Driessen Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Driessen - Essay Example Paul Driessen's book Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death considers the subject of how the extremists of the environmental lobby within the rich and developed countries of the west are pushing their own ecological standards upon those of the less developed world (Driessen, 2003). Paul Driessen has worked within the Senate and Department of the Interior as well as being involved in support groups. However, through out his time in Washington he has slowly realised that the process of support for the environment has slowly ground to a halt, or has become so blinkered by its own ideologies that it has stopped accepting fresh new ideas and evidence that would help saves the lives of billions (Driessen, 2003). Driessen puts forward the statement that has been argued by many that the environment and theories concerning its values should always be taken into consideration and placed over saving human lives. This statement and its actions is seen as being the cause of so many lives being lost in the third world countries (Driessen, 2003). What makes matters worse is that many of these eco-imperialist groups are advocating the need to heal the earth, these groups include Greenpeace, who through the many years of its existence may have used up more oil on it's boat the rainbow warrior than any other shipping or whaling industry. Their aim and agenda is to save the world but at the cost of human life, which sadly can be found in much of the third world (Driessen, 2003). Driessen illustrates that those eco-imperialists are purposely and deliberately forcing their own ideals onto the world and as such are responsible for the death of so many lives around the globe. It is ideas such as the removal of DDT as a pesticide that has caused the rise of mosquitoes. This has caused the death of nearly 2 million people a year in sub Saharan Africa (Driessen, 2003). Driessen points out that when DDT is sprayed in the homes there is no risk to the environment or to people. Moreover, it has been illustrated that by using DDT the South African government had stemmed the number of deaths to around 10,000 per year. Sadly when DDT was halted the deaths rose to a staggeringly 62,000 a year and again fell when DDT was reintroduced (Driessen, 2003) Furthermore, the book illustrates the change in economies and demands for new doctrines for Corporate Social Responsibility, in this the demands are placed upon these groups instead of their own goals and profits, sadly once these ideals are defined then the policies that look at human suffering and misery become less important in favour of profit (Driessen, 2003). Driessen offers up the new ethical codes as a questionable way for the eco-imperialists to push for their ideologies upon the world (Driessen, 2003). The argument by such groups that invoke the eco-imperialistic ethos that science, technology and industry should be removed or refused to the third world countries can be seen as once again elitist, how can a country develop if it is refused the technology in which to do so. Many of the third world countries population seek to move out of their stone age huts and live in modern houses with electricity and clean fresh running water, the kind of things at many in the west take for granted. Yet these poor people are denied even the right of living like modern humans by elitist groups whose only ideal is their own back yard