By Marc Brodine
The 60th annual Conference of the UN's Non-Governmental Organizations is taking place in NYC. The theme this year is Climate Change. There are about 2,600 attendees, most representing an NGO, and coming from over 80 countries.
The first morning, there were welcoming speeches, mostly pretty good, about the general issue and the UN's approach. The speeches addressed the seriousness of the impacts on all the countries of the world from the climate change which is already occurring, forcefully noting that the countries which are already receiving the brunt of the impact are poor countries least able to mitigate the impacts and also the countries which have contributed the least to causing the problems.
I attended two afternoon workshops, the first on soil and agriculture. The panel explained how the increased reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides have distorted agricultural development, moving farmers away from sustainable farming practices and driving poor farmers into more debt, leading to larger agribusiness monoculture industrial farming. This is depleting the soil, driving poor farmers off their lands, forcing destructive increased urbanization, and leading to abandonment of land whose farming potential has been destroyed by speeded-up destruction of the soil.
The solutions are moving away from industrial farming towards more labor intensive natural agricultural practices, increased use of natural composting of grasses, leaves, manure, more crop rotation, use of locally-adapted natural plants and seeds, cooperative farming methods and teaching, and moving away from farming for the market to farming with long-term sustainability of the productive potential of the land taking precedence. Examples were given from Japan and Zambia of successful efforts to carry out such a program, resulting in yields both higher than industrial farming and more sustainable, for our long-term food security.
The second workshop focused on the latest scientific understanding. There is still a great deal not known about how our atmosphere, weather, and oceans are going to react to the increased temperature caused by greenhouse gases. but we are already seeing increased melting of ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic, and threatening rises in sea level. The science is more certain than ever that global warming is happening, that human activity is causing it, and that we are in for much more serious effects, such as increased incidence of extreme weather events.
While much valuable information and discussion are taking place, often the speakers explain the problems caused by the market, by private capital, but they don't take the next step of pointing out the need for socialism, for an alternative to the system that is causing the problems.
More later...
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Showing posts with label pesticides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pesticides. Show all posts
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
I Blame Mattel and Bush
This week's recall of millions of Mattel manufactured toys laced with lead paint has raised a lot of finger-pointing – almost exclusively at China.
Mattel executives blamed subcontractors in China for refusing to follow its "strict" guidelines on product safety. One executive, in a report on MSNBC last night, said the privately-owned subcontractor sought to cut corners and bought paint that was not on a Mattel approved list. Media accounts went on to blame the Chinese government for lack of oversight and enforcement of safety standards.
Well, I blame Mattel. And I blame safety rules weakened here by a right-wing administration that hates "big government" interference and has instituted a voluntary process of allowing big business to regulate itself.
We don't live in China. While we can talk with China, impose tough trade barriers, and the like, we can't really make China do anything. Sure the Chinese government has an obligation to do its best to ensure product safety, and that hasn't been successful of late. Recently beefed-up safety and health regulations and enforcement procedures there, however, is a good start. And the country's effort to strengthen workers rights to join and organize unions might also be a good step forward.
The point is that Mattel, one of the largest and most profitable multinational corporations in the world, has the main responsibility for the safety of the products it decides to sell. And that doesn't end by providing a list of guidelines to subcontractors.
The fact is Mattel put those products on shelves in toy stores in the US. Mattel failed to test its products (as far as we know) to ensure safety and put our children at risk. Mattel sought to cut corners and increase profits by turning production over to unscrupulous subcontractors who pay low wages to non-union, underpaid workers and who flout environmental and health rules. It went to far away places specifically to avoid whatever is left of public safety and health standards here in the US.
Mattel shouldn't pretend that, like US consumers, it too has been victimized by a small-potatoes subcontractor in China. That's nonsense. Mattel has to accept responsibility for its actions. So far it has refused to do so. Class-action lawsuit anyone?
Additionally, at least part of the blame rests on the shoulders of the Bush administration for creating a climate in which our government, which we rely on to tell us when products are unsafe or unhealthy, just doesn't do its job anymore. Recalls have been made voluntary. Health alerts are advisory. Industry insiders have been put in charge of oversight.
Meanwhile, our own food supply has been tainted by E. Coli and mad cow disease and other dangerous contaminants. Miracle drugs like Vioxx that were approved by our own agencies have proven dangerous. Pesticides made by Dow Chemical and used by multinational corporations like Dole Fresh Foods and Standard Fruit on their plantations in Latin America have quietly contaminated the US food supply with little clamor from the US media or pundits who in recent days have become concerned about product safety.
So before we go pointing fingers at China, let's take a look at what we can control: what happens in this country. We need an administration less worried about pointing fingers at China, and more focused on the job of testing imported products, regulating the use of poisonous materials, and forcing corporations to play by the rules.
Mattel executives blamed subcontractors in China for refusing to follow its "strict" guidelines on product safety. One executive, in a report on MSNBC last night, said the privately-owned subcontractor sought to cut corners and bought paint that was not on a Mattel approved list. Media accounts went on to blame the Chinese government for lack of oversight and enforcement of safety standards.
Well, I blame Mattel. And I blame safety rules weakened here by a right-wing administration that hates "big government" interference and has instituted a voluntary process of allowing big business to regulate itself.
We don't live in China. While we can talk with China, impose tough trade barriers, and the like, we can't really make China do anything. Sure the Chinese government has an obligation to do its best to ensure product safety, and that hasn't been successful of late. Recently beefed-up safety and health regulations and enforcement procedures there, however, is a good start. And the country's effort to strengthen workers rights to join and organize unions might also be a good step forward.
The point is that Mattel, one of the largest and most profitable multinational corporations in the world, has the main responsibility for the safety of the products it decides to sell. And that doesn't end by providing a list of guidelines to subcontractors.
The fact is Mattel put those products on shelves in toy stores in the US. Mattel failed to test its products (as far as we know) to ensure safety and put our children at risk. Mattel sought to cut corners and increase profits by turning production over to unscrupulous subcontractors who pay low wages to non-union, underpaid workers and who flout environmental and health rules. It went to far away places specifically to avoid whatever is left of public safety and health standards here in the US.
Mattel shouldn't pretend that, like US consumers, it too has been victimized by a small-potatoes subcontractor in China. That's nonsense. Mattel has to accept responsibility for its actions. So far it has refused to do so. Class-action lawsuit anyone?
Additionally, at least part of the blame rests on the shoulders of the Bush administration for creating a climate in which our government, which we rely on to tell us when products are unsafe or unhealthy, just doesn't do its job anymore. Recalls have been made voluntary. Health alerts are advisory. Industry insiders have been put in charge of oversight.
Meanwhile, our own food supply has been tainted by E. Coli and mad cow disease and other dangerous contaminants. Miracle drugs like Vioxx that were approved by our own agencies have proven dangerous. Pesticides made by Dow Chemical and used by multinational corporations like Dole Fresh Foods and Standard Fruit on their plantations in Latin America have quietly contaminated the US food supply with little clamor from the US media or pundits who in recent days have become concerned about product safety.
So before we go pointing fingers at China, let's take a look at what we can control: what happens in this country. We need an administration less worried about pointing fingers at China, and more focused on the job of testing imported products, regulating the use of poisonous materials, and forcing corporations to play by the rules.
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