Castro Wades Into Climate Change Debate
by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 09.10.07
Though he has not been seen in public for over a year, Cuban leader Fidel Castro continues to excoriate President George W. Bush and U.S. policies from his sickbed via essays published in the Cuban press. In recent months, Castro's anti-U.S. tirades have swerved in a surprising direction: addressing environmental issues, and in particular, climate change. Most recently, Castro chastised Bush for asking Asia-Pacific leaders to sign a new framework on climate change that could compete with other international efforts.
Castro wrote that the U.S. and Australia, the host of last week's annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, never signed the Kyoto Protocol on energy security and climate change and their new proposal could hurt efforts to develop a follow-up plan to the U.N.-backed agreement.
Castro has also been vocal on the risks biofuels pose to developing countries. In March, he and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized an agreement between the U.S. and Brazil to collaborate on research and development of ethanol, including wood-based production technologies. Castro noted that biofuels could divert land use from food production.
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viva la revolucion energetica!!!
The Soviet Union used to do the same thing over civil rights and segragation in the south. Soviet propaganda from the time made great hay in the third world in Europe by reporting issues of racial injustice and lynching in the US.
EVEN IF the Soviets were an evil empire, (and they had terrible ethnic problems of their own) our inability to deal with our problem was like handing them a giant stick to beat us with.
I hate Castro as much as the next person, but hearing Bush tell other countries what to do regarding global warming is more than I can handle. Even Castro is right on this issue. Bush has proven over and over that he's sold his soul to the oil industry and his refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol is still one of the most shameful environmental actions ever.
First Osama Bin Laden lectures us on Kyoto, and now Castro the environmentalist. The Islamist/Leftist/Environmentalist convergence is complete!
Blair's law has now been proven beyond doubt:
""the ongoing process by which the world's multiple idiocies are becoming one giant, useless force."
Cuba is a very green country, by sheer virtue of the fact that during the 90s, they had to import ALL their energy from semi hostile nations. The USSR had supported them with oil/gas before.
If it environmetalisme would have been more mainstream in the pre-80s, I'd bet a lot of current nuclear arms would have been windmills...
I can only hope that these leaders' speaches have an impact on dumdum Bush's reign of blasted mountaintops and black clouds of coalburning exhaust.
Castro certainly has the right to critisize, as his own years as top dog brought a great independence on oil, although it wasn't optional. It's a great performence.
The SU has destroyed a lot of environment as well as the US. (Lakes drying out because of cardboard production for example.)
Let's just hope that the US is starting to get proud about their environment and start to protect it, instead of blasting it and still looking at Hippies with eyes of Argus like they're criminals.
- Bart Lanens (19)
Belgium
I think America has such a wealth of beautiful vistas that we don't appreciate them. There are lots of places you can go that look exactly as they looked before Europeans came here. We should promote it more as a tourist destination. If you visit Vegas or San Francisco, there should be road signs pointing your way to Red Rocks or Muir Woods put up all over the city. Or free bus service, which is greener!
First Putin uses fossils as a weapon of choice, then Bush uses the presidency and military to secure fossil fuel interests. The Fascist/Right wing/Fossil fuel money intestests convergence is complete!
Blair's law has now been proven beyond doubt:
""the ongoing process by which the world's multiple idiocies are becoming one giant, useless force."