Mosquito Soldier

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this gigantic mosquitoish thing was the recent article about genetically altered mosquitoes in the fight against malaria.

For millions of people suffering from the scourge of malaria, anything to fight this disease is probably welcome news. I am always uncomfortable when people tinker with the nature, but malaria resistant mosquitoes are probably a million times better than the use of DDT!

One can only hope that these mosquitoes are only released after extensive and conclusive studies and tests. We have all heard of bizarre failures before. Used tires to build fish habitat ended up choking it instead. Toxic toad introduced in Australia to fight sugar pests ended up destroying native species. There are many more of these sad experiments. I can go on and on.

Neem has long been an essential ingredient in Ayurvedic medicine. It is called Sarva Roga Nivarini (curer of all ailments). Studies have shown that Neem has several anti malarial properties. Could Neem offer a better way out?

My point is this. Learn from nature not experiment with it. As folks at Biomimicry put it, let nature be the mentor.

Quote of the day
"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."~John Muir [quotegarden.com]

Oscar Goes Green

Oscar goes green this year.

"This year, the Academy, the Oscar telecast producer Laura Ziskin and the entire production team endeavored to select supplies and services with a sensitivity toward reducing the threats we face from global warming, species extinction, deforestation, toxic waste, and hazardous chemicals in our water and food. With guidance and assistance from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-partisan environmental and advocacy organization, we learned that it was easy (and often cost effective) to make simple changes to reduce Oscar's ecological footprint" via Oscar.com

The Al Gore & Leonardo DiCaprio presidential announcement bit was funny. And Inconvenient Truth wins! And Melissa Etheridge(original song for Inconvenient Truth) wins!

Back To School

Back to school I go. I am now a student at IIT Stuart School of Business with every intention of arming myself with a MBA in Environment & Enterprise Sustainability.

This is the only business school around here that has a strong environment focus. The school is located in downtown Chicago, which is perfect. Chicago is an environment conscious city. The Mayor's office promotes and supports many green initiatives. Green roofing is big here. I believe Stuart has in the past worked with the Mayor's office on green projects.

I now have an excuse to head over to this very vibrant city every week. In the hope that I can change businesses, make them a little greener and make the world a little better. Wish me luck!

President Kalam and Siruthuli

It is always refreshing to listen to President Kalam. Last year, in his Republic day address he spoke at length about India's energy dependence and the way towards energy independence. This year he touches on a wider variety of developmental issues. Two things caught my attention this time.





First is the project Siruthuli -Clean Kovai, Green Kovai. A grassroots project started by Coimbatoreans to help the city be green again. Plans include large scale rain water harvesting, reconnecting canals created during the Chera period, waste management and afforestation. Present day Coimbatore suffers from water shortage and ground water contamination. Friends of mine from Coimbatore will surely find this effort very encouraging. For those not familiar with Coimbatore, it is a city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India. Once known for its pleasant climate and sweet water.

Secondly, President's take on the environment. He says,

Environment can become clean and upgraded only through the country wide active participation of citizens. People as a team can participate in cleaning the environment
..
Industrialists should follow the prescribed norms for environmental standards in all their institutions and make the buildings friendly to differently challenged people. Government employees should keep their offices and their environment clean as they would like to keep their homes. Parents and teachers should teach about the need for environmental friendly requirements to the younger citizens. Citizens can plant trees and nurture them in their neighborhood every year as a mission.
...
It is the responsibility of all the stakeholders including the citizens to promote cleanliness in all these public facilities.

I agree every Indian needs to be involved, but isn't it a little naive to leave everything to good intentions? I feel India needs a powerful Environment Protection agency. Not the Bush diluted version of US EPA. But an agency with teeth. The kind that can take on industrialists, politicians and citizens alike. IndiaTogether.org recently reported of an Indian Railways effort to extend railway lines into sensitive ecological areas without proper environment clearance. Such things happen because people know they can get away with it.

If all of India is to come together to improve our environment, there first needs to a strong and transparent regulatory framework.

Having said that, one cannot ignore the power of grassroots. It is estimated that India has about 1 - 2 million NGOs. I came across Project Green Hands recently (Hat tip: Anand). ISHA foundation planted over 7 lakh saplings across Tamil Nadu over a period of 3 days. Possibly setting a Guinness record. They plan to break that record this year in October.

You can read President's entire speech here

Victoria's Dirty Secret. Not so dirty anymore!

