From: Witness For Peace Date: 24 Sep 92 12:17 PDT Subject: WFP Myth of the Month: August 1992 Message-ID: <1563600205@igc.apc.org> Lines: 314 Status: RO Witness for Peace 1492-1992 Expose the Myths: Calling for a Just World Order Myth of the Month--August 1992: Environment Myth: Environmental degradation is a 20th century phenomenon. Columbus and the European "discoverers" introduced more advanced agricultural methods to improve the output of land in the New World, providing for better and more efficient use of the land and other natural resources. Western-based scientific methods continue to be used to "manage" the environment in order to improve the human condition, vis-a-vis feeding hungry people, while preserving the environment for future generations. Response: Columbus and the Europeans who followed him used the environmental resources they found in the "New World"--land, water, air and other natural resources--to enrich European society at the expense of the indigenous population. Today the environment is still exploited in ways that benefit privileged societies at the expense of indigenous peoples, causing poverty and hardship by removing people from the land and polluting the environment for the sake of profit. The Americas Before 1492: Land is not sold, land is our mother. You don't sell your mother. --Chief Seattle The indigenous societies of the Americas that existed before Columbus arrived developed scientific systems of agriculture based on the conditions of their environment. Where agricultural development was conducive, farmers, through trial and error, developed the best seeds for their crops, the right amount of irrigation, and the best time for planting to produce the greatest yields. The ability to work with the environment to maximize benefits without destroying it was the principal reason that Incan and Mayan empires (among other societies) were able to grow and prosper. Even nomadic tribes which relied primarily on wild-game were careful not to deplete the food source. For instance, in pre-Columbian Peru, only barren land was used for the construction of cities so as not to encroach upon valuable agricultural land. Also, the spiritual practices of many indigenous people viewed human beings as a part of nature--not apart from it or free to use it up or abuse it. Gold and other precious metals were not used as a source of money by the indigenous peoples, but as adornment or to pay homage to their gods. As a result, they did not have a need to mine great quantities, and mining was not permanently ruinous to the environment. The Americas During the Conquest The purpose of Columbus' voyage (trade route aside) was to amass wealth and riches for Europe. The European invaders came with the belief that Europe was the center of the universe and that all things, including the environment, were for the purpose of comforting Europeans in the Americas and producing wealth for Europe. The European invaders cleared huge tracts of land in the Americas, over-planted indigenous crops (maize, tobacco, potatoes and tomatoes) for export, and introduced alien crops better suited to the agricultural techniques and climate of Europe. This caused the destruction of much flora and fauna, a depletion of nutrients in the soil and the eventual degradation of the land. Because the Europeans mined gold and silver as a "commercial" enterprise, entire indigenous nations throughout the Americas were either moved, enslaved or destroyed. Huge tracts of land were damaged, trees were uprooted, topsoil was destroyed, and land was removed from agricultural use for the purpose of extracting minerals that would be shipped to Europe. After the most accessible minerals and metals had been extracted using indigenous methods of mining, the "patio process," which causes irreparable damage, was introduced by Europeans to extract more minerals. To get at the mineral riches in lower grade mineral bodies, the Spaniards used mercury to separate silver from the crushed rock and silt in the mines. According to the North American Council on Latin America (NACLA): Mercury was amalgamated with silver ore in large tanks or patios where humans and animals crushed ore with their feet. The Indians and mules that labored in the patios soon became chronically ill and most died. Rivers in the mining regions became saturated with mercury, initiating a chain of ecological transformation, since the element accumulates in animal and plant tissue. Fish caught in waters laden with mercury were eaten by humans, animals and birds, spreading toxicity. Soils were so affected by contaminated river water even in areas far from the mines that the plants they supported mutated over time. With the arrival of Columbus, environmental destruction and human destruction went hand in hand. New World Order--Environment 1992: After several days, the dying man does not smell the stench of his own body. If you continue polluting your bed, one night you will die suffocated by your own wastes. Whatever happens to the earth, happens to the sons of the earth. --Chief Seattle In most of the Americas, land and water were first polluted for the sake of extracting the precious metals beneath the soil. Today, in Colombia and