PROMOTING SOCIETAL CHANGE
Pope, the executive director of Sierra Club, the largest grassroots environmental organisation in the United States, was in the city to institute a $1,00,000 award for environmental success by civil societies in India.
US environmentalist announces $1,00,000 award for green success ….TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: India has two choices: opting for a carbon-based industrial revolution followed by a green post-industrial scenario or achieving the same by leapfrogging past polluting and inefficient technologies, said well-known environmentalist Carl Pope, warming up his audience in pure Hindi.
Pope, the executive director of Sierra Club, the largest grassroots environmental organisation in the United States, was in the city to institute a $1,00,000 award for environmental success by civil societies in India.
The purpose of the award is to build support for community organisations that are helping India create green livelihoods and a green economy. Effective grassroots organisations deserve more credit for helping to promote positive societal change, said Pope, who spent two years as a volunteer at Barhi in Bihar to help communities address the environmental impact of population growth.
Citing the example of Mohri, a village around 100 km from Pune with 25 houses belonging to shepherds, Pope said the residents had found their way around with kerosene lamps until recently, but their homes were now illuminated by solar-powered lamps. This is the perfect example of leapfrogging past inefficient technologies. Its a village which is more technologically advanced than any city in the United States, said Pope.
Giving reasons why India should not follow Chinas lead, Pope said that carbon-based development would only benefit those countries which were rich in fossil fuel. India can create a low-carbon and high-performance economy because it has the worlds second-largest solar energy producing source. India also has the intellectual engineering talent needed to get results, he said.
Pope said that Sierra Club would set up centres for green livelihoods to facilitate collaboration in terms of networking and information exchange between different agencies in the country. The basic premise is that the government is not the enemy. The point is to engage various civil societies like NGOs, cooperatives, and businesses as well as the government in dialogue, said Pope. He pointed out the out-of-the-box thinking of the Madurai government official who used plastic bags for building roads in order to make them water-proof and hence last longer.
Our India initiative will in no way reduce the vigour of the Sierra Clubs US campaigning to push both the American public and our government to drastically reduce the over-consumption of natural resources, said Stephen Mills, director of the Sierra Clubs international programs. We are very aware that industrialisation in America and in Western Europe created the climate crisis, but the fact is the impact of global warming will be felt globally, particularly in India. We must collaborate on both the economic and environmental solutions.
The award process will occur in consultation with an Indian nominations board and a Sierra Club Prize Jury drawn from prominent Indian, NRI and environmental experts.