Our own US and western world's addiction to petroleum (and other ancient carbon fuels) can't go on forever either; every drive miles to the next frivolous destination has exactly the same effect as tilling barren soil. Without facing this hard fact, though, places like the Yasuni will continue to fall.
That hard truth, though, is impossible to relate to economists who dismiss any symptom of unsustainable practices with words like "externality."
I admit to being confused/amused by the lessons you took from this. On one hand was an area that has resources we need - this is not a question of "addiction" or anything like it, but a simple fact of the real world around us. While we can applaud the Ecuadorian President for at least thinking outside of the box in terms of how to handle what he feels is a delicate situation, I think it's probably more worth criticism that he's trying so desperately to keep wealth from his country and keep a necessary resource out of the hands of those who need it. The damage to the lands would be much less than the benefit in getting the oil out, and the continued fantasy of alternative fuels being able to take care of our needs in 2013 is shameful for a world leader to be pushing.
This mirrors the ANWR situation quite well, not to mention many anti-fracking activists.
Meanwhile, here's China, a nation that actually did the math and figured out that the benefits didn't outweigh the costs and acted accordingly. Instead of shaming the world for their need (not addiction, not desire) for oil, we should be shaming them for not doing the math and figuring out that the oil is worth retrieving in places like Alaska and Ecuador.
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That hard truth, though, is impossible to relate to economists who dismiss any symptom of unsustainable practices with words like "externality."
I admit to being confused/amused by the lessons you took from this. On one hand was an area that has resources we need - this is not a question of "addiction" or anything like it, but a simple fact of the real world around us. While we can applaud the Ecuadorian President for at least thinking outside of the box in terms of how to handle what he feels is a delicate situation, I think it's probably more worth criticism that he's trying so desperately to keep wealth from his country and keep a necessary resource out of the hands of those who need it. The damage to the lands would be much less than the benefit in getting the oil out, and the continued fantasy of alternative fuels being able to take care of our needs in 2013 is shameful for a world leader to be pushing.
This mirrors the ANWR situation quite well, not to mention many anti-fracking activists.
Meanwhile, here's China, a nation that actually did the math and figured out that the benefits didn't outweigh the costs and acted accordingly. Instead of shaming the world for their need (not addiction, not desire) for oil, we should be shaming them for not doing the math and figuring out that the oil is worth retrieving in places like Alaska and Ecuador.