environmental issues and greenwashing

Bangladesh and India: Tipaimukh Dam And Transparency Our previous report on the damaging aspects of the Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project and protests against it generated much reader response. This post has updates on the situation. Asadul Haque at Haque's Talking describes how this has been a hot debate in Bangladesh recently: The Tipaimukh dam issue currently continues to dominate the domain of political, media, intellectual and civil society’s discourse in Bangladesh with a unilateral demand for revocation of India’s decision for the project. Massive public protest in different forms i.e. rallies, protest meetings, strikes and so on against the dam continue to gain momentum in ... Read Full Story

What is the power of a blog? What changes can a blog bring? Do bloggers love their country? What price are they willing to pay for that love? Are they brave enough? I am frustrated. I am frustrated because at this moment I am not being able to do anything but to write. Will writing solve this great problem of ours? Will writing solve any problem of ours? After the project of Farakka Dam , India is starting another similar project which is equally (if not more) dangerous for the ecology and Bangladesh. India has taken Tipaimukh Hydro Electric Project in hand. It involves ... Read Full Story

Indigenous Hmar People Oppose Tipaimukh Dam Project The Hmar Peoples Convention-Democratic (HPC-D) has said that the proposed Tipaimukh Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project is a war imposed on the indigenous Hmar people and other communities who share the river. HPC-D “northern command” leader Lalthutlung Hmar told Newmai News Network that power-hungry governments and dam builders in India are being driven by capitalist interests. In their blind pursuit for profit and securing energy in distant foreign lands, they are poised to cross into indigenous peoples’ territory to dam the two life-giving rivers, Tuiruong and Tuivai, the group said. “They don’t have the approval and consent of the ... Read Full Story

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/jun/04/nat.html#2 Tipaimukh dam to destroy ecology: experts Staff Correspondent Commissioning of the planned Tipaimukh dam by India will escalate socio-economic and political tension in India’s north-eastern states and also Bangladesh, and imperil the ecology of the region, green campaigners said. After sounding this note of caution, a leading environmentalist on Wednesday demanded that New Delhi must make public all the documents on the Tipaimukh hydro-electric project and Dhaka should raise its voice against such an ecologically destructive project in the country’s interest. ‘We will definitely protest against it in collaboration with the rights groups in India. If the construction of this dam is allowed, ... Read Full Story

Definitively Uncertain. Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report, Potential Impacts of Climate Change in the United States , and adopted a analytical methodology that will likely satisfy few. At times it's reminiscent of Ron Suskind's description of Vice President Dick Cheney's "one percent doctrine" that asserted that if "a one percent chance" that a threat is real exists "we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response. . . It's not about our analysis, or finding a preponderance of evidence." The CBO report finds it way through troubled waters of climate change using this risk management theory, ... Read Full Story