Björk After a tour of 18 months I was anxious to return for a few weeks in good, solid Iceland to enjoy a little 'stability. Earlier this year I had a concert that the intention was to raise popular awareness about the local environment, and 10% of the population took part, but did not seem enough.
So when I returned I decided to contact all the islanders who had tried unsuccessfully to create new businesses and implement new methods of ecological work. In the course of many years, the main source of income was fishing in Iceland, but when it ceased to be profitable, people started to look for other ways to earn living.
conservatives who rule the country thought that if they got their hands Iceland's natural energy to sell to large companies such as Alcoa and Rio Tinto would solve the problem.
Now we have three aluminum smelters, the largest in Europe, and over the next three years we want to build two more. These foundries will need energy from a handful of new geothermal power plants, as well as construction of dams that would damage the pristine natural area, springs and lava fields. The achievement of so much energy from these geothermal fields is not sustainable.
Many Icelanders are opposed to the construction of these smelters. In fact, would prefer continue to develop small businesses they own and do not incur this cost. In Iceland, there were many struggles to defend this case. One of these was the result that the environment minister has insisted on an environmental impact study done before building any foundry or embankment.
And then we saw the economic crisis. Young families are threatened with losing their homes and the elderly to lose their pensions. It 's something catastrophic. One feels anger. The people on the street contest the six major capital of Iceland and their critics on radio and television; furious voices insist that they sell their properties and deliver benefits to the state. It was learned that some individuals have obtained huge loans abroad without the knowledge he had the people of Iceland. Now, it seems, is the nation that must pay them back.
What exacerbates the people that those responsible for putting Icelanders in this situation are the same as trying to take away from it. Many require that you resign and allow others to restore order. The most critical is David Oddsson, who appointed himself director of the Central Bank after 19 years as mayor of Reykjavik and 13 years as prime minister. Once a week, residents gather in the capital's city center to demand his resignation.
And then, surprise, we were the victims of the spectacular blow that has dealt the prime minister of United Kingdom. I quote a petition signed by a tenth of the people of Iceland: "Gordon Brown unjustifiably used the Anti-Terrorism Act in the form against the people of Iceland for short-term political benefits. This grave situation has turned into a national disaster ... hour after hour, day after day, the actions of the British Government are indiscriminately obliterating Icelandic interests. "[1]
In general, foreign policy. I live happily in the land of music. But I became involved because the politicians seem committed to ruin the natural environment of Iceland. And last week I read that because of the crisis Icelandic MPs are lobbying to prevent the environmental assessment and can build the levees as quickly as possible so that Alcoa and Rio Tinto get the energy they need to run the two new smelters.
Iceland is a small country. Here there was the industrial revolution and I had hopes that we could avoid it altogether and move directly to sustainable high-tech options. If someone was able to do so, as we were. The Icelandic mentality has something wonderful, we are prone to risk and daring to the extreme dell'imprudenza. In making music, storytelling and creative thought, this risk-taking is a great thing. And after I introduced many small businesses to Iceland's growing, I realized that many of them have shown courage, both in the field of biotechnology to high technology.
Icelanders are people with a solid training in advanced sciences. We have ORF, which is one of the best companies in the world of biogenetic; Össur, a manufacturer of artificial limbs, FMC, a manufacturer of computer games, and other motions. We also have many doctors and health professionals. With hundreds of geiger natural gush all over the island and our (so far) almost untouched nature, Iceland could easily become a huge and luxurious resort where people go to cure their pain and rest. It would be better that the government use the money to support these companies instead of putting it in the service of Alcoa and Rio Tinto.
Flexibility is important: we should live with the three aluminum smelters that are already in operation and try to find ways to make them more environmentally friendly. But perhaps we need to have five? In the past, we have put all your eggs in one basket and this has proved to be dangerous, as we realized when 70% of our revenue came from fishing. Now we are on the brink abyss for having bet everything on finance. If we build two aluminum smelters, Iceland will be converted into the largest aluminum smelter in the world and we will be known in the world just for this. Would leave little room for anything else. And if the aluminum price collapse - as is happening - it would be catastrophic.
Iceland can be more self-sufficient and more creative and at the same time, doing things in a manner more in line with the nineteenth century XXI. You can not build levees, smaller and greener. We use this economic crisis to be fully sustainable. We teach the world all we know about the power stations geothermal energy. We support green business. Let's start from the bottom. It may be that delay to grow and give benefits, but are based on something solid, stable and independent of earthquakes on Wall Street and volatile price of aluminum.
And this will help Iceland to remain what he knows to be best: a pristine and wonderful force of nature.
Bjork
Source: http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=75884&titular=del-colapso-econ% F3mico-to-desastre-ecol-% F3gico
14:11:08
Translation from English to www.comedonchisciotte.org by RICCARDO ( http://www.alol.it )
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