other Latin American countries, new cyanide-based chemical processes cause severe pollution as they make possible the extraction of precious metals from previously "played-out" mines. Similarly, in the western U.S., militarization has brought the sub-soils under attack, as uranium continues to be mined for nuclear weapons, unleashing radioactive pollution upon the environment and killing indigenous people. From the time of Columbus (extraction of precious metals, inappropriate agricultural methods) to the Industrial Revolution (iron mining) to the Green Revolution (use of pesticides and fertilizer) to the Atomic Age (uranium mining), the environment occupied by indigenous peoples of the Americas has often been used and destroyed to enrich local elites and European or European-based western societies. The Legacy Continues "You deserve a break today" --McDonalds Today in Central America, the process Columbus set in motion continues in the form of U.S. agro-export policy, commonly referred to as "the hamburger connection," although coffee, cotton, broccoli, or other products may be substituted. The preferred model involves the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granting funds to Central American elites to clear large tracts of agriculturally fertile land for cattle grazing, in the process destroying the flora and fauna. When cattle is introduced, their hooves trample and impact the delicate topsoil making it harder for grasses to grow; with no roots to hold the soil in place, the topsoil erodes quickly. Clearing the land involves not only cutting down trees, but also pushes the local population off the land. This forces subsistence farmers into the rain forests or along steep hills to farm, further destroying those delicate environments. Today, in much of Central America, the land is degraded and people are up-rooted for the benefit of elite cattle ranchers and to provide cheap beef for U.S.-based fast-food restaurants at the expense of local farmers. Agricultural exports (coffee, broccoli, cotton, etc.) destined for U.S. or European markets, and the use of U.S.-made chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers in Latin America also pollutes the environment. For example, in the 1970s in Guatemala the level of DDT found in human breast milk was 185 times greater than the World Health Organization's limit, and the highest in the world. Fighting Back As during colonization, indigenous inhabitants of the Americas continue to struggle to maintain their land and end ecological destruction. One example of this struggle occurred after the dictatorship of Anastacio Somoza was toppled in Nicaragua in 1979. At that time, Nicaragua's new government of National Reconstruction initiated a bold new experiment in environmental policy to combat decades of ecological destruction. The Sandinistas quickly nationalized the country's forest, mineral and aquatic resources. Furthermore, they nationalized the banking and export/import system, thus establishing an effective means to regulate pesticides entering the country. Between 1979 and 1981, the government banned DDT, BHC, endrin, dieldrin, phosvel, and DBCP, replacing these extremely dangerous chemicals with more expensive, but less harmful synthetic pyrethroids. To prevent high winds from blowing away valuable topsoil, some 3,000 trees a day were planted over a two-year period in the Pacific region of Leon, thus building 1,200 kilometers of windbreak in the cotton growing region. The Sandinistas also implemented a test program in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in 1980. Based on the philosophy of using naturally occurring predators and other biological control agents, IPM proved highly successful in reducing pesticide use on cotton. In 1981-1982, the volume of pesticide imports fell 45%, lessening the environmental impact of insecticide use, while simultaneously bolstering the economic value of the country's cotton crop. The effort to safeguard environmental and human health also increased economic productivity and independence, making the Sandinista government's early pesticide policy a model for "productive conservation" in the Third World, and a focus of attention for the international environmental movement. However, the U.S. economic embargo and contra war gradually undermined experiments in revolutionary ecology. In 1983, a CIA-coordinated attack on the port at Corinto destroyed $7 million of organophosphate pesticide that had been just unloaded on the docks. The attack occurred during a critical moment in the pest cycle, forcing the Nicaraguan government to remove impounded insecticides from warehouses, and dealing the IPM program a serious setback. Currently, at the behest of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the Chamorro government is seeking to lift the pesticide ban imposed by the Sandinistas and thereby double the amount of land available for cotton cultivation. While this policy will probably bring needed hard currency to the current Nicaraguan government, it will almost assuredly return Nicaragua to the pesticide treadmill and further ecological degradation. The "new world order" also calls upon the U.S. and other Western- based societies to