Some really good news! Victoria's Secret is not so dirty anymore.

I have mentioned Victoria's Dirty Secret before. ForestEthics.org was trying to stop Victoria from using virgin paper for their catalogs. Canada's ancient Boreal forest's bore the brunt of their procurement.

Victoria's parent company, Limited Brand, has finally decided to clean up their act. They will start using 80% post consumer recycled (PCR) paper for their clearance catalogs. They will also start using 10% PCR paper for their regular catalogs and will work with paper suppliers to get rid of virgin pulp in their supply chain. Kudos to the folks at ForestEthics for a campaign well executed. It might have taken two years to get through, but it was/is a cause worth fighting for. A clear example of consumer awareness and its power.

Hat tip: Shweta

Now only if we could get Kleenex to change as well. Check out KleerCut.net





















As always, there are alternatives.
Stop buying Kleenex. Buy SeventhGeneration products instead. Get rid of junk mail. Give Greendimes a try.

Here in the US (probably in Europe also), it is getting easier to buy low footprint products. I am worried about India though. Can entry of green retailers like Whole Foods help India ?

Hariyali Express. Green Advertising

It has been a long time since the last Hariyali Express. This edition of the express is inspired by the NY Times article, "Looking Green Is Looking Good"

It was probably inevitable that some enterprising advertising agency would figure that there is equally good money to be made from specializing in ads that promote greenness.And, in fact, agencies with a green specialty are sprouting like alfalfa

I have to say green advertising has come a long way. It is not about granola bars anymore. Serious, strong, provocative, slick and sometimes funny. Let us take a look shall we ?


Organization: Environmental Defense. Ad Agency: Ad Council

While Ad Council remains the green ad power house, there is not dearth of creativity and passion. Plenty more after the fold



Organization: NRDC


Robert Redford and NRDC



Earth Justice. Ad Agency: Big Think Studios



Nothing like humor to drive home the point. Anti-SUV ad from Greenpeace


Organization: Undoit.org Ad Agency: Green Team USA



About half of the oxygen we breathe comes from our oceans. Breathe from oceans.greenpeace.org



Protecting our rainforests. Greenpeace



Of course then there is the greenmyapple.org campaign

Fascinating! Let those green creative ideas keep flowing.

Environment and Poverty: two worlds or one ?

focus on the poor brings us solidly into one of the most important connections -that between poverty and the environment - which deserve much greater attention right now. Central to this linkage is the question that I have tried to capture -very imperfectly I am afraid, for it is a hugely complex connection - in the title of my talk, environment and poverty: two worlds or one?

That was Nobel laureate Amartya Sen speaking at the International Conference on Energy Environment & Development held in Bangalore last month, organized by TERI, Veolio Environment Institute & IDDRI.

The proponents of poverty reduction through economic development have always been squared off against the greens who rally for environment and conservation. The greens are seen as anti development. The vast majority of blog spats these days are just that. Dr Sen says there is no reason to fight.

This extraordinarily confrontational view is I believe, fundamentally erroneous and misconceived. This becomes particularly clear if one sees development in adequately broad terms, seeing it foundationally as the expansion of human freedom. In this broader perspective, the assessment of development cannot be divorced from the lives that people can lead and the real freedoms that they can enjoy.

Development can scarcely be seen merely in terms of enhancement of inanimate objects of convenience, such as a rise in the GNP (or in personal incomes), or industrialisation, or technological advance, or social modernization. These are no doubt valuable - often critically important -accomplishments, but their value must depend on what they do to the lives and freedoms of the people involved. We have reason to distinguish between what, ultimately, we have reason to esteem and what we derivatively value as being helpful for what we have reason to esteem

[..]

If we are ready to recognise the need for seeing the world in this broader perspective, it becomes immediately clear that development cannot be divorced from ecological and environmental concerns. For example, since we have reasons to value the freedom to lead a pollution-free life, the preservation of a pollution-free atmosphere must be an important part of the objectives of development. Seeing development as enhancement of human freedom involves diverse concerns, but incorporating expansion of social opportunities and the quality of life, which are integrally dependent on ecology and environmental preservation, must be among the central
concerns in development thinking.

The part above was probably for the bottom-line minded free market economists. The part below is aimed at the purist greens.

