[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Fwd: Sri Lanka Just Fell. What Do We Have to Do With It?
arnold peterson
alp4982 at gmail.com
Thu Jul 14 03:39:29 PDT 2022
I listened to a podcast on this topic this morning on BBC The inquiry
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct39t6
Arnie
On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 4:47 PM Jerry Harris <jerryharri at gmail.com> wrote:
> Mostly, I see a tenuous attempt by an analyst (and amplified by Tucker) to
> make a connection between the World Bank and Green Elites with difficult
> and impossible decisions made in Sri Lanka and Ghana. A decision faced by
> many other food-insecure countries after Covid disrupted
> agricultural supply chains. The impact of Covid plus the Russian invasion
> of Ukraine on food supplies around the world was predicted to be dire. The
> impact of Covid lockdowns deprived many countries of revenue, forcing them
> to take out loans and cut costs including subsidizing fertilizer purchases.
> I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that this represents a failure of "the
> greens".
>
> Just my $0.02, but it's disturbing to see Tucker Carlson's twisted logic
> echoed here.
> Jerry
>
> My reading list:
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/world/asia/sri-lanka-organic-farming-fertilizer.html
> https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/ghana-fertilizer-market
>
> https://newsghana.com.gh/ghana-likely-to-face-food-shortage-hunger-in-last-quarter-of-2022-2023/
>
> https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Ghana%27s%20Agricultural%20Subsidy%20Program_Accra_Ghana_GH2022-0004
>
> https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/12/sri-lanka-crisis-politics-economics-rajapaksa-protest/
>
> https://dailynews.lk/2021/06/01/local/250626/sri-lanka-import-organic-fertilizer-needed-maha-season
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 8:50 AM Marvin Menzin <mmenzin at icloud.com> wrote:
>
>> After the energy discussion here is a similar issue to do with
>> fertilizers.
>> think of the damage people can do with abrupt and unproven changes to a
>> working system based on some theory pushed to its limits for ideological
>> reasons . great leap backward for these poor Sri Lankans ..
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> *From:* Common Sense with Bari Weiss <bariweiss at substack.com>
>> *Date:* July 12, 2022 at 6:05:23 AM EDT
>> *To:* mmenzin at comcast.net
>> *Subject:* *Sri Lanka Just Fell. What Do We Have to Do With It?*
>> *Reply-To:* Common Sense with Bari Weiss <
>> reply+11vx2o&1pweo&&029e527d10f024143248c892c6a428db42e960c3e6a7752c10f62167632c46d8 at mg1.substack.com
>> >
>>
>>
>> The anti-growth environmental movement deserves much of the blame.
>>
>> Open in browser
>> <https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=260347&post_id=63634992&utm_source=email>
>> Sri Lanka Just Fell. What Do We Have to Do With It?
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY29tbW9uc2Vuc2UubmV3cy9wL3NyaS1sYW5rYS1qdXN0LWZlbGwtd2hhdC1kby13ZS1oYXZlP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqb3lPRGc0TURFMkxDSndiM04wWDJsa0lqbzJNell6TkRrNU1pd2lhV0YwSWpveE5qVTNOakl3TVRVNExDSnBjM01pT2lKd2RXSXRNall3TXpRM0lpd2ljM1ZpSWpvaWNHOXpkQzF5WldGamRHbHZiaUo5LlFrSkxwNHdxZHppT2lnZ19XdHVfV3VNaUxBMXd2ZGwwLThDUUl2UTJfY1EiLCJwIjo2MzYzNDk5MiwicyI6MjYwMzQ3LCJmIjpmYWxzZSwidSI6Mjg4ODAxNiwiaWF0IjoxNjU3NjIwMTU4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.JeL_3aipl-Hek2_Wx-MEK5dtaWBCX-r1r20UBKBnIrM?>The
>> anti-growth environmental movement deserves much of the blame.
