Comments on: “Yes to life, no to pulp mills” – protests against pulp mills in Uruguay http://chrislang.org/2006/08/31/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/ Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:59:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Antonio Giossa http://chrislang.org/2006/08/31/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-867 Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:12:41 +0000 http://chrislang.org/2007/03/08/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-867 Dear Chris:
 
Pulp mills over the world WERE polluting. Since 2001, with the new laws and environmental requeriments, pulp mills ARE NOT contaminating the planet, nor emitting dioxins and furans.
 
You know that nordic countries, with many many pulp and paper industries… are allways in the firsts places in every environmental ranking. How can they be the best ecological countries… with “polluting industries”?
 
You don’t write about pulp mills in Argentina, but you but applaud the alleged fight in a group of environmentalists (who are not) in the same country. Environmentalists that does not move a single finger to fight against their own contamination, but, on the opposite, they are blocking an international bridge since three years ago!!!, violating national and regional (MERCOSUR) laws.
 
If you want to know about pollution of argentinian pulp mills… you should ask the members of the Asamblea Ciudadana Ambiental de Gualeguaychú. They are against Botnia.. I assume they know a lot about contamination. By the way… many of this “environmentalists” are… TRANSGENIC SOY producers, and they defend the use of agrotoxics!
 
I know Grupo Guayubirá. I know Ricardo Carerre, one of the voices of this group. It’s the same speech of the ACAG, the same. “trees in Uruguay are bad”, “pulp mills in Uruguay are bad”.
 
Yours,
 
Antonio Giossa

]]> By: Chris Lang http://chrislang.org/2006/08/31/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-866 Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:38:43 +0000 http://chrislang.org/2007/03/08/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-866 Hi Antonio,

Pulp mills the world over are very polluting. I’m sorry I’ve not written anything about the pulp mills in Argentina. If it’s any consolation, I’ve not written anything about polluting pulp mills in many other countries. There are hundreds of pulp and paper companies that I’ve not written anything at all about. There are also hundreds of other companies (oil, steel, cement, aviation, car manufacturers, weapon manufacturers and so on) that I’ve written little or nothing about. Just because I’ve not written anything about them doesn’t mean that I think they are not causing problems.

I have a suggestion. Why don’t you write an article about the polluting pulp mills in Argentina and send it to World Rainforest Movement. I’ll link to it from here.

Another Uruguayan Group opposed to Botnia’s monoculture tree plantations is Grupo Guayubira, by the way.

]]> By: Antonio Giossa http://chrislang.org/2006/08/31/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-864 Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:38:50 +0000 http://chrislang.org/2007/03/08/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-864 “ I agree that the pulp mills in Argentina are very polluting”
 
Really? Could you please give me some links -of this website- showing me your agreement?
 
In your site, refering to Argentina & Uruguay, I only read “Botnia”, “Ence”, “Uruguay”. I can’t find anything about Papel Prensa (by the way, owned by the argentinian goverment), Capitán Bermúdez, Iby, Puerto Piray and son on.
 
Pulp mills installed in Argentina, near the border with Paraguay, were denounced by contamination by the government of Paraguay.
 
¿Argentina? Silence. ¿Ecological organizations of Argentina? Silence.
 
But, in the same time, the activits of Gualeguaychú forced the government of Argentina to denounce Uruguay by environmental pollution.
 
It seems that Gualeguaychú could be an “island” in Argentina, a place where all people are environmental friendly. No way.
 
Last year, more than 30.000 birds were killed in Gualeguaychú, cause poison traps. Also, because of the poison, many other species died.
 
Last year, a chemical industry installed in Gualeguaychú exploded, causing several damages. But people in Gualeguaychú, since 2006, is announcing the risks of an explosion… in Fray Bentos.
 
This year, the smell in Gualeguaychú is unbearable. Reason? Botnia? NO
 
Bad works of the municipal workers!
 
Yes, it’s true, there are some people opposed to Botnia in Uruguay.
 
They’re the same people behind the “Asamblea Popular”, a new political organization that has the… 0.5% of voting intentions. 0.5% of all Uruguay. Zero popular representation. Zero popular support.
 
This people – headed by “Delia Villalba”- have generated an anti-Botnia fight, supposedly in defense of the environment, but in reality their intentions were political.
 
And, of course… this “fight” wasn’t “free”. They have been receiving $$$ from many international foundations and organizations.

]]> By: Chris Lang http://chrislang.org/2006/08/31/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-863 Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:11:21 +0000 http://chrislang.org/2007/03/08/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-863 Thanks for this comment Antonio. I agree that the pulp mills in Argentina are very polluting. I agree that the Argentinian government should do something about this pollution. And I agree that it would be great if people in Argentina protested about these pulp mills as well.

Incidentally, it is not only people in Argentina who are opposed to Botnia’s pulp mill at Fray Bentos. There are also groups in Uruguay opposing it. In addition, it is not just a problem of pollution. The industrial tree plantations which provide the raw material for the pulp mill create their own environmental and social impacts for local communities.

]]> By: Antonio Giossa http://chrislang.org/2006/08/31/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-862 Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:00:33 +0000 http://chrislang.org/2007/03/08/yes-to-life-no-to-pulp-mills-protests-against-pulp-mills-in-uruguay/#comment-862 “Yes to life, no to pulp mills”
NO… “Yes to Argentinian pulp mills, no to Uruguayan pulp mills” should be the slogan of Gualeguaychú activists.

Argentina has his own pulp mills, all of them are obsolete, with old technology and the goverment can not control them. Entre Ríos also has one pulp mill (near Gualeguaychú city) named “Iby”. A small pulp mill but with high level of contamination. The local goverment has closed this pulp mill three or four times in the past, but they always opened again two days later. Nobody in Entre Ríos is shouting “No to Iby”, of course, because they WANT pulp mills in THEY territory (not in neighbour countries).

The Argentinean Government is so concerned about pollution from the pulp mills…
WTF??? Is this a joke?? ¿Argentina is concerned about… pollution???

Give me a break, please! Argentina is one of the most contaminated countries in the continent!

¿Pulp mills? The goverment of Argentina, with Clarín and La Nación (the two biggest papers) OWN Papel Prensa, one of the oldest and dirtiest pulp mills in the entirely world! By the way… Papel Prensa denies entry into its area of professional member to monitor and control.

Papel Prensa even even dismisses the claims of a judge who investigates cases of contamination of that factory.

The position of the government and the activists of Gualeguaychú is fullfill of hypocrisy.

Yours,

Antonio Giossa

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