as a nice green place of recreation, send an email to
parking.feedback@anu.edu.au
(email closes in 2 days).

Cheers

--------------------
Jaison Paul wrote:

Have you got suggestion for any other place for parking? Parking is a
pressing need for me and many.

Jaison

--------------------
W J wrote:

Hi Jaison,
By making more parking area available is not solving the parking problem. This new parking area will be filled up the moment it become available and more parking area will be needed because more people will take their car to campus.
The answer is to encourage to those who can take public transport or bike to do so.
Please don't try to solve the sort term problem by causing long term problem.

--------------------
Jaison Paul wrote:

That's quite interesting.. I shared one of my genuine concerns. But I
get 'bashed'!

You did not answer nor addressed my concern. I am a research student
here who moved from Melbourne. If you are taking about public
transport system in Melbourne or Sydney, I can understand that. Where
is public transport in ACT? I depended on it for first 3 months..
HORRIBLE. Lucky that I could afford a car at last. Then about bikes..
Canberra is spread all around the place.. Not everybody, unless you
are so athletic and could bear 'cold cold' weather could resort to
biking.

So, dont be too emotional in the name of 'nature and nostalgia'. If
you dont have answers to the genuine problems of students like me.,
dont suggest anything. If you want to save oval, its good and fine.
But, WE NEED PARKING.

Jaison Paul

-----------------
J D Wrote:

Jaison,

Neither have you answered or addressed the concern in the email to which you were replying. To complain about the quality of the public transport here and then to support policies which will encourage people not to use it seems strange, to say the least.

-----------------
Jaison Paul Wrote:

This was the mail to which I replied: "Anyone who would like to keep Fellows Oval as a nice green place of recreation, send an email to parking.feedback@anu.edu.au". And my response was spot on.. Parking is a pressing need for me and many and "Fellows Oval as a nice green place of recreation" does not get more importance than that. Those who want to save it should come up with better suggestions.

I am not the person, who wants to play the "cool, nice guy" when it comes to ecology or sustainability. Here is my reply to another mail I got yesterday. That's my stand:

"I am not against saving the oval. But those who are for it should suggest means to provide Parking as well. I have also wrote article about Ecology and Sustainability in the past, when I was in India. But when I came to Australia and seeing "how we take of the planet's resources", I stopped writing it. An oval wont do any good to our status of world's worst emitters. For that we (AUS) has to shut down its coal power reactors or reduce the use of electricity to half or at least turn off half of street lights.

Best wishes in saving the planet."

The problem seems to link Sustainability issue with Oval and parking. Actually there's no link between them. The real challenge of sustainability demands too much, which will really hurt us and that we dont want to talk at all. So, we pretend to be "cool, nice guys" regarding these issues just to cover up our unwillingness to take the real issue head on . Coz it will hurt us - the developed world.

If we want to offset ecological cost of Fellows oval, what we could do is to purchase some land somewhere else and plant some trees there. That shouldn't be in Aus itself, may be in any of the Pacific islands or even in Christmas island - that will give 'refugees' some job.

And about public transport.. I support it fully.. But where is it? And there's no genuine effort to make it happen. Kevin 474 could give some 6 billion to car industry in Aus - bail out, but not to increase public transport facilities.. coz, there's no money in it.. economy of surplus.. That's what matters to us dear.. sorry. If you want to save the planet, do something in that line, not the 'feel good' flashy stuff.

I arrest my case.. coz I know, I am not going to save the world, when the ones who have the responsibility to take care of it is not up to it. Btw, I am an Indian. Thanks.

Jaison

40 years with Petrol... After that?

Here is a small report from one of the July 07 editions of Time Magazine.

The report goes like this:

Every year BP (British Petroleum) produces a report about the status of world fossil fuel reserves. This year's report suggest that we (Earth!) have more petroleum reserves than we have thought in the past. extensive graphs are shown to corroborate the facts. Quite obviously, the largest reserves are in the middle east. U can see the skyscrapers in the picture (its inverted though). They represent the middle east petrol reserves.

Here is the tail piece. All these reserves will be enough to support the Earth's requests at the current rate for another 40 years.....

40 years...

so after 40 years?

no need to go after more reasons to know the interest of some PEOPLE in the middle east... the war, Iraq, civil war....

keep guessing... curious to know your reflections too...