The Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard [171]
Extraction
1. Strengthen and implement government-led international agreements and monitoring systems (not voluntary industry-led codes of conduct) on environmental sustainability and human rights issues for all mining operations—gold, diamonds, coal, coltan, everything. The Kimberley Process needs to be strengthened and enforced to be effective, and additional systems are needed to cover other types of mining. Many organizations are working on reforming mining practices; check out Earthworks in the United States, Minerals Policy Institute in Australia, and Mines, Minerals and People in India.
2. Stop logging in the planet’s endangered remaining forests, from Canada’s boreal forest to Indonesia’s rainforest. Enact and enforce strict environmental and human rights standards for logging in other forests, prioritizing the protection of natural forests required to restore climate stability. Strengthen the Forest Stewardship Council certification program so it ensures protection of endangered forests, the rights of forest-dwelling peoples, and ecological values of the forests.
3. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level needed to stabilize the climate, we simply must wean ourselves from fossil fuels and massively reduce carbon emissions. As activists from Ecuador to Nigeria to Appalachia, we need to say, “Keep the oil in the soil, keep the coal in the hole.” Policies that promote this path could include:
Redirecting government subsidies for extractive energy industries toward the development of clean, renewable energy options.
Redirecting subsidies for gas guzzler vehicles and highways toward promoting public transportation and zoning laws that discourage sprawl and create sidewalks, bike lanes, and public transportation, so people can reach the places they need to go without driving.
Establishing strict guidelines on fuel efficiency for cars and energy efficiency for buildings. Fuel efficiency and energy standards should be set and enforced by the government and should be based on sound science, free from industry influence. The Obama administration has recently announced a goal of an average of 35.5 miles per gallon for U.S. vehicles by 2016. Considering that some current cars get more than 50 mpg, with the technology available to achieve even higher fuel efficiency, why stop at a measly 35.5 mpg? Likewise, buildings can be required to be vastly more energy efficient, saving energy on both cooling and heating.
In the United States, upgrading the obsolete General Mining Act of 1872 to protect water sources, require reclamation, and deny mining claims that conflict with the protection of other resources. The Washington, D.C.–based environmental organization Earthworks coordinates a campaign to overhaul this ancient law as well as address other environmental and social issues related to mining in the United States and internationally.
Banning mountaintop removal mining, in which entire mountaintops are blown up to access the coal inside. To see what this looks like and to get involved, visit www.ilovemountains.org.
Ceasing development of Canada’s tar sands. Tar sands consist of heavy crude oil mixed with sand, clay, and bitumen. Extracting the oil entails burning natural gas to generate enough heat and steam to melt it out of the sand and uses up to five barrels of water for each barrel of oil produced. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) says that tar sands oil is the worst type for the climate, producing three times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventionally produced oil because of the energy required to extract and process it. RAN is organizing to redirect the $70 to $100 billion the United States plans to invest in tar sands infrastructure into research and development of sustainable energy alternatives such as electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and solar and wind energy.
Production
1. Reform chemicals policy, focusing on prevention rather than futile attempts to regulate hazardous chemicals after they’ve dispersed into our products, environment, and bodies. Ban the supertoxic