Falklands : Emerging Economies Warned - Please Don't Gas the Tiger
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 20.10.2007 (Article Archived on 03.11.2007)
If Tiger Economies copy our environmental mistakes the earth might not recover.
EMERGING ECONOMIES WARNED: PLEASE DON’T GAS THE TIGER
An Editorial by J. Brock (FINN)
All too often when ‘experts’ from China and India are interviewed for western TV, radio and newspapers about whether they feel the increasing demand for hydrocarbons and higher standards of living will add to global warming the philosophy touted is that “western nations” had their chance to pollute the water and atmosphere now it is the turn of the emerging “tiger” economies to do likewise.
I am having great difficulty believing that my Chinese and Indian counterparts advocate wanton destruction of the atmosphere in which they and indeed all of us live but rather are mindful of consequences – especially economic consequences - suffered by those living in a world where species die out and crops fail.
Moreover, I am sure they see how miserably the earth has suffered with industrialisation and want to take a leadership role in helping clean up the mess the first emerging industrial nations started.
Seeing people enjoying what the west takes forgranted makes me happy. It goes further than having a chicken in every pot but the rewards of newly found wealth are many. What will make them short-lived is if tiger economies copy our record of disregard for the earth on which we live.
Copy these – hydrogen cars, wind generation, recycling, nuclear power – experiment with fusion. Give us all the chance to seek clean, green alternatives before that newly emerging tiger is gassed and poisoned.
Who is going to be better prepared to carry on when every ounce of greenhouse gas is pumped into the atmosphere and there’s no oil left? It is the people who have, year on year sought alternatives for energy generation. We can all benefit from doing it right for a change.
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