Intheory, this ought to be a simple enough task to accomplish, with sufficientmotivation and money. But in practice, the incentives created by Western policyare so perverse, according to Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, that theyreward clear-cutting not just once, but twice over. So he told Bill Clinton,who is visiting Africa this week to overseethe Clinton Foundation's work on health care and renewable energy.
AsKikwete explained the problem, it has become possible to open forests tologgers for profit and then receive carbon-credit subsidies as a reward forreplanting the raped forest. “Stupid” is too kind a word for this.
TheTanzanian leader expressed frustration, too, with the imperial style thatpersists in Western efforts to preserve forestland. The agencies that certifyprojects for carbon credit are overwhelmingly foreign, with personnelparachuted in to perform inspections. While it is essential to verify every carboncredit, the parachute inspection is not, as they say, a sustainable model.
Enormous Pressure for Food and Fuel
Abouta third of Tanzania's landis still protected forest in national parks and reserves, unlike in neighboringKenya,for example, where deforestation is proceeding rapidly. Tanzania'spresident is plainly proud of his nation's greenness and trying to preservethat legacy.
Butthe economic pressures on the leaders and people of poor countries areenormousalmost unimaginable. The need for food and fuel, let alone cash, isimmediate; the threat of climate change is not.
Aglimmering hint of a solution can be found in a rural village called Kitere,hundreds of miles south of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania'slargest city. There, a local health clinic assisted by the foundationa clinicthat is really a rudimentary hospital, serving thousands of peopleis improvingits services with solar electrification. Using photovoltaic panels, batteriesand AC conversion equipment made in the United States, the clinic now producesenough of its own clean energy to operate lights (instead of dirty kerosenelamps), refrigeration for medicines and a laptop computer. Much of the clinic'soperation is still outdated by American standards, but its electrification hasgreatly increased its capacity to treat illnesses and save lives.
AcrossTanzania, with Clinton's help andadvice, more than 50 clinics have installed solar arrays at very low cost.These small beacons of progress point toward a much larger and more comprehensiverenewable development programa wise bargain, not an act of charity. We provideour capital and technology, deeply discounted, in exchange for theirforestland. The world's poor countries proposed roughly the same idea at the Copenhagen climate summitlast December, only to be rebuffed by the wealthy because of the cost.
Yetthat is the deal that must be done someday soon to avoid climate disaster. Fora fraction of the world's military spending, it could be a Green New Deal thatcreates new industries, advances new technologies and revives our economymuchlike the spending on World War II boosted America into prosperity. It is aproposition that we can no longer afford to refuse.
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