>>
>>
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/10fd35fa-a86a-4eac-8411-5a37dd9f6986?u=2888016>
>> Michael Shellenberger
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/10fd35fa-a86a-4eac-8411-5a37dd9f6986?u=2888016>
>> Jul 12
>> <https://substack.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.V7Tghs6VmXmLjAfJBu61qkXLE5YxyHOZxpCb_VncHG0?> [image:
>> Comment]
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY29tbW9uc2Vuc2UubmV3cy9wL3NyaS1sYW5rYS1qdXN0LWZlbGwtd2hhdC1kby13ZS1oYXZlL2NvbW1lbnRzP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqb3lPRGc0TURFMkxDSndiM04wWDJsa0lqbzJNell6TkRrNU1pd2lhV0YwSWpveE5qVTNOakl3TVRVNExDSnBjM01pT2lKd2RXSXRNall3TXpRM0lpd2ljM1ZpSWpvaWNHOXpkQzF5WldGamRHbHZiaUo5LlFrSkxwNHdxZHppT2lnZ19XdHVfV3VNaUxBMXd2ZGwwLThDUUl2UTJfY1EiLCJwIjo2MzYzNDk5MiwicyI6MjYwMzQ3LCJmIjpmYWxzZSwidSI6Mjg4ODAxNiwiaWF0IjoxNjU3NjIwMTU4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.grLGozjBMHnf7LvtMPqwPtsdXgAupXbFTiV0u7yyElI?&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email> [image:
>> Share]
>> <https://substack.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.HTj4ItwhfAopsQEEerrmUpKUHDZugSc4oWnAP4bSFok?>
>>
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/8d2d5c05-ee80-4fd0-be99-21ea250c4d4d?u=2888016> An
>> activist shouts slogans and holds up bread as he protests against rising
>> living costs in Colombo on March 15, 2022. (Ishara S. Kodikara via Getty
>> Images)
>>
>> Sri Lanka has fallen. On Saturday, thousands of protesters stormed the
>> presidential palace. While the angry and the aggrieved swam
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/0fc19f16-0717-4627-a371-06d1414ad22c?u=2888016>
>> in the president’s pool, had a cookout on his lawn, lounged on his bed, and
>> set fire to his residence, the president was spirited away to a naval ship
>> off the Sri Lankan coast.
>>
>> The proximate reason for the chaos is that the nation is bankrupt,
>> suffering its worst financial crisis in decades
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/dae94dd7-c0d0-49ac-8be7-4d9fda0dff4f?u=2888016>.
>> Millions are struggling to buy food, medicine and fuel. Between June 2021
>> to June 2022, food prices rose
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/c0134aa1-72f9-461b-9054-50298584d5f7?u=2888016> by
>> 80 percent. Last month, annual inflation hit nearly 55 percent
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/2492bc6d-b18d-48a1-9260-b1af951f36ae?u=2888016>.
>> Since the start of the pandemic, half a million people have fallen
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/f0f7efc4-fc20-4404-a738-885d19a03370?u=2888016> into
>> poverty.
>>
>> If you’ve never paid attention to the island country just off India’s
>> southeastern coast, you might think this is just how it goes in developing
>> nations. But the truth is that Sri Lanka had been gradually rebuilding
>> itself—after decades of civil war and authoritarianism—and then this
>> happened. We in the West had a lot to do with it.
>>
>> The underlying reason for the fall of Sri Lanka is that its
>> leaders—starting with former President Maithripala Sirisena and continuing
>> with his successor, the recently deposed Gotabaya Rajapaksa—fell under the
>> spell of Western green elites peddling organic agriculture and “ESG,” which
>> refers to investments made following supposedly higher Environmental,
>> Social, and Governance criteria. Sri Lanka has a near-perfect ESG score
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/77864164-c2bc-495b-8e02-053ac999c019?u=2888016> of
>> 98—higher than Sweden (96) and the United States (51).
>>
>> What does having such a high ESG score mean? In short, it meant that Sri
>> Lanka’s two million farmers were forced to stop using fertilizers and
>> pesticides, laying waste to its critical agricultural sector. (Never mind
>> that Tesla has been booted
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/f9eedfc9-de34-40d1-9316-a98fe9dc97b1?u=2888016>
>> from the ESG S&P Index, while Exxon Mobil is in the top ten. None of it
>> makes much sense.)
>>
>> To be sure, there were other factors behind Sri Lanka’s fall. Covid
>> lockdowns and a 2019 bombing hurt tourism—an industry that usually
>> generates between $3 billion
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/54c8454b-1d59-42eb-960c-2ea6b1b08b27?u=2888016> and
>> $5 billion
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/1a693711-57cc-42fe-9b69-46ce823d8f5c?u=2888016>
>> a year. Sri Lanka racked up huge foreign debt, with China lending the
>> country billions of dollars as part of its Belt and Road initiative.