maintain their reliance on petroleum and petroleum-based products, regardless of their effect upon the indigenous populations in oil producing countries or on the global environment. Echoing Columbus era policies, U.S. Middle-East policy and the recent Persian Gulf war serve to reinforce the willingness of the U.S. to forcibly control (if need be) and exploit foreign natural resources for the benefit of local and U.S. elites (oil companies) at the expense of indigenous populations and the environment. In many parts of the world, atmospheric contamination is reaching life-threatening levels. Clean water is becoming scarce as industrial pollution destroys underground water. Toxic wastes generated by industries and the military are increasing at a phenomenal rate. In short, the contamination of the land, food and water by pesticides, chemicals and the nuclear industry is reaching disastrous proportions. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions and ozone depletion is possibly leading the planet towards a climatic change via the greenhouse effect. Environmental Trauma in the USA "Better living through chemistry" --DuPont The U.S. itself is not immune from environmental degradation. In the 1980s, Love Canal (NY) and Times Beach (MO) gained prominence as two cities poisoned by the dumping of toxic wastes. Despite federal legislation such as the Clean Water Act and the Clear Air Act, many corporations continue to produce hazardous environmental waste. When the wastes are banned in the U.S., corporations often ship them overseas, ignoring their harmful effects on animal, plant and human life. However, the twin tragedies that Columbus wrought-- environmental degradation and racism--still remain central components in the production and disposal of toxic wastes both at home and abroad. Environmental Racism The following are examples of the connection between racism and environmental hazards in the U.S.: * Three of the five largest commercial hazardous waste landfills in the United States are located in mostly Black or Hispanic communities; these landfills account for 40 percent of the nations estimated commercial landfill space. * Three out of five Black and Hispanic Americans live in communities with uncontrolled toxic waste sites. * 60 percent of the total Black population (15 million) live in communities with one or more uncontrolled toxic waste sites. * About half of all Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans live on lands with uncontrolled waste sites. Racism and environmental hazard are also linked overseas: * Kuwait: As a result of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, 732 oil wells were set on fire in Kuwait--lifting as much as 100,000 tons of smoke and soot into the atmosphere daily with unknown long-term affects. * Bophal, India - A pesticide leak in 1984 at a (U.S.-owned) Union Carbide Plant located in the midst of an economically disadvantaged neighborhood, resulted in approximately 2,000 initial deaths of Indian men, women and children, with long-term effects causing health complications and deaths. * Haiti: In October 1987, the Haitian government issued an import permit for fertilizer to the cargo ship, " Khian Sea." However, the ships cargo consisted of 13,476 tons of toxic municipal fertilizer ash from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. * South Africa: American Cyanamid exports 100 tons of mercury wastes each year to Thor Chemicals in Cato Ridge, South Africa. The mercury has contaminated nearby marshes and the Mngenwi River, which flows into the Valley of a Thousand Hills where the local population uses the water for drinking, cooking and washing. Calling for a Just World Order: * Call on your representatives and senators to support legislation that protects the environment and prohibits the dumping of toxic wastes overseas. * Organize or join a Witness for Peace delegation to look at environmental issues in Central America (see enclosed delegation schedule). * Subscribe to the Central America Newsline for more information on the environmental, political, and social situation (see enclosed order form). * Research the dumping practices of your town or state. Find out where waste goes and what communities are most effected. Discuss your findings with local representatives and media. Discussion Questions: 1. What additional examples of environmental trauma and racism can you think of, both in the U.S. and abroad? 2. Could the Nicaraguan model of "productive conservation" in the Third World pose a threat to the U.S.? If so, how? 3. What are some of the effects that U.S. environmental policy has on your family or community? What sort of effects do you think U.S. environmental policy or practices would have on a family living in rural Guatemala? Resources: Central America: Roots of Environmental Destruction, EPOCA/Green Paper, Number Two 1990. Report on the Americas: Inventing America 1492-1992, North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA): February 1991. Report on the Americas: The Conquest of Nature 1492-1992, North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA): September 1991 We Speak For Ourselves: Social Justice, Race and Environment, Panos Institute: 1991.