The environment is sometimes seen – I believe over-simply – as the state of “nature,” including such measures as the extent of forest cover, the depth of the ground water table, the number of living species, and so on. To the extent that it is assumed that this pre-existing nature will stay intact unless we add impurities and pollutants to it, it might, therefore, appear superficially plausible that environment is best protected if we interfere with it as little as possible. This understanding is, however, deeply defective for two extremely important reasons.

First, the value of environment cannot be just a matter of what there is, but also of what opportunities they actually offer. The impact of the environment on human lives must inter alia be among the relevant considerations in assessing the richness of the environment. To take an extreme example, in understanding why the eradication of small pox is not viewed as an impoverishment of nature ("the environment is poorer since small pox viruses have disappeared!”), in the way, say, the destruction of useful and lovely forests would be, the connection with lives in general and human lives in particular has to be brought into the understanding.

[..]

Second, the environment is not only a matter of passive preservation, but also one 0f active pursuit. Even though many human activities that accompany the process of development may have destructive consequences, it is also within human power to enhance and improve the environment in which we live. In thinking about the steps that may be taken to halt environmental destruction, we have to search for constructive human intervention. Our power to intervene with effectiveness and reasoning can be substantially enhanced by the process of development itself.

For example, greater female education and women's employment can help to reduce fertility rates, which in the long run can reduce the pressure on global warming and the increasing destruction of natural habitats. Similarly, the spread of school education and improvements in its quality can make us more environment conscious. Better communication and a richer media can make us more aware of the need for environment-oriented, thinking. It is easy to find many other examples of interconnection. In general, seeing development in terms of increasing the effective freedom of human beings brings the constructive agency of people in environment-friendly activities directly within the domain of developmental achievements. Development is fundamentally an empowering process, and this power can be used to preserve and enrich the environment, and not just to decimate it.

I don't find this concept of interconnectivity hard to understand. One can only hope that enough people come together in time to avoid irreversible environmental damage. Read his entire speech here.

The conference had several interesting research papers presented. You can find the entire listing here. I haven't gone through all of them yet. One in particular, caught my attention. A proposal to shift to using yearlong daylight saving time in India, by Prof. Dilip Ahuja and Prof. D P Sen Gupta of National Institute of Advanced Studies, India

To shift IST from 82.5ºE (Jarwa, UP) to 90ºE (Dhuburi, Assam), i.e., from being 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of UTC (=GMT) to being 6 hours ahead of UTC; Will provide an extra half hour of daylight in the evenings, when it is more useful, all year long for the entire country. Annually 1.7 billion units, @ Rs. 5 per unit, the estimate of electricity savings is ~Rs. 850 crores per year

Read the full proposal here.

I was a little disappointed to see very few presentations from the Indian Industry. There was one from Coal India and there was one from a startup company called SuryaBijlee.com. That was about it.

Hariyali Express: Earth Day Edition

The express is a little late! In fact a whole week late. Patrix already did something similar. Anyway, Hariyali Express is always a fun thing to do. So here goes...

On Saturday, April 22, the world marked the 36th annual Earth Day celebration. John McConnell founded it back in 1970. The environmental movement has picked up momentum quite a bit since then. Many though feel it is not strong enough. World Changing feels that bigger and bolder steps are needed and I agree.

Global Warming is the biggest environmental issue facing us today. While the issue is huge and the politics even bigger, could a solution lie in the tinniest of organisms. Could algae be the answer ? Planktos is a company planning to dump huge quantities of carbon-eating phytoplankton algae into the oceans. Treehugger has some thoughts, interview and analysis about Planktos Inc. GreenFuel Technologies Inc is another company that is offering carbon reduction technology using algae. Their designs are more geared towards reducing carbon emissions from power plants.

Ford made a big announcement recently. They are joining up with Terrapass to offer the Greener Miles program. Customers get to buy carbon credits. More from the folks at Terrapass here. While it is a great step forward, a 100 mpg car to beat Prius would be a greater leap.

Bush promoted Hydrogen Fuel Cells on Earth Day. One thing he never mentions is the fact that hydrogen is an energy medium and not an energy source. How hydrogen is produced and distributed will determine if it is clean and carbon neutral.

Director Davis Guggenheim makes Al Gore's Global Warming talks/campaign into a movie. An Inconvenient Truth is set to open in select US theatres on May 24th. Carl Pope of Sierra Club shares his thoughts on the movie here. Tom Arnold, the Chief Environmental Officer at Terrapass shares his thoughts on the movie here

So what do other leaders think about Global Warming ? To find out if your Mayor supports greenhouse gas reductions, check out coolcities.us Patrick Moore a co-founder of Greenpeace created quite a buzz recently when he talked in support of Nuclear energy. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is however in favor of Solar Energy and not Nuclear. Commondreams.org covers Gorbachev's thoughts here

Goldman Environmental Prize was announced recently. It honors grassroots environmentalists and awards US$125,000 to environmental heroes from each of the world's six inhabited continental regions. The struggle and strength of Silas Kpanan is truly inspiring

Patrix follows up his Earth Day post with another one on Companies getting environment friendly

Oorjaa is the newest Indian blogger joining the green blogosphere. Welcome Oorjaa!. Its latest post talks about India and the FutureGen Project. A billion dollar initiative to build a zero emission coal plant. Water scarcity along with Climate Change are big issues facing India. GoodNewsIndia talks about Medha Patkar's struggle and water issues at large, here

Sepia Mutiny has some great tips for Earth Day.
One tip I liked in particular ..."Check with your local energy company to see if you can sign up for green power as your electricity source (most companies offer this)". I called up mine and yippie !!! I can buy green power! This is one phone call everyone can and should make. More information about signing up, can be found at http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/markets/pricing.shtml?page=1
(via Alternative Energy Blog)

It has been fun and informative bringing this edition of Hariyali Express. Hope all you readers feel the same. If anyone wants to host the next Hariyali Express, please feel free to do so. Green blogging is still a rarity in the Indian blogosphere. We need more.

PS
Carnival of the Green is an initiative very similar to Hariyali Express. In fact it is the same. Triple Pundit & City Hippy are the brains behind it. Should Hariyali Express join and become Carnival of the Green or should it evolve and focus more on the Indian environmental scene. I wonder...

Victoria's Dirty Secret

Victoria's Secret prints and mails 395 million catalogs a year, averaging more than 1 million a day. Almost all of it on non recycled paper! Endangering forests and ecosystems. Canada's boreal forest bears the brunt of it.

This news might be a little dated but poignant nevertheless. It was back in December 12th 2005 when Time magazine first reported the site, VICTORIASDIRTYSECRET.net. Since then, it has been featured several times. I recently read about it in the March issue of Sierra magazine

ForestEthics.org started the campaign and the website to educate people about the unsustainable practices of the company. I think they are making progress. Since the campaign began, Victoria's Secret has switched about 24 million discount catalogs to postconsumer recycled paper. It is a good start. Still a long way to go.

Junk mail is something that aggravates and irritates me terribly. I have been struggling to get rid of it for almost a year now. I have added my name to the Direct Marketing Association's "Do Not Mail" list. I have called, e-mailed, snail-mailed a gazellion companies. I still get them. The amount has reduced, but it has not stopped.

A few like me recycle junk mail. A vast majority just discards it.

Junk mail is nothing but wastage of criminal proportions. About half of all US Postal mail is junk. About 100 million trees are cut to create junk. I think it is high time we had a legislation banning companies like Victoria's Secret from sending unsolicited mails. I want my forests and ecosystems standing. Not cut down and smeared with pictures of half naked skinny bulimic women.

Quote of the day
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh** we don't need"~From the movie Fight Club (via quotegarden.com)

Redwoods, California

It was way back in 1999 when I first heard of the Redwood forests. An environmental activist by the name of Julia Hill lived atop a 1000 year old redwood for more than 700 days. She was trying to save it from being logged. The tree was finally spared and later named Luna. But not before several old growth trees were cut down.

Watching the news, I wondered... How could someone live like that? Why would someone want to do something like that?

Last week, I found the answers to my questions. All it took was a walk among these quiet giants. Gazing up, I sensed my own smallness and I felt a sense of awe, admiration and respect. This is a timeless place. Born when Aztecs and Mayans ruled South America, these redwoods have nurtured and nourished the land here for centuries. Intense logging however has reduced these forests to a tiny fraction. Only 4% of the old growth redwood forests remain. Any and every effort to save them is worthy.

My trip began on Christmas. It was raining when I reached. Winter brings much needed rain to the Redwood coast. Forests glisten and look extra green. Rain or no rain, all I wanted to do was hike among the tall ones. I hiked and I hiked and I hiked some more. With very few tourists this time of the year, the hikes can be a peaceful and soothing experience. All you hear is the rain, the rain drops, the streams and occasionally your own thoughts.

This is a tree hugger's paradise. The first few days, I was like a kid in a candy store. I was trying to photograph every single tree. Low light, the height of the trees and the rain makes the redwoods very difficult to photograph. Well, that didn't stop me. I probably took about a 1000 pictures. And I hiked all possible trails. The hike I enjoyed the most was the James Irvine trail. It was a 8 mile hike to the Fern Canyon and back. It was around lunch time when I walked straight into a herd of grazing Roosevelt Elks. They didn't run. Everyone looked up and at me, decided I was harmless and continued their merry grazing. I sat down, ate my granola bars and took plenty of pictures.

I have a few pictures here

The rain gods were kind to me. The rain was light and enjoyable the entire time. It was as if they were waiting for me to leave!

As I said before, this place is a tree hugger's paradise. It is also a tree hugger's heartbreak. Luna (the saved tree) was badly damaged by morons who hated Julia. Logging of old growth redwood continues today. Pacific Lumber Company owns large parts of this area and to them it is just a matter of profits. Several lawsuits have been filed and continue to be filed against the company. In a materialistic world, I am not sure how much time these forests have left. It is a consolation however to know that there are people who care and are willing to fight.

Quote of the day
"Every religion in the world builds shrines, temples, and churches so people can worship and feel connected to creation and the Creator. Yet the ancient forest cathedrals are continuously desecrated by industrial logging practices. Protecting the sacred forest ecosystems is a moral imperative on behalf of all life and compels all spiritual people to unite in this common goal."~ Julia Hill, Founder of CircleOfLife.org

China did it again!

First it was Benzene. Now it is Cadmium. Massive toxic spill has polluted the Bie river. The second river to be raped in China. More here

It makes me wonder... People living in democratic countries can protest, demand answers, write about it, even get officials fired. People in China are lucky they are even informed about it. Will these crimes end?

Quote of the day
"Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find"~Quoted in Time (via quotegarden.com)

Apathy is lethal. Is mere empathy also lethal ?

My Washington DC trip last week was again a successful "public transportation only" trip. I found the DC subway system very user friendly. Absolutely stress free. Plenty of time to read and reflect. Plenty of reflecting, I did. There was this one thing that occupied my thoughts. It was this photograph of a 50 year old Indian tusker. The photograph was taken by Yathin of Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus inside the Bandipur national forest.



A few weeks after the photograph was taken, the tusker was found shot dead. The tusker was shot, with a powerful muzzle loading gun, into its right temple, when it was drinking water. A 2.5 cm steel rod was used in the gun as a projectile.

Yathin is a passionate wildlife photographer. The news made him and all his readers very sad. I wondered if there was something that we all could do about it. I badly wanted to do something.

A few days later Yathin broke the news that the poachers were arrested . That was some consolation. But here is a shocker...The punishment for such a heinous crime is a fine of 10,000 rupees ( about $220) and/or 3 year imprisonment. I don't mean to insult peanuts, but this punishment is nothing but peanuts. Like Yathin says, true justice would be done only when the rich international gang behind it is behind bars. The only silver lining to the story is the fact that the local villagers and a few politicians helped arrest the criminals.

So what is my point ? My point is this...Everyone agrees that apathy is lethal. We all empathize. But is empathy enough ? The poachers would have escaped had it not been for the locals. Like the local villagers, can we the bloggers and readers do something ? Can we make a positive difference?

My search led me to Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). Founded in 1994 by Belinda Wright, the society has been aggressive against poaching. The society has been maintaining a database of poachers and poaching incidents. Analysis of this information has helped nab several international smuggling gangs. The first thing we all could do is notify them of a poaching incident.

They also list the email addresses of influential leaders. They encourage everyone to take a moment and write a few words. It is estimated that only 2% of India is under natural forest cover today. Wildlife is under extreme pressure.

Every little effort matters in preserving whatever little is left.

The email addresses
Manmohan Singh. Prime Minister of India (pmosb@pmo.nic.in)
A. Raja. Minister for Environment and Forests (mef@menf.delhi.nic.in)
P. Ghosh. Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests (prodipto_ghosh@nic.in)

Or, one can adopt a conservation project. For donations & other information about WPSI please do write to wpsi@vsnl.com


Quote of the day
" Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned" ~ Peter Marshall

Mercury loving Democrats & Mercury hating Republicans

Many of you know this already. A resolution to enforce stricter mercury emissions law failed on the US senate floor. With Republicans in the majority, this was a difficult task to begin with. Even if it had passed, the President was eagerly waiting to veto the resolution.