>> Transportation costs have rocketed 128 percent since May due to rising oil
>> prices. And overall trends have not helped: Since 2012, growth has been
>> declining
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/d6bc6231-7503-47ff-b390-2b9d954a2050?u=2888016>
>> .
>>
>> But the biggest problem was Sri Lanka’s chemical fertilizer ban, which
>> passed last year and was central to the country’s effort to comply with ESG.
>>
>> The numbers are shocking.
>>
>> One-third of Sri Lanka’s farm lands were dormant
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/d0574c31-3487-4c9d-8637-038da3d8fe02?u=2888016> in
>> 2021 due to the fertilizer ban. Over 90 percent of Sri Lanka’s farmers had
>> used chemical fertilizers before they were banned. After they were banned,
>> an astonishing 85 percent experienced
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/54c8454b-1d59-42eb-960c-2ea6b1b08b27?u=2888016> crop
>> losses. Rice production fell 20 percent and prices skyrocketed 50
>> percent
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/3f943e27-79ad-4b8a-8c12-90be9d7c7b56?u=2888016> in
>> just six months. Sri Lanka had to import $450 million worth of rice despite
>> having been self-sufficient just months earlier. The price of carrots and
>> tomatoes rose
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/1a693711-57cc-42fe-9b69-46ce823d8f5c?u=2888016> fivefold.
>> All this had a dramatic impact
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/c0134aa1-72f9-461b-9054-50298584d5f7?u=2888016>
>> on the more than 15 million people of the country’s 22 million people
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/c0134aa1-72f9-461b-9054-50298584d5f7?u=2888016>
>> who are directly or indirectly dependent on farming.
>>
>> Things were worse for smaller farmers. In the Rajanganaya region, where
>> the majority of farmers operate two-and-a-half-acre lots, families reported
>> 50 percent to 60 percent reductions in their harvest. “Before the ban, this
>> was one of the biggest markets in the country, with tons and tons of rice
>> and vegetables,” one farmer said
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/d53fc5cf-b4ae-47b3-9663-65b9ea8826ae?u=2888016>
>> earlier this year. “But after the ban, it became almost zero. If you talk
>> to the rice mills, they don’t have any stock because people’s harvest
>> dropped so much. The income of this whole community has dropped to an
>> extremely low level.”
>>
>> But the damage to tea was the key to Sri Lanka’s ruin. Before 2021, tea
>> production generated $1.3 billion in exports annually. Tea exports paid
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/b8af5a48-2094-4906-a198-2cc120b25561?u=2888016> for
>> 71 percent of the nation’s food imports before 2021.
>>
>> The fertilizer ban, starting in April 2021, changed everything. Four
>> months after the ban took effect, the president, realizing that things were
>> not going according to plan, lifted
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/088f2a78-eb36-4d53-8ee7-5abc602a9f14?u=2888016>
>> the ban on the import of chemical fertilizers—and then, two days later,
>> reinstated it.
>>
>> The results have been devastating and widely predicted by tea farmers,
>> with exports crashing
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/723dcf20-dd73-45bc-9d8e-9a14c5273bba?u=2888016>
>> 18 percent between November 2021 and February 2022—reaching
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/61cfd65b-1cea-4809-902a-02764f9c91ef?u=2888016>
>> their lowest level in more than two decades.
>>
>> “We don’t have enough chemical fertilizers,” Rajapaksa admitted
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/1a693711-57cc-42fe-9b69-46ce823d8f5c?u=2888016>
>> in December 2021, “because we didn’t import them. There is a shortage.”
>>
>> In May 2022, Sri Lanka failed to pay
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/ee813afa-8bd8-485f-90cc-1b2e30650b53?u=2888016> $77
>> million on its foreign debt repayments. That may seem like a small sum in
>> the bigger scheme of things, but the default made it hard for Sri Lanka to
>> borrow money. So, it devalued its currency, inflation rose 30 percent, and
>> the government ran out of the cash it needed to import fuel, food and
>> medicines.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/41ebd5dd-9318-432c-8f4c-383e50d3e750?u=2888016> Protestors
>> swim in a pool inside the compound of Sri Lanka's Presidential Palace on
>> July 9, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> What, exactly, were Rajapaksa and other Sri Lankan leaders thinking? Why
>> did they engage in such a radical experiment with the most important
>> industry in their country?
