Protectionism on the March Water Shortage

Supplemento al numero odierno de la Repubblica Sped. abb. postale art. 1 legge 46/04 del 27/02/2004 — Roma MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2009 Copyright © 2009 The New York Times A Thirsty World Some of the most iconic images of the Great Depression come from the parched states of the American prairie, where arid land forced farm families to flee in search of jobs and sus- tenance. Their plight gave rise to Woody Guth- rie’s Dust Bowl ballads and LENS John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath.” The Dust Bowl was brought on by destruc- tive farming practices compounded by years of drought. But its devastating effects worsened the damage of the broader economic collapse. Something similar is happening around the world now. Persistent droughts from Australia to Afghanistan to Spain to Argentina are com- bining with the global recession to squeeze farmers and ranchers. In Northern China, as Michael Wines reported in The Times, the worst drought in half a century is crippling a region that grows three-fifths of the country’s crops. Zheng Songxian, a wheat farmer in the village of Qiaobei, told Mr. Wines he expected to lose at least a third of his crop this year. “If we don’t get rain before May, I won’t be able to harvest anything,” he added. (Chinese officials have said the drought will not have a noticeable impact on overall grain production.) The Western United States, from Texas to California, is also contending with a serious Protectionism on the March water shortage. In California’s heavily agri- cultural Central Valley, cities like Mendota have seen unemployment rates as high as 35 percent. “My community is dying on the vine,” DAVID MCNEW/GETTY IMAGES Robert Silva, the mayor of Mendota, told Jesse McKinley of The Times. In the Southern Hemisphere, the worst By MARK LANDLER An increase in tariffs has complicated the movement drought in generations is wreaking havoc in WASHINGTON Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and parts of of goods across the borders FTER REPEATED PLEDG- southern Brazil. Argentine ranchers have of Mexico and the United lost an estimated 1.5 million head of cattle, ES by world leaders to avoid States, above, and India Ernesto Ambrosetti, the chief economist at the A erecting trade barriers, pro- Institute of Economic Studies at the Argentine and China, left. Rural Society, told Alexei Barrionuevo of The tectionism is growing, provoking nas- Times. ty trade disputes and undermining There is no clear evidence linking the condi- efforts to plot a coordinated response United States to Australia, are tions to climate change. Nevertheless, many scientists are warning that more frequent to the deepest global economic down- subsidizing embattled automak- droughts will be a likely consequence of a turn since World War II. ers or car dealers. warming planet. From a looming battle with China The most vivid example of To contend with that possibility, researchers are trying to develop crops that can flourish over tariffs on carbon-intensive that policy is the “Buy America” with little water, Andrew Pollack said in The goods to a spat over Mexican trucks provision in the stimulus pack- Times. Monsanto, the crop biotechnology DIPTENDU DUTTA /AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES age, intended to ensure that only producer, said last fall that its first strains of using American roads, barriers are drought-tolerant corn would be on the market going up around the world. As the reces- “Instead of just talking about trade liberal- American manufacturers benefited from within four years. Because it relies on genetic sion’s grip tightens, these pressures are ization, countries need to take immediate public-spending projects. The Obama modification, Monsanto’s work is encounter- administration persuaded Congress to ing controversy. likely to intensify, several experts said. steps to show they mean it.” Some Monsanto critics, like the Alliance The surge in protectionism is casting a Far from heeding their pledge not to erect soften it, and Mr. Obama has taken up for a Green Revolution in Africa, say drought shadow over an economic summit meet- new barriers for 12 months, many countries Mr. Bush’s warnings about the dangers of resistance can be strengthened through con- ventional seed breeding. ing of world leaders scheduled for London have raised import duties or passed stimu- protectionism. But in some places, the favored approach on April 2. At the last such gathering, in lus measures with trade-distorting subsi- But pressures are building on other to an old-fashioned problem like drought is Washington in November, former Presi- dies. The World Bank, in a recent report, fronts. The energy secretary, Steven Chu, an old-fashioned solution. As Mr. McKinley reported in The Times, some Californians dent George W. Bush persuaded the Group said that since the Washington meeting, 17 said he favored tariffs on Chinese goods still rely on dowsers — specialists also known of 20 members to commit to protecting free members of the Group of 20 had adopted 47 if China did not sign on to mandatory re- as “water witches,” who use a Y-shaped tree trade — whatever the pressures caused by measures aimed at restricting trade. ductions in greenhouse gas emissions — branch and what they say is an intuitive ability to detect water underground. faltering economies and lost jobs. The mem- Russia has raised tariffs on used cars. underscoring how the “green economy” Frank Assali, an almond farmer in Water- bers include industrialized and developing China has tightened import standards could be the next trade battleground. ford, California, hired a dