And it Spreads... Where do the Walls End?

At the risk of veering off on a tangent about human rights in South America (after all, this is a blog about the environment), I decided to follow up my last post with an additional one on the disturbing phenomena that seems to be immerging in the region; this time in Argentina.

To refresh your memory (or for those too lazy to scroll down), I recently reported on the plight of the poor citizens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil who are being walled in, somewhat against there will. According to a spokesperson from the Rio government, this is a necessary measure to stop individuals from entering the Amazon rainforest in an effort to clear land for home building or to illegally harvest trees for trade on the black market. While saving the environment is a noble cause to undertake, I would argue that garnishing the human rights of the citizenry to do so is not a fair trade.

While debate on this issue simmers, Brazil’s neighbor to the far south, Argentina, is facing a similar yet far more grave situation. A similar plan spearheaded by Gustavo Posse, mayor of San Isidro, a wealthy region of the capital Buenos Aires, is causing massive amounts of controversy due to the fact that he is way more shameless in the fact that the goal of the project is to separate the rich and the poor regions with a physical barrier. Additionally, unlike in Brazil, outraged citizens have taken to the streets in protest and have gone as far as to physically damage and graffiti the wall, which is now being guarded by the armed forces of the state. The wall has been dubbed “The Wall of Discord” and is being compared to the Berlin wall for its class driven, discriminatory connotations.



The official story from state government officials on the matter is that the reason behind the decision to erect this wall is to, like Brazil, halt the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Luckily, the people of Argentina are less willing to swallow that farce and are helping to shed some light on this unfortunate situation. The mayor of San Isidro has also been quoted as saying that the wall is necessary to for the protection of the citizens and will result in decreased crime because criminals from San Fernando, the poor region of Buenos Aires, will not be able to get in to San Isidro. If that isn’t blatant discrimination than I don’t know what is. Posse is generalizing the people of an entire area as vagrants and criminals when that is certainly not the case and frankly, the people of San Fernando are right for not lying down and taking it.

My main criticism of the Argentinean government, who has vehemently spoke out against the actions being taken in the capital, is that they have failed to protect the rights of the citizens and have allowed the state, which is inherently under the jurisdiction of the national government, to act against its judgment. What type of political system would allow individual entities under the all-encompassing to just act with out any uniformity or checks? (cough, cough) While the Argentinean government has pledged to halt further construction of the wall, it’s the principle of the matter. But then again, everything is always about the principle. I just don’t get how the mayor thought he could pull something so egregious and get away with it. But then again, they managed to do it in Brazil so anything is possible.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Environmental Nazism: How to effectively mask human rights violations with environmental concerns

While the notion of returning to 1940’s Nazi Germany would be a horrendous idea to entertain, the government of Rio de Janeiro seems to be taking a page from Hitler’s play book with the enactment of the state’s latest environmental protection legislation. Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is a huge concern and a major contributor to the global warming problem. However, walling in the slums of the area to prevent the poor and destitute citizens from sprawling into the rainforest and cutting down trees for personal consumption or sale seems like a less than subtle way to recreate a class based version of the Warsaw ghettos or the Japanese internment camps that still mar the history of our society. Whether or not this type of action is a necessary evil for the protection of the environment, erecting walls throughout a city to separate different classes of people violates these individual’s human rights and beckons us to question the true motives of the Brazilian government which seem to be cloaked by environmental interests.



The majority of Rio de Janeiro’s population lives in extreme poverty which, in turn, has a unique yet distinct effect on the preservation of the adjacent Amazon rainforest. The favelas that plaster the hillsides of Rio de Janeiro house continue to house the masses, however, space is not unlimited. As the impoverished population continues to grow, the slums are forced to sprawl out into the rainforest that it borders, clearing its trees and shrinking its size more and more each year. Additionally, one source of income for some in the slums are the trees themselves. Logging in the Amazon rainforest is not permitted, however, the forest produces valuable wood resources that some are willing to obtain illegally for a price. Poorer citizens are willing to enter the forest and harvest trees to sell illegally as one of the few means they have of making money. These two reasons among others are contributing to the loss of 60 million acres of rainforest each year.



The situation is becoming increasingly dire for the environment as global warming becomes more and more of an issue; however, the solution that the government of Rio de Janeiro has developed will ultimately hurt the poor population of the city as well as the environment. The state government has already begun to erect over seven miles of concrete walls that stand at about 10 feet high around 11 different slums in the region. According to Icaro Moreno, president of Rio de Janeiro’s state public works department, the only objective of this project is to protect the rainforest.