>>
>> After World War II, Sri Lanka, like many poor nations, subsidized
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/5abdba60-6677-4ff4-a4b9-099af591dbb8?u=2888016> farmers
>> to transition from biofertilizers, like manure, to chemical fertilizers in
>> what is known as the Green Revolution. (This was popularized by Norman
>> Borlaug
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/fb36eb74-65ad-4759-b083-9e777c425a68?u=2888016>,
>> the Nobel Prize-winning agronomist.) Rice yields rose quickly, and the
>> nation overcame chronic food shortages
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/fb2bbac6-11b8-4940-80e6-12a384060f7e?u=2888016>
>> and started earning foreign revenue through the export of rubber and tea
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/723f2a77-ea21-4b5f-bb5b-7239e5f3c091?u=2888016>
>> .
>>
>> As yields rose, young people were able to get jobs in cities. Salaries
>> increased
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/404cb128-a52a-464f-89ff-53f1152ebf31?u=2888016>—so
>> much so that Sri Lanka became a middle-income nation.
>>
>> But what looked like a dream to most Sri Lankans looked like a nightmare
>> to many environmentalists in the West. In the 1970s, Stanford biologist
>> Paul Ehrlich and other activists raged against the Green Revolution. They
>> claimed that overpopulation would cause mass death and suffering and that
>> humankind needed to play “triage.” In other words, we had to let some
>> people die so the rest of us could live.
>>
>> In their 1977 book, *Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment*,
>> Ehrlich and his co-authors, Anne Ehrlich, his wife, and John Holdren, who
>> would go on to become Barack Obama’s science adviser, argued that the world
>> did not have enough energy to support the economic aspirations of the
>> world’s poor. “Most plans for modernizing agriculture in less-developed
>> nations call for introducing energy-intensive practices similar to those
>> used in North America and western Europe—greatly increased use of
>> fertilizers and other farm chemicals, tractors and other machinery,
>> irrigation, and supporting transportation networks—all of which require
>> large inputs of fossil fuels,” they wrote. The better strategy, they
>> argued, was “much greater use of human labor and relatively less dependence
>> on heavy machinery and manufactured fertilizers and pesticides.”
>>
>> In other words, they were calling for poor nations to do what Sri Lanka
>> did *before* the Green Revolution. Such labor-intensive farming “causes
>> far less environmental damage than does energy-intensive Western
>> agriculture,” they claimed
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/fec80e4e-dab3-4feb-b60f-13a681ea2eec?u=2888016>.
>> The “secret” to “alternative farming methods” was for poor, small farmers
>> to remain poor and small.
>>
>> The Ehrlichs and Holdren were followers of the late 18th-century British
>> economist Robert Thomas Malthus, who thought human beings were doomed to
>> overpopulate and starve. Malthus professed
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/fec80e4e-dab3-4feb-b60f-13a681ea2eec?u=2888016> concern
>> for the poor while advocating for policies that would keep them poor. He
>> urged governments to prop up the old aristocratic system by prioritizing
>> agriculture over manufacturing, and pointed to the superiority of the
>> country life that he, as an aristocrat, enjoyed.
>>
>> Some defend Malthus by claiming that he wrote his famous 1798 book, *An
>> Essay on the Principle of Population*, when it was still too early to
>> know that the Industrial Revolution would radically increase food
>> production. But that didn’t stop his ideas from leading subsequent
>> generations of environmentalists to obsess over population—and oppose
>> economic growth.
>>
>> In the 1960s and 1970s, neo-Malthusians like Paul Ehrlich and Holdren
>> justified their opposition to the extension of cheap energy and
>> agricultural modernization to poor nations by using the left-wing language
>> of redistribution. It wasn’t that poor nations needed to develop. It was
>> that rich nations needed to consume less.
>>
>> Over the years, this language was picked up by the United Nations and
>> influential environmentalists, from Greta Thunberg
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/de1d0296-c410-4798-a607-a59ee2be16c7?u=2888016>
>> and Michael Pollan
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/30223c78-7c29-450b-812b-d649192a1ed4?u=2888016> to
>> Vandana Shiva, the Indian ecofeminist, and Frances Moore Lappé, the author
>> of the bestselling book *Diet For a Small Planet*. Organic farming, they
>> said, would reduce environmental harm.
