“The simplistic environmentalist”

“The simplistic environmentalist”

I translate this text from a well renowned journalist in my country, an idea that is actual and politely saying STOP HYPOCRISY

The simplistic environmentalist wants to end fossil fuels. You want clean energy, no greenhouse gas emissions. But it does not want dams, because dams destroy ecosystems. It does not want wind because the "fans" ruin landscapes and disturb animals. It does not want nuclear power because it produces radioactive waste.

The simple-minded environmentalist wants forests, because we need trees to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But you want to choose the trees. It does not want eucalyptus, it does not want production forest. You want the Red Riding Hood forest, because you've always lived in the city and you think the forests are like that. It means telling each landowner what they can plant and even obliging them to take care of the land in a free, selfless service for the benefit of "society".

The simple-minded environmentalist shouts "listen to the scientists" when scientists tell him what he wants to hear. "Listen to the scientists: we are destroying the planet with climate change." But when the same scientist say that "GMOs do no harm and can be an asset to the environment and humanity," the simple environmentalist shouts, "Scientists are in the hands of multinationals."

The simple-minded environmentalist wants organic farming because he doesn't like "chemicals." But you forget that everything is chemical, from oxygen breathing to copper sulphate used, like hundreds of other "natural" products, in organic farming. Forget that organic farming needs more space, valuable space, to produce the same amount as conventional agriculture, and that this space will have to be gained at the expense of deforestation.

The simple-minded environmentalist wants everyone to become vegetarian, or vegan, and end animal production. But he ignores that without animal production all the fertilizer used to grow his vegetables will have to be artificial, and "oh God forbid."

The simple-minded environmentalist wants to do away with zoos, because no, animals can't be in captivity, locked all their lives in a limited space. But it makes an exception for cats and dogs (and rabbits, go), fewer animals than the others. They can live almost from birth to the day they die locked in a 50-square-meter apartment that is for their own good.

The simple environmentalist is against food waste. But it wants no preservatives in the food or sea delights or anything that is made from leftover food.

The simple environmentalist only cooks with olive oil, this eighth wonder to health. But it rages against the intensive olive groves in the Alentejo. Is producing olive oil in large quantities the only way to lower its price and make it affordable for everyone? The poor who eat cakes.

The simple-minded environmentalist mourns the death of every rhino and tiger. But it defends tooth and nail the traditional Chinese medicine that is behind the persecution of rhinos and tigers, to make miraculous powders with their horns and bones - because alternative medicines are natural and, there, what is natural is good ( provided it is not salt, poisonous mushrooms, arsenic, asbestos, mercury, anthrax, nettles, malaria, ultraviolet rays, etc, etc, etc).

The simple-minded environmentalist campaigns for "ugly fruit," believing that farmers are throwing away uninteresting tomatoes and apples in supermarkets. But he ignores that these tomatoes and shapeless apples turn into ketchup, juices, and other products, which are obviously not made with high-end vegetables and fruit.

The simple-minded environmentalist wants to eat fish. But it can't be caught at sea, because fishing is not sustainable, and it can't be aquaculture, because it has antibiotics, and it certainly can't be genetically modified, because you saw a stranger on YouTube who said you don't know what, no longer remember well.

The simple-minded environmentalist wants more electric cars on the roads. But it is against lithium prospection, that unsustainable source of air, soil, and water pollution, and writes it on social networks, furiously typing on his lithium-ion cell phone.

Text Published in Revista Vis?o written by Luis Ribeiro