January 31, 2007

Greenpeace Vs. The Environmentalists

Click the play button to watch the head of Greenpeace tell lies about a mining project that would help pull a small Romanian village out of poverty, as he debates the issue with documentary film maker who, unlike the head of Greenpeace, has actually been to the village of Rosia Montana 12 times and talked to its residents.

Do the people of Rosia Montana really overwhelmingly oppose the proposed mine, as Greenpeace's John Passacantando asserts? No. More than two thirds of the affected property owners in the village have already voluntarily sold their land to the mining company - and many more have signed a letter urging approval of the mining project. Learn more about the documentary, Mine Your Own Business, at the film's website and blog. For more see the Persistence of Vision blog of the Motion Picture Institute, especially this post and this post.

The mining company will clean up the environment of the village if it is allowed to open the new mine, but it will remain heavily polluted if the mine is not allowed. Greenpeace won't clean it up. So... who are the real friends of the environment in this case? Not Greenpeace.

Related Bloggery:
Ed Driscoll comments on the "omnipotent tourist syndrome" and all those Lonely Planet-waving travel snobs who "whine about how some current or formerly misgoverned hellhole has been 'ruined' by" development.

Van Helsing writes, "The movie focuses on Rosia Montana, a dirt-poor Romanian village that foreign environmentalists want to stay that way, despite opportunities for gold mining that would provide hundreds of jobs. In addition to yelping about the ecosystem, envirokooks cite the "unique cultural and archaeological treasures in the area." In other words, they like the rustic peasants right where they are - charmingly starving in their wretched huts."

Meanwhile, via the blogosphere we learn that the mining company has opened a micro-credit financing company in Rosia Montana to help grow the small-business economy there. Greenpeace didn't do that. But, then, Greenpeace has been fighting against the economic progress of the people of Rosia Montana.

Note to readers in Southern California: There is a free screening of Mine Your Own Business tonight at UCLA. Click here for details.

Memo to the filmmakers: Please bring MYOB to Nashville.