>>
>> They had a deep impact on Sri Lankan intellectuals and policymakers.
>>
>> Dr. Ranil Senanayake, for example, was one of the first students to study
>> organic agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley, in the early
>> 1970s. He received a grant
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/6437ebcb-9c12-4307-833a-bd4e39109a32?u=2888016> from
>> the Ashoka Foundation and was an advisor to the U.N. Environment Program,
>> and, since the early 1980s, he has spearheaded Sri Lanka’s organic-farming
>> movement.
>>
>> Where in 1977, the Ehrlichs and Holdren proposed international control of
>> the “development, administration, conservation and distribution of all
>> natural resources,” many green NGOs and U.N. agencies today similarly seek
>> control over energy and food policies in developing nations. Only they do
>> so in the name of climate change and biodiversity. The Ashoka Foundation,
>> for example, is funded by MasterCard, Disney, and J.P. Morgan, among other
>> multinational firms. There’s no evidence these corporations have any
>> interest in organic farming per se. But the cause of organic farming in
>> places like Sri Lanka has become a signal that one is on the right side of
>> history.
>>
>> Progressive economists, along with the World Bank, the World Economic
>> Forum, and other globalizing institutions, have since promoted
>> “sustainable” agriculture and tourism for poor and developing nations like
>> Sri Lanka. “Given its education levels,” wrote
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/bafd5fd5-325b-4bea-99b3-ce1b12d9cae3?u=2888016> progressive
>> economist Joseph Stiglitz for the World Economic Forum in 2016, “Sri Lanka
>> may be able to move directly into more technologically advanced sectors,
>> high-productivity organic farming, and higher-end tourism.”
>>
>> It was into this context that Sri Lanka went organic.
>>
>> In 2015, then-President Sirisena announced plans for a “toxin-free
>> nation.” President Rajapaksa, who came to power in 2019, built on this
>> theme. He called for a return to the pre-Green Revolution days—demanding
>> the use of biofertilizer
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/1f7e2d9c-a97a-43de-997f-1ffac7f2252c?u=2888016>s
>> and drawing on superstitious claims
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/f82de401-bc71-44dd-b4c6-6e5dd51a13ae?u=2888016>
>> that farm chemicals caused kidney
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/e85b57d9-2b0a-4f8e-8e34-fd966669141d?u=2888016>
>> disease
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/4231014d-53b8-4691-8578-27cdd77fc29f?u=2888016>
>> .
>>
>> Rajapaksa was elected on a platform to transition
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/54c8454b-1d59-42eb-960c-2ea6b1b08b27?u=2888016>
>> the nation to organic agriculture over a 10-year
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/54c8454b-1d59-42eb-960c-2ea6b1b08b27?u=2888016> year
>> period. “Sustainable food systems are part of Sri Lanka’s rich
>> sociocultural and economic heritage,” he told a U.N.
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/304daefb-be11-444c-8de8-34cc9be052ca?u=2888016>
>> summit.
>>
>> In December 2020, Sri Lanka’s environment minister announced
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/1873fd96-be6e-4431-8919-3323378e26dd?u=2888016> a
>> government program to save the planet from “our own geoengineering misuse,
>> greed and selfishness” before a conference on cutting nitrogen fertilizer
>> waste. It was part of a broader effort by the Sri Lanka government to seek
>> the blessing of Western banks and the UN under so-called ESG goals.
>>
>> Then, in April 2021, the government made good on its pledge by banning
>> chemical fertilizers.
>>
>> The move enjoyed support in Washington, D.C., and Brussels. One month
>> after Sri Lanka announced the fertilizer ban, in May 2021, the World Bank
>> rewarded
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/ad8fd092-77b6-4be5-b94c-c0ad3418fd2e?u=2888016> Sri
>> Lanka a $125 million grant for small farmers on top of $2 billion in other
>> grants targeting transportation, agriculture, education and healthcare. The
>> EU provided
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/ad8fd092-77b6-4be5-b94c-c0ad3418fd2e?u=2888016> a
>> $1 billion grant to reduce poverty, among other things.
>>
>> But at the very same moment, Sri Lanka’s agricultural scientists and
>> economists were warning
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/2277c2ba-b2b6-43ec-b17f-43890091268d?u=2888016>
>> Rajapaksa that the fertilizer ban would be disastrous—leading to dramatic
>> reductions in rice paddy yields. They also warned of the impact on tea,
>> predicting a loss of nearly $233 million.