In the end, the voting was largely along party lines. Majority of the Republicans voted for the industry and a majority of the Democrats voted for the environment. To my surprise, 6 democrats voted against the resolution and 9 republicans supported the resolution. So who are these surprises?


Mercury loving Democrats
------------------------
Max Baucus, Montana
Conrad, North Dakota
Dorgan, North Dakota
Pryor, Arkansas
Nelson, Nebraska
Byrd, West Virginia

Mercury hating Republicans
--------------------------
John McCain, Arizona
Collins, Maine
Snowe, Maine
Coleman, Minnesota
Gregg, New Hampshire
Sununu, New Hampshire
Smith, Oregon
Chafee, Rhode Island
Alexander Lamar, Tennessee

If you think about it, these senators and their votes are no surprises. It is nothing but typical "red state blue state" behavior. The only exception however is, senator John McCain from Arizona. He seems to genuinely care about the environment. He has backed many environment initiatives in the past.

The folks on the side of the environment & health cited mercury poisoning and its adverse effect on the health of pregnant women and children. The folks on the side of the industry cited "market based approach" to reducing mercury pollution. Apparently, they (pro industry) favor the existing cap and trade system. Simply put, the cap and trade system allows a plant to exceed its permitted level of emissions by buying credits from a plant in the same region whose emissions are below what is allowed. With the existing system it would be 2018 before mercury emissions are cut by 70%. The new resolution would have reduced mercury emissions within a much shorter time frame.

Cap and Trade system ... Isn't it that the very principles of the Kyoto protocol ? Countries exceeding co2 emissions trade carbon credits with countries that reduce co2 emissions.

So the very same folks who oppose trading co2 (Kyoto protocol), favor trading Mercury!!!!!!!!. Smells like hypocrisy / campaign finance to me


Quote of the day
"Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo" ...Ambrose Pierce

Down with The Economist

In one of my earlier posts, I had talked about Future Forests. Surya of Silent Eloquence was kind enough to point me to an article titled, Down with the trees in The Economist. The article basically cited two studies to draw a dramatic conclusion, "Planting trees can exacerbate drought and fail to tackle climate change"

The first study was from university of New Castle, UK. This study was about forests and water. The second was from an article published in Nature by a team of American and Brazilian scientists. This was about forests and carbon absorption

At first read, I knew there was something seriously wrong about the Economist article. I was right, the article was just cheap sensationalism.

The Economist apologized for its misleading conclusion on carbon absorption. It printed a correction. So trees do help tackle climate change. Now what about the trees "exacerbating drought" jingle. I did a little searching...

The study by University of New Castle can be found here

The aim of the study is clearly outlined in its introduction, "The ecological importance of forested lands is not being questioned and underestimated, but the need to be better informed while designing land and water management programs such as watershed development, is being emphasized"

In other words, governmental agencies should make informed policies and decisions when it comes to designing and implementing land and water management projects. Not just drumbeat that planting trees will solve every water problem and bring more rainfall. As the study points out, one needs to be aware of complex issues like local climate, average annual rainfall, native vegetation, soil properties, downstream ecology and more. Planting eucalyptus trees in an arid region or planting date palms in a tropical region is nothing but foolishness.

The study makes it very clear...Destroying an ecosystem is very easy. Recreating it takes research and a lot of effort. One thing is for sure, amateur journalism doesn't help the situation at all. Here is my letter to the editor of The Economist
******
Sir/Madam,

This is in regards to your article titled Down with trees, dated July 28th 2005.

I have to say your article is nothing but knee jerk journalism. You have conveniently and incorrectly used two studies to draw a dramatic conclusion. I am aware of the fact that you have printed a correction. The correction still doesn't address your inaccurate conclusions about forests and droughts. You have quoted the study out of context. The study by the University of New Castle UK is clearly trying to emphasize the importance of informed and scientific decisions when it comes to water management projects. We all understand the harm of introducing non native vegetation. Such activities can only the exacerbate an already stressed ecology. So can articles like yours.

Sincerely
One More Reason

For the Indigenous people

August 9th is being celebrated as the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.

There are about 300 million indigenous men, women and children worldwide. They define the term diversity. More than 5,000 different groups of indigenous people live in more than 70 countries. For a millennia they have lived a rich life, in peace, and in harmony with nature. Exemplifying true sustainable living. Ironically, today they find themselves catalogued as extremely poor.

