Green Journal

From Real Climate "We here at RC continue to be disappointed with the tendency for some journalistic outlets to favor so-called "balance" over accuracy in their treatment of politically-controversial scientific issues such as global climate change. While giving equal coverage to two opposing sides may seem appropriate in political discourse, it is manifestly inappropriate in discussions of science, where objective truths exist. In the case of climate change, a clear consensus exists among mainstream researchers that human influences on climate are already detectable, and that potentially far more substantial changes are likely to take place in the future if we continue to burn fossil fuels at current rates. There are only a handful of "contrarian" climate scientists who continue to dispute that consensus. To give these contrarians equal time or space in public discourse on climate change out of a sense of need for journalistic "balance" is as indefens...

When government people here in the Philippines utter a word or two, the important thing to remember is that they don't actually mean what they say. Well, at least for many powerful people in government, most of the time. As Arundhati Roy cleverly puts it, they use words to mask intent. At the height of this craft of obfuscation, their words could even take on exactly the opposite meaning. For instance, "logging moratorium" or "total log ban" from the mouth of entertainer extraordinaire DENR Secretary Mike Defensor could really mean allowing the cutting of trees only by a select few. Usually, only by those from whom some economic or political favors can be gained. This appears to be the case with the recent lifting of the logging ban imposed on Senator Juan Ponce Enrile's firm in Samar. And I wouldn't be surprised if this is also true with the other six (or was it eight?) logging permits approved by the DENR in August 2005 alone, in direct contravention o...

In a recent article by the iNQUIRER, the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is still not moving a finger to close the mining operation because it was a first violation, when will we know when is the right time then? LEGAZPI CITY—A regional environment official yesterday continued to defend a mining firm that had leaked toxic waste into the waters of Rapu-rapu, Albay, saying it won’t be shut down because it committed only one violation—failure to contain excess effluents that led to the breaching of its tailings pond. Reynulfo Juan, Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional director, said while his office welcomed calls for the closure of Lafayette Philippines Inc.’s operations in Rapu-rapu, he saw no reason to do so. read the complete article here .

The controversy surrounding the re-opening of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile's logging concession in Samar island in the Philippines has once again raised the issue of people's participation in the management of natural resources and how serious the government really is in implementing this policy. On the one hand, there is the recent legal move by provincial officials in Samar challenging the decisions of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Mike Defensor to lift the logging moratorium and extend Senator Enrile's logging permit by 16 years. According to these local officials, Secretary Defensor failed to comply with the provision of the 1991 Local Government Code making proper consultation with communities and local governments mandatory for any project or activity that could impact on people's lives. On the other hand, Senator Enrile's logging concession lies within a protected area, the Samar Island Natural Park. Based on the National Integ...

John Elkington is the cofounder and chair of SustainAbility, an independent think tank and consultancy firm that aims to promote "corporate responsibility and sustainable development" (click here to view their website). Here's an excerpt from Elkington's book A Year in the Greehouse (1991): “At no stage will environmentalists be able to pack up their bags, declare the war won and cycle home. Indeed, the challenge facing us grows day by day. For as far as one can foresee, we will be fighting a losing battle, in the sense that we will continue to lose habitats and species, with the result that we will find our own headroom reduced in this global habitat. But, however many battles we may lose, we have no future unless we genuinely believe that the war can be won."

People in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), one of the Philippines’ rising entertainment outfit, should undertake a review of their agency’s mandate to make it more in line with their new role as producers of gag acts in government. DENR was created by virtue of Executive Order 192, signed by then President Corazon Aquino in June 1987, shortly after the EDSA revolution that toppled the two-decade Marcos dictatorship and the national plebiscite that approved the new Constitution. Section 4 provides that the department shall be the “primary government agency responsible for the conservation, management, development and proper use of the country’s environment and natural resources”. Such mandate stemmed from a growing environmental awareness back then that saw the need for judicious use of the country’s natural resources in achieving national development goals. Five years later, in 1992, “sustainable development” was formally recognized by the international commu...