Daily Archives: 20 May 2011

Brazil’s government has announced the formation of a crisis cabinet because of a sudden jump in illegal deforestation in the Amazon rain first. Satellite images have revealed a 27% increase in illegal deforestation between April 2010 and April 2011. Ibama, Brazil’s environmental protection agency, will send 200 officers into Mato Grosso, a state where farmers are using tractors to rip up forests to plant soy beans. In March and April this year there was a 470% increase in illegal deforestation compared to the year before. The destruction of these ancient forests – the lungs of the planet – has been in full swing throughout my whole life. Now it is illegal but the rate of destruction only increases. The deforestation between this year and last is 1,848 sq km. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. The subsoil is permanently altered. It could theoretically return to the state it was in at the start of the twentieth century but that is likely to take thousands of years.

Brazil’s government will be using its police and army to seize the resulting cattle and crops. It’s clearly taking the issue seriously but the problem is vast and probably beyond the capacity if any once country to deal with. This is an international crisis. The outcome of this long term battle affects everyone. The illegal deforesters are attacking us all. Once these forests are gone, all other effort against climate change will be largely pointless. In the midst of this global emergency, where do our leaders stand?

The UK prime minister, David Cameron couldn’t give a toss, plainly. Early on in his leadership of the thieving Tory bastards he shamelessly borrowed the language of the Green movement but has done jack shit ever since. The leader of the UK opposition, Ed Miliband can hardly be expected to do much better, can he? His grasp of environmental issues is comparable to child’s grasp of corporate tax avoidance schemes. There are no other mainstream political parties in Westminster, following Nick Clegg’s decision to lead his party into supporting the thieving Tory bastards in government. I confess to being unaware of the policies proposed by the SNP on Brazil. Plaid Cymru has traditionally had a stronger leaning to ecological awareness than the bigger parties. Only the Green Party takes this issue seriously.

Yesterday the BBC took time out from it’s usual diet of dumbed down political analysis to mock the good folk of Brighton & Hove for electing a Green council. This historic occasion should have been given serious treatment. The BBC has paid more respect to the BNP, even though they never achieved power anywhere in the country. I’ll be writing a formal note of complaint to Antie Beeb about this discrepancy. I hope others will follow suit. Clearly our authorities couldn’t care less about the really serious issues. Change isn’t going to happen unless we make it happen. Writing letters, signing petitions and joining demonstrations helps but joining political parties and campaigning for them is far more effective. If you care about the future of the rain forests, by all means continue to support your favourite charities but please also realise that the Green Party will welcome you with open arms. We are different from the other parties. Check out what is going on in Brighton & Hove. If you like what you see, please join us. There’s a link on the right hand side of this blog.