>>
>> Organic agriculture around the world is fueled by the appeal-to-nature
>> fallacy, which holds that “natural” things—wild fish, manure, wood fuel—are
>> better for the environment than “artificial” things like farmed fish,
>> chemical fertilizers, and fossil fuels. This ignores the fact that the
>> so-called artificial things are as natural as the “natural” things. They’re
>> simply newer.
>>
>> What the proponents of organic agriculture really want, like the
>> Malthusians of yesteryear, is to stop economic growth, which they believe
>> drives overpopulation, which they insist is the real basis for
>> environmental disaster. They believe that by targeting innovations like
>> chemical fertilizers, they get to the root of the problem: They cut off the
>> growth at its knees.
>>
>> Nonsense. Humankind needs chemical fertilizers to produce sufficient food
>> and use land efficiently. Around three or four billion acres of
>> *additional* farm land would be required
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/fff3bd9b-b73d-47f6-b035-f08bf5bbe4e8?u=2888016> to
>> meet today’s food demand without chemical fertilizers.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/71668453-1b91-4c56-9c94-ed438f6a48fe?u=2888016> Sri
>> Lankans occupy the president's official residence on July 10, 2022.
>> (Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> So what, exactly, were Sri Lanka’s leaders thinking? They weren’t. They
>> were following a rigid, pro-scarcity dogma, which was developed in the 18th
>> century and has been recycled and greenwashed through the centuries by
>> global elites who use nature as cover for their anti-human,
>> anti-civilization worldview and policy agenda.
>>
>> Not everybody got Sri Lanka wrong. The United States Department of
>> Agriculture warned against it. “The lack of organic fertilizer productive
>> capacity, coupled with the absence of a formalized plan to import organic
>> fertilizers in lieu of chemical fertilizers, raises the potential for an
>> adverse impact on food security,” it warned in 2021, around the same time
>> the World Bank announced its grant in support of Sri Lanka’s efforts.
>> “There has been no mention by the government yet as to how it would tackle
>> a food security crisis brought about by drops in crop yields.”
>>
>> The Green Revolution, fossil fuels, and chemical fertilizers were—and
>> remain—more good than bad. High-yield farming produces far less nitrogen
>> pollution run-off than low-yield farming. While rich nations produce 70
>> percent higher yields than poor nations, they use just 54 percent more
>> nitrogen. Nations get better at using nitrogen fertilizer over time. Since
>> the early 1960s, the Netherlands has doubled its yields while using the
>> same amount of fertilizer.
>>
>> To be sure, we should continue the trend away from dirtier to cleaner
>> fuels, or what is known as “up the energy ladder,” from wood to coal to
>> natural gas to nuclear. But the way to do that is gradually, not abruptly,
>> and with greater scientific, technological, and economic progress, not
>> less. Such a process will allow us to use less fertilizer more precisely
>> over time.
>>
>> Environmentalists, Norman Borlaug once observed
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/f08d34be-a44f-4e99-89be-0e6862eee887?u=2888016>,
>> “have never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. They do their
>> lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they
>> lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for
>> fifty years, they would be crying out for tractors and fertilizers and
>> irrigation canals, and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were
>> trying to deny them these things.”
>>
>> Sri Lanka must deal with other factors beyond its immediate agriculture
>> policy, including the willingness of its people and elites to fall for such
>> obviously wrong dogmas, including around Covid, and the country’s deference
>> to China
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/b8779dce-776e-44ae-abcc-ef7943452160?u=2888016>. But
>> at bottom, Sri Lanka will fix itself when its people understand that they
>> must move from a biological economy to a chemical one if it is to sustain
>> its population and return to middle-income status.
>>
>> Sri Lanka’s deposed president was right that organic farming and wood
>> fuel use were part of Sri Lanka’s rich sociocultural and economic past. But
>> he was wrong that it was a past worth returning to.
