ENVIRONMENTAL STRUGGLES

DAVE LINDORFF—The need for major changes in our economic system and our national infrastructure are so great that they present an incredible opportunity to create much-needed jobs on an unheard-of scale. The so-called Green New Deal touted by politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others, while ridiculed by politicians who are on the take from corporate America, is eminently logical and a real way forward, but it’s only a start. [Neither Sanders nor Ocasio-Cortez has actually fought for their signature proposal, though, which is rather typical of Democrat-controlled politicos.—Ed)

The pools which Japan intends to dump originated from the Fukushima Nuclear disaster. Japan insists that because they will only contain Tritium and not other radio-active elements, they will be safe to dispose into the Pacific. Paul Derienzo fears this sets a dangerous precedent for future dumps: “Maybe they’ll dodge a bullet on this tritium release, because its only 120 years and the ocean, but do you think that will be the end of it? Then you’ll never hear the end of it. They did it then, and they’ll do it again. These same tritium pools are underneath every nuclear reactor. Nuclear reactors create tritium like crazy.”

PATRICE GREANVILLE—In terms of sheer labor inputs, and engineering difficulties, the Carretera Austral is in a class comparable to the “near miraculous” projects recently seen in China. We wonder indeed how long it would take the Chinese to build this highway across impossible fjords, glaciers, ocean expanses, and all. With their advanced machinery, proven skills, and legendary tenacity, who knows, maybe they would get it done in less time than anyone in the West would expect. Ironically, the “Carretera Austral” Project was pushed against all naysayers by Augusto Pinochet (the road was originally called Carretera Austral Gen. Augusto Pinochet), and may eventually serve to whitewash the dictator’s innumerable crimes. Cynics claim Pinochet saw the project as a gigantic, bottomless pork barrel opportunity for his family and hangers-on. In any case, the ecological price of “developing” this fragile and precious environment is unquestionably bound to be high, perhaps prohibitive, even if the region is only kept as mostly a tourist reserve. The German documentary featured on this page suggests as much: the red tide (“marea roja”) that killed hundreds and possibly thousands of whales, a mind-boggling number for an animal whose numbers remain fragile in the global oceanic ecosystem, is a tragic reminder that the human footprint should not be extended thoughtlessly.

PETER KOENIG—These “green” investments have not even come close to a zero-carbon balance. To the contrary. The production of “green investments” used generally hydrocarbon, which lowers the energy efficiency drastically. This is clearly demonstrated in the low energy efficiency of electric cars, on average 35% to 40%, versus cars using straight petrol or gas-based energy.

N. CUNNINGHAM—From devastating wildfires to rising methane emissions, Earth’s vital signs are continuing to deteriorate, scientists warn. An urgent global phaseout of fossil fuels is needed, they say, reiterating calls for “transformative change,” which is “needed now more than ever to protect life on Earth and remain within as many planetary boundaries as possible.”

The warning comes roughly a year and a half after a global coalition of 11,000 climate scientists declared a climate emergency, warning that global action was needed to avoid “untold suffering due to the climate crisis.” The new paper examining Earth’s vital signs, published in the journal BioScience, is authored by some of the same scientists who helped spearhead the climate emergency declaration.