GREENIES ARE THE ENEMIES OF THE POOR

""Safeguarding environmental values is essential," Niger Innis, national spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality, told journalists and others attending an Earth Day discussion April 22 at the National Press Club. "But we must stop trying to protect our planet from every imaginable, exaggerated, or imaginary risk. And we must stop trying to protect it on the backs, and the graves, of the nation's and world's most powerless and impoverished people."

Innis spoke at a briefing about the negative implications of "eco-imperialism"--policies that speaker after speaker said seek to protect the environment, but deny impoverished people the chance for better lives."We intend to make this Earth Day a clarion call for human rights and more responsible environmentalism," Innis said.

Dr. C.S. Prakash, professor of plant genetics at Tuskegee Institute and a native of Bangalore, India, agreed. "We need to put humanity back into the environmental picture and promote policies that demonstrate as much concern about people, as about the environment."

All over the world, nations are trying to emerge from poverty, he said, by generating more electrical energy, increasing their agricultural output, and eradicating the diseases that have plagued them for centuries. But they are often prevented from doing so by developed countries and activist groups that claim such activities might adversely impact wildlife and environmental values.

Environmental pressure groups, wealthy foundations, and even the United Nations and World Health Organization oppose the use of DDT and other pesticides to control malaria. The disease afflicts 300 million people every year, killing 2 million--mostly women and children, and mostly in sub-Saharan Africa--and leaving the region one of the most destitute on Earth.

DDT's critical role in the battle against malaria was conclusively demonstrated by South Africa, which reintroduced the chemical in 2000--and slashed malaria disease and death rates by more than 90 percent in just three years, noted American Enterprise Institute fellow Dr. Roger Bate. "DDT has never harmed a single human being," he emphasized, "and any damage to wildlife occurred when massive amounts were employed in farming, not when small doses were employed for disease control."

Environmental activists deprive poor countries of electricity, denying them lights, refrigeration, better jobs, and modern schools, clinics, and hospitals. As a result, millions die from tuberculosis, dysentery, and other diseases. Opposition to biotechnology perpetuates malnutrition, prevents Third World farmers from replacing crops that have been devastated by disease and drought, and results in extensive erosion and habitat loss.

"Eco-imperialism is clearly a pervasive problem in the United States, too," said John Meredith, a member of Project 21. "It imposes policies that drive up housing prices, prevent the cleanup of polluted brownfields, stifle job creation in minority neighborhoods, and keep poor people impoverished. The policies promote a narrow political agenda and fail to give the poor a voice in these decisions."

More here.

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Many people would like to be kind to others so Leftists exploit that with their nonsense about equality. Most people want a clean, green environment so Greenies exploit that by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats to the environment. But for both, the real motive is to promote themselves as wiser and better than everyone else.

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