>> Like
>> <https://substack.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.V7Tghs6VmXmLjAfJBu61qkXLE5YxyHOZxpCb_VncHG0?> [image:
>> Comment]Comment
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY29tbW9uc2Vuc2UubmV3cy9wL3NyaS1sYW5rYS1qdXN0LWZlbGwtd2hhdC1kby13ZS1oYXZlL2NvbW1lbnRzP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqb3lPRGc0TURFMkxDSndiM04wWDJsa0lqbzJNell6TkRrNU1pd2lhV0YwSWpveE5qVTNOakl3TVRVNExDSnBjM01pT2lKd2RXSXRNall3TXpRM0lpd2ljM1ZpSWpvaWNHOXpkQzF5WldGamRHbHZiaUo5LlFrSkxwNHdxZHppT2lnZ19XdHVfV3VNaUxBMXd2ZGwwLThDUUl2UTJfY1EiLCJwIjo2MzYzNDk5MiwicyI6MjYwMzQ3LCJmIjpmYWxzZSwidSI6Mjg4ODAxNiwiaWF0IjoxNjU3NjIwMTU4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.grLGozjBMHnf7LvtMPqwPtsdXgAupXbFTiV0u7yyElI?&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email> [image:
>> Share]Share
>> <https://substack.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.HTj4ItwhfAopsQEEerrmUpKUHDZugSc4oWnAP4bSFok?>
>>
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/10fd35fa-a86a-4eac-8411-5a37dd9f6986?u=2888016>
>> A guest post by
>> Michael Shellenberger
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/5d5f08a4-1afe-4a7d-9c73-ba4903a46f35?u=2888016>
>> Best-selling author of "Apocalypse Never" and "San Fransicko"
>> (HarperCollins 2020/2021) :: Time Magazine, “Hero of Environment” :: Green
>> Book Award Winner :: Founder, Environmental Progress :: Forbes
>> Subscribe to Michael
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/75ec8714-a50e-4eaa-ab89-6289ef39375b?u=2888016>
>>
>> This post is only for paid subscribers of Common Sense
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/76cb307a-2db4-43ef-9334-da967c227d9c?u=2888016>
>> .
>>
>> Like & Comment
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY29tbW9uc2Vuc2UubmV3cy9hcGkvdjEvcG9zdC9lbWFpbC1yZWFjdGlvbj91dG1fc291cmNlPXN1YnN0YWNrJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpveU9EZzRNREUyTENKd2IzTjBYMmxrSWpvMk16WXpORGs1TWl3aWNtVmhZM1JwYjI0aU9pTGluYVFpTENKcFlYUWlPakUyTlRjMk1qQXhOVGdzSW1semN5STZJbkIxWWkweU5qQXpORGNpTENKemRXSWlPaUp5WldGamRHbHZiaUo5LmlGd3J1bVJ4cHh3Q2NySkhpZnY1QndYVkhjS3ZtcncydFA5S1dEXzVUWjgiLCJwIjo2MzYzNDk5MiwicyI6MjYwMzQ3LCJmIjpmYWxzZSwidSI6Mjg4ODAxNiwiaWF0IjoxNjU3NjIwMTU4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.V7Tghs6VmXmLjAfJBu61qkXLE5YxyHOZxpCb_VncHG0?>
>>
>> © 2022 Bari Weiss
>> 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104
>> Unsubscribe
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY29tbW9uc2Vuc2UubmV3cy9hY3Rpb24vZGlzYWJsZV9lbWFpbD90b2tlbj1leUoxYzJWeVgybGtJam95T0RnNE1ERTJMQ0p3YjNOMFgybGtJam8yTXpZek5EazVNaXdpYVdGMElqb3hOalUzTmpJd01UVTRMQ0pwYzNNaU9pSndkV0l0TWpZd016UTNJaXdpYzNWaUlqb2laR2x6WVdKc1pWOWxiV0ZwYkNKOS5LWWNhTWhFQW95RTVlajJTcG9kWmVQenNhazlIRGF6Y2pSNXpkb0d6d0hBIiwicCI6NjM2MzQ5OTIsInMiOjI2MDM0NywiZiI6ZmFsc2UsInUiOjI4ODgwMTYsImlhdCI6MTY1NzYyMDE1OCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTAiLCJzdWIiOiJsaW5rLXJlZGlyZWN0In0.2j1YxP_VMe8AwoTWLPRVS-Z1HRvv8Vm5lWQ-HfN6fwQ?>
>>
>> [image: Get the app]
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/3a76655e-a3c1-4315-927d-a6c32aced008?u=2888016>[image:
>> Start writing]
>> <https://substack.com/redirect/5e0591dc-4665-4b9d-b107-fbdf537789c5?u=2888016>
>>
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