Blog Action Day - 2010

I heard on the radio the other day that the in the future the availability of drinking water is not the problem but the distribution.

One billion people with no access to drinking water, polluted rivers or loss of drinkable water due to rising sea levels is not what I am going to talk about but the biggest culprits of some of the severe environmental degradation. Big business and the exploitation and utter disregard for the planet through which they derive most of their profits is what gets my goat.

There are more environmental refugees today than war refugees. This number is steadily increasing as natural calamities are becoming more frequent and more severe. Natural disasters on one hand and man made greed induced disasters on the other hand. People driven out of their ancestral lands by businesses with support from politicians. (Source: The Refugees of the Blue Planet - An excellent documentary which we caught by chance on one of our local TV channels albeit a sad one as most documentaries of this nature tend to be)

People who were self sufficient living off their lands are made to eke out a living once their lands are acquired. Indiscriminate pesticide, chemical usage all further adversely affect an already exploited population.

We learn from an early age how water is essential for life. Many of us are also intimately familiar with the loss of a familiar way of life because of the lack of rainfall and more importantly water. What was once a prestigious way to make a living is considered a fool's errand today. Besides economic factors the most important reason for moving away from a family farm is the difficulty in getting water.

Businesses take most blame for polluting ground water thereby putting the lives of many in jeopardy. As individuals we offer implicit support to many of these companies by buying their products. Coke and Pepsi are responsible for polluting underground water in many countries among communities with no wherewithal to fightback. How many of us think of the need to boycott products from such companies. Unfortunately very few.

The environmental crimes that Oil and Natural gas companies have committed is too many to keep track of. Would that stop us from driving our vehicles?

Unscrupulous businesses on one hand, 'evil' politicians on the other hand have joined hands to exploit people. Don't be mistaken evil regimes run by despots are not the only villains here, rich western democracies are no different when it comes to exploiting their people and land. Politicians in cahoots with big business have set the agenda for a long time in the US, so much so there are some politicians who go to great lengths to deny Climate Change. Conservative God Loving politicians!!!

Ground water is the first victim in any business development. There will be byproducts to dispose and mixing them into the river the easiest way to dispose of them.

As consumers we have been implicit in these crimes by big businesses by buying their products without giving second thought to the sacrifices someone had to make by giving over their land, having their water ways polluted or a way of life destroyed.

We can make a choice to make a difference by voting with our pocket books. Boycott companies that we know for sure pollute and exploit people in the farthest corner of the world.

"If everyone lived the way North Americans do we would need 5 planets!"
Not only Americans, people anywhere in the world who thoughtlessly spend without any thought to the sacrifices someone else had to make are all responsible.

Can we make a difference, of course we can. Stop patronizing businesses who are unscrupulous. In a small way we all tiny clogs in this planet can make a difference for a simpler better tomorrow.