However, the situation has generated mass amounts of controversy being that the walls are only being erected around the slums of the region, which some would consider to be a class driven policy play from the government of Rio de Janeiro. The ulterior motive for walling off the slums from the wealthy areas of the city would be to segregate the two groups and increase the aesthetic look of the rich Rio coastline. Obviously, there is no way this reason could justify the essential boxing in of millions of poor individuals living in the slums, so the environmental protection twist is necessary to carry out this project. However, lack of political power is what is really allowing this ill-conceived plan to be carried out along with the disenfranchisement of the poor in Rio de Janeiro.


The real problem in this situation is poverty rather than the destruction of the natural environment. Clearly, if the poverty problem were addressed in Rio de Janeiro then the rainforest would not be in jeopardy the way it is now. The government of Rio de Janeiro is more concerned with its image than it is with the welfare of its citizens. While it is necessary to protect the environment, we shouldn’t do it at the expense of human rights. There are other options to curb deforestation that don’t involve walls around people such as investing in programs sponsored by the UN to treat the deforestation problem under the carbon trading system already established to slow global warming. But as long as Brazil is content with handling global issues with an isolationist and uncompassionate attitude, the walls will continue to stand.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Happy Feet... for the Environment


Best movie ever… Happy Feet! Ok, well maybe not quite, but it is one of my personal favorites. I mean who could resist with all of those cute penguins running around. But the fact that it is an animated children’s film does not detract from its relevance as a fairly accurate depiction of the plight of many species in habitats around the globe that are increasingly being encroached upon by humans. When the protagonist, Mumble the penguin, sets out to find the culprit responsible for the fish drought that had been decimating his clan of penguins and ultimately ends up being captured by humans and placed in wild life prison the zoo, I was compelled to consider how my actions affect the environment at large. This film raises many important questions about the relationship between human progress and animals in the natural environment which, depending upon how we as a society choose to address them, will determine the viability of many species.

Industry is a vital part of the economic system that we have grown accustomed to, however, 9 times out of 10 its existence jeopardizes the natural environment. A good example of this is the oil industry. Oil spills are a reality and a fairly regular occurrence. These events have devastating effects on the natural environment surrounding the oil rigs and miles in the distance. In the film there was no oil spill, however, the abandoned rigs and housing areas for people who worked on the rigs caused problems for the penguins. Not only did the construction affect the natural habitat and migration patterns for the penguins, but trash left behind by the crews polluted the area and even strangled one of them nearly to death. Humans entering environmentally sensitive areas for economic purposes may be a necessary evil for now, however, we must take additional steps to insure that the least amount of damage possible is incurred by the environment.

In our sometimes overzealous quest for knowledge we intrude upon the natural environment to study it. While this may seem like a noble quest, its enactment many times show no compassion for the animals it effects. Many studies involve animal testing in which animals are removed from their natural environment and caged so they may be monitored. However, we can all agree that this is devastating for the lives of the animals involved. The protagonist of the film, Mumble the penguin, is captured by humans while in pursuit of the ship carrying the oil rig workers that were seemingly responsible for the fish drought in his habitat. They examine him and place him in a zoo in a traumatizing manner that leaves Mumble disoriented, forlorn, and longing to return home. So much so in fact that he begins to have delusions. The main point here is not that we should stop studying animals, but rather we should avoid test tube studies and view them from the natural environment.

Additionally, the human disregard for the environment or the animals extends further in the way that we ignore environmental issues until it is nearly too late or it becomes fashionable to care. While an array of environmental issues exist, only a few immerge to the forefront as they become part of the popular media for one reason or another. Mumble the penguin only is able to help his penguin clan through his unique ability to dance. If Mumble had not been able to gain human interest through this ability, his clan would have certainly become extinct because no one was interested or aware of the effects of the oil drilling in the area. Why does it take a miraculous or out of the ordinary event for us to care about how we are destroying the natural environment? Although we can not negate all of the negative externalities of human activity, we should make ourselves at least more aware of the problems so that we may find more solutions.

The environment is an issue that more and more people are taking notice of and media outlets such as films are helping to spread awareness. However, if people don’t understand the message, is it really helping? Happy Feet is an animated children’s film, but it does outline many problems that the environment faces as human society continues to evolve. The true test of this type of environmentally aware media will be to see how much action it elicits from those that view it.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

 
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