Couple of months ago, I visited the beautiful island of Kauai. I remember the boat ride along the Wailua river. The tour guide was native Hawaiian. He asked us if we had a chance to taste traditional Hawaiian soul food. It is usually made of taro and requires slow and patient cooking. I wanted to taste it, but couldn't find a place that served it. Every one was silent. The tour guide smiled and said, "We ourselves haven't eaten it in a long time. McDonalds is much easier"

That pretty much summarizes the plight of indigenous people today. All the diversity and rich culture is getting systemically lost under Walmartization, McDonaldization and other homogenizing trends of globalization.

One of the great things about free market economy is the use of law to do unlawful things. The atrocities against Native America is a classic example. Jennifer of whatbox has been writing an emotional series on Native America. Atrocities committed against them in the name of gold, oil,coal, gas and religion, their lives, their hardships, their struggle. It has been eye opening.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India is yet another tragic story. Indian government's atrociously stupid policy of assimilation has reduced a 10,000 strong aborginal population (a century ago) to a mere 900.

It will take more than a day of celebration to stop and undo the injustice. It is a start nevertheless. UN's theme for today is "The Cause of Indigenous People is Ours".

There is a growing realization that the cause of Indigenous People is linked to our common global future and health. They offer the best example of sustainable development. Let us respect that, let us understand that, let us imbibe that.

Link: UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Quote of the day
"The Cause of Indigenous People is Ours"

Carl Pope on the Mumbai rains

[..]

Two weeks ago, in a foreshadowing of what we can expect to see happen more and more often as we destabilize the global climate, this city received 37 inches of water in one day. I cannot begin to fathom what that must have been like to experience -- more than three feet of water falling in a single day. One friend said it was like a river falling straight down from the sky.

[..]

Reactionary economists tell us it wouldn't be cost-effective to take preventive action on global warming. Well, this city generates 40 percent of the tax revenues for the whole government of India. For three days, no buses ran and the stock market was closed. Multiply this tragedy by a thousand, by ten thousand. Would having cars and trucks that accelerated a little less quickly, installing more modern equipment in factories, sealing leaks in houses, or building windmills in the Dakotas instead of importing oil from Saudi Arabia really be too high a price to pay to avoid such disasters?

For the people of Bombay, the unwillingness of my own government to act responsibly is, literally, a matter of life and death. I sometimes wonder why they are so nice to us.


Link: A River from the Sky

View from up there !

"The atmosphere almost looks like an eggshell on an egg, it's so very thin"...Discovery Commander Eileen Collins

She describes how widespread environmental destruction on Earth could be seen from the shuttle.

"Sometimes you can see how there is erosion, and you can see how there is deforestation. It's very widespread in some parts of the world. We would like to see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the Earth and replace the resources that have been used."

The view from up there...Not good. My tree hugging heart sinks. In moments like these, I reach out for support. Nothing dramatic, just my ipod and ColdPlay. I am a big fan of ColdPlay. If you like them, here is a reason to love them.

They are one of the few who really care about the environment. They are one of the biggest supporters of future forests.

The name future forests says it all. The aim is to simply "replace resources" and restore carbon balance. Future Forests gets involved in a wide range of forests around the world. They work with planting partners in UK, Mexico, India, Germany, North America and Canada.




One project in particular caught my attention. In Gudibanda, Karnataka, India future forests have joined hands with Women For Sustainable Development, to create a forest of mango trees. The project is unique in the sense that it provides both carbon absorption and viable income for the locals. Truly a great story.

I say unto thee. Adopt a tree. Let the tree hugger in you be free.

Update: The project to plant mango trees did not go well. Read about it here


Quote of the day
"He who plants a tree, plants a hope"... Lucy Larcom, "Plant a Tree"

Exxpose Exxon

ExxonMobil has given $15 million since 1998 to groups working to confuse the public about the broad scientific consensus on the causes of and solutions to global warming. More...


Quote of the day
"It wasn't the Exxon Valdez captain's driving that caused the Alaskan oil spill. It was yours."...Greenpeace advertisement, New York Times, 25 February 1990

Earth Day, Religion & Me

I was reading through the many Earth day articles when this particular picture caught my attention. The picture felt very apt and in tune with the day’s emotion. The picture was taken by 14 year old Chamaiporn Pongpanich of Thailand. A moving picture of monks, draping saffron cloth round the trunk of a huge tropical tree. The draping signifies the "Ordaining" of the tree.

