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Eco-Imperialism: Reflections on Earth Day in Washington (17/4/2004)

Looks like Prakash & Co. are giving "eco-imperialism" another outing - this time in Washington. Here are the details followed by our commenst on their previous event in New York.
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Eco-Imperialism: Reflections on Earth Day
Contact: Laura Braden Dlugacz, [email protected] or 202-572-6231

It’s time to focus on the needs of the Earth’s poorest people, say experts at National Press Club event

Washington, DC – Environmental experts will meet on Earth Day (Thursday, April 22nd) to address the implications of eco-imperialism: policies that seek to protect the environment, but deny people in impoverished nations economic opportunities, the chance for better lives, and the right to rid their countries of diseases that were vanquished long ago in the United States and Europe.

Participants include energy, malaria, biotechnology, climate change and human rights experts, who intend to make this Earth Day a clarion call for more responsible environmentalism – both in the USA and abroad.  Aspects of eco-imperialism to be discussed include:

* Energy development in developing countries, and the social and economic benefits that reliable, affordable electricity brings.

* The use of DDT and other pesticides to control malaria. (Every year, 300 million people get malaria, and 2 million die – mostly women and children, and mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.)

* The value of biotechnology to increase agricultural output and reduce malnutrition, which affects 800 million people and leaves many so weakened that they die of diseases they would otherwise survive.

* Environmental programs that negatively affect poor people in the United States.

* The human rights implications of laws and policies that stifle progress in these areas.

WHEN: Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day) 12:00 noon to 2:30 pm

WHERE: First Amendment Room, National Press Club, 529 Fourteenth Street, NW, Washington

WHAT: Light lunch, followed by press briefing and question-and-answer period

WHO:

Niger Innis (national spokesman, Congress of Racial Equality) – Commentator

Paul Driessen (author of Eco-Imperialism, director of Economic Human Rights Project)

John Meredith (national advisory council member, Project 21)

Dr. CS Prakash (professor of plant genetics, Tuskegee Institute)

Dr. Sallie Baliunas (environment-science host, TechCentralStation.com)

Dr. Roger Bate (fellow, American Enterprise Institute and Africa Fighting Malaria)

Please advise us whether you will be attending, so that we can ensure adequate food and beverage.

For interviews or more information, and to RSVP, please contact Laura Braden Dlugacz at [email protected] or 202-572-6231
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GM Watch special report: *Eco-imperialism in New York - exploiting the poor for corporate purposes*
19 January 2004
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=2591

A conference that its organisers say will make "eco-imperialism" a household word is taking place at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, New York, Tuesday. According to the title of the event "eco-imperialism" is, "The global green movement's war on the developing world's poor". Opposition to GM crops, it is claimed, is part of that "war".

The conference is being organised by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE styles itself "one of America's premier civil rights organizations". Its national spokesperson Niger Innis says, "We intend to stop this callous eco-manslaughter".

Conference panelist, Dr. Patrick Moore, who is described as Greenpeace's "co-founder", is also keen to expose the "pain and suffering" the environmental movement "inflicts on families in developing countries" - something which, he says, "can no longer be tolerated."

According to fellow panelist, Prof CS Prakash, "By orchestrating unfounded scare stories that biotech crops are unsafe or untested, they put huge road blocks on the development of plant genetic engineering that could bring economic prosperity to the rural poor in Uganda and Bangladesh."

Another panelist, Paul Driessen, is the author of "Eco-Imperialism: Green Power - Black Death", a book which lays at the door of the environmental movement, "the hunger and suffering of millions of the world's poor who are denied the benefits of genetically engineered food."

The book's editorial reviews, include one from Prakash - he enthuses, "Great book!" According to Patrick Moore,"This book is the first one I've seen that tells the truth and lays it on the line".

But when it comes to GM crops both the book and the conference studiously ignore the fact that many development experts and NGOs have been just as sceptical about the value of GM crops for the world's poor as environmental organisations. http://ngin.tripod.com/feedingorfooling.htm

Many of the strongest objections have come, in fact, from experts and farmers in developing countries themselves. Dr Tewolde Egziabher of the Environmental Protection Authority in Ethiopia is among those who argue that the future of agriculture in the developing world is actually being harmed by the hype over GM crops which is drawing precious resources away from other agricultural innovations and practices that have far more to offer resource-poor farmers. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1905

The Director-General of the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, has pointed out that irrigation and road-building are far more urgent priorities in improving Africa's agriculture than encouraging the introduction of GM crops. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1693

And a closer look at those behind both the "eco-imperialism" book and the "eco-imperialism" "teach-in" in New York, raises some disturbing questions about their precise motivation and the reliability of their pronouncements.

MEET THE EXPERTS

These are the "experts" being assembled by CORE at the Sheraton Hotel.

*PAUL DRIESSEN, author of "Eco-Imperialism: Green Power - Black Death"*

Driessen's book is published by the Free Enterprise Press, the publishing arm of The Center for the Defense of Free Enterpri

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