Climate of Our Future

This article is contributed by My Green Element author Stefen Deeran. He sent it to me along with this note.

The environment is threatened as nations and oil companies jockey for North Korean coal. Kim Jong-il is opening up his dictatorship to oil exploitation. Now that the Korean summit with the South has been postponed until October, environmental groups have a chance to get their act together and demand oversight of the dictatorship’s fossil fuel production. We cannot leave it to Team America to save the Amur leopard, the Asiatic black bear and the Siberian tiger.

August 29, 2007

Yesterday was supposed to mark the start of a summit between North and South Korea. North Korea has asked for this week’s summit with the South to be postponed because of recent flooding which has ravaged the impoverished country. This would have been only the second summit between the two countries and the first since 2000.

Most media reports have focused on how the two nations can work towards peace and deter Kim Jong-il from pursuing nuclear weapons. Bargaining chips for the West include food and fuel, since North Korea currently cannot produce enough of either. South Korea is trying to cut a deal that will put a railroad link through the demilitarized zone of North Korea. But in the background, major players are also scrambling to gain control of North Korea’s vast untapped natural resources as the country opens itself up to foreign development.

North Korea actually possesses substantial undeveloped natural gas and coal reserves strategically situated near the Chinese border. So now China, South Korea and Western oil companies, are all scrambling to secure the spoils.

North Korea’s environmental situation is already horrific, with terrible air quality, massive deforestation and polluted water systems. As the North suddenly allows extraction of its fossil fuels, expect the remaining pockets of natural purity, many of which contain critically endangered species such as the Amur leopard, the Asiatic black bear and the Siberian tiger to be put into jeopardy.

Environmental oversight of the North has never been adequate. The UN’s Development and Environment Programmes only got its first peak into the dictatorship back in 2000. Therefore there is nothing to prevent fossil fuel extraction from occurring at the cheapest and most unsustainable manner.

It is time for environmental groups to push for a seat at the bargaining table and demand proper oversight of the North’s development. Since the summit has been pushed back to October, we now have a small window to get our act together. Where is Team America when we need them?