Traditionally, a Thai Buddhist novice is ordained by the shaving of the monk’s hair and by his acceptance of saffron robes. Thai monks have used this symbolic act of initiation to “ordain” trees in the rain forest. This rather unique tactic has actually prevented the logging of quite a number of acres of forest.

The picture is powerful in what it represents. Religion could indeed save the environment. It got me very interested in how and what world religions are doing in the area of conservation and environment protection. So I googled and I googled. What I found was quite heartening and saddening.

Buddhism by far appears to be in the forefront of environmental conservation. One of its main principles being equilibrium with nature. I came across this very poignant view by a Thai Monk,Buddhadasa Bhikkhu , "The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon, and the stars live together as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees, and the earth. When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdependent, cooperative enterprise . . . then we can build a noble environment. If our lives are not based on this truth, then we shall perish.”

Engaged Buddhist activists are tackling global issues head on. Most visible among them, the Dalai Lama himself.

In sharp contrast to Buddhism stands Christianity. Sad ! My own religion is weak here. I think it is very necessary to say that Christianity in the modern period lost interest in the natural world and has exploited it. Christian theology in many ways gave a free reign for the scientific conquest of nature. All in the name of human dominion. The concept of human dominion comes from a myopic interpretation of the Bible.

Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground

Today many Christians, especially the evangelists are reexamining that argument. Many are environmentally concerned and caring. They are slowing becoming a voice and go by the name "Creation Care". So why don't they call themselves environmentalists?. Well…that would make them liberal. In the strange world of politics, a conservative cannot be seen favoring a liberal. Politics aside, it is great to see a green movement among the conservatives too.

This brings me to India and its present. A country which places a huge importance to religion.

Free market economy and ideology has gripped India. The country has been growing steadily both in terms of population and economy. Consumerism is the new mantra. The 500 million strong middle class is fast becoming a force in itself and globalization is a welcome word. While there exists a sound infrastructure to aid consumption, there is sadly none for disposal, reuse and preservation. Environmental safeguards are usually considered a nuisance. That to me is precarious and unacceptable. Clean air, clean water and a healthy environment is everybody's right.

Is the common man worried ? Does the common man care ? If not, how do we educate ? Television is an effective medium. I am beginning to think religion is much more powerful

I wonder what the Christian religious leaders in India feel about “Creation Care”. I think, I need to find out.

Curse of the Junk Mail

Each day I open my snail mail box and in comes a flood of mail. Almost all the time it is Junk Mail (JM). Credit card offers, pizza coupons, PC deals, hair growth products, hair removal products... The list goes on. If you happen to be away for a couple of days your entire mail box gets "junked out".

There is much concern about junk in your email box. Why is there no concern about junk in your snail mail box?

According to a report from Berkeley, U.S. produces 35% of the world’s new printed information each year and 40% of the world's card and letter postal volume. About half of all postal mail in the United States is junk mail.

It is estimated that about 100 million trees are cut each year to create this menace. All in the name of better business and a stronger economy. Reputable companies like Dell, AOL, Chase are all in on this. The irony is in the fact that these companies claim themselves to be environmentally responsible.

When it comes to JM, it is a bad thing to have a conscience. Each time you see it, you end up exasperated. Worrying about all those precious trees and what not. So I try and recycle all this junk very religiously. If you happen to live in a state where environment is a back burner, recycling is easier said than done.

Recycling is great. Stopping JM altogether would be even better. Hmm.... I wondered. What would Napoleon Dynamite say ? The answer came back, "See for your self" :)

A few googles later, I found out about DMA (Direct Marketing Association). Apparently I could opt out of JM all together. My tree hugging heart skipped a beat. Off I went filling the request forms. I even contacted some of the JM proliferating companies individually, and requested my name be taken off their JM list.

It felt good.

Days went by. JM kept happening. I waited patiently and hoped that things would improve. Then I started noticing a difference. The mails were no longer addressed to me. Instead it was to a
Current Resident
Good neighbor
Valued Customer
Car Enthusiast
Frequent Flyer
Single And Looking

My name apparently was off the list and with that the companies were no longer liable. But JM kept happening. The Postal service had absolutely no problem delivering the JM. I am pretty sure my name is neither Hairy & Scary; nor is it Balding & Boring. Why Lord why ?

Let me guess...All that really matters is revenue.To the postal department. To the big companies. To everybody!