FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

One of the world's most effective environmental groups is San francisco-basd FRIENDS OF EARTH. Although FOE publishes Not Man Apart - a monthly tabloid magazine packed with authenticated, hard-to-find facts that every concerned citizen needs - far too few of MOTHER's readers regularyly see a copy of NMA. We are therefore quite pleased that FOE's staff has agreed to write a regular FRIENDS OF THE EARTH column for THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS.

PASS THE POLLUTION, PLEASE

Have you ever heard of "exporting" pollution? Well, it's a fact: To get around their own nations' clean air and water regulations, some businesses move factories and operations to countries where labor is cheaper and governments are less cautious about environmental protection. We're glad to report, however, that a recent United States court decision on the proposed Darien Gap highwaya U.S.-funded roadbuilding project that would cut through the jungles of Panama and Colombia-may help put an end to some of this particular brand of international finagling.

The ruling (which marks the first time a domestic court has considered the effects of a U.S. enterprise overseas) says that the Darien Gap project must conform to United States regulations, even though the highway will not be built in this country. In other words, the road has been stopped until a required environmental impact report is prepared, filed, and approved.

And once that statement is compiled, it will (or at least it should) point out a factor that may be the project's final undoing: Road construction in the area planned will cause the cultural extinction of that region's nomadic Choco and Cuna Indians.

For centuries, as you're probably aware, the Chocos and Cunas have coaxed a bare existence from the jungle by clearing a patch of land, planting mixed crops there for a season or two, and then moving on (which allows the depleted soil to "rest"). The highway would bring in new people and more development, which would limit both the availability of potential cropland and the Indians' necessary freedom to move around. The result of the new "stability"? Bye-bye Indians. Goodbye soil.

As it stands today, the court's decision applies only to federally funded projects but it's a step in the right direction. Friends of the Earth is working toward the day when no industry will be allowed to rip off another culture or country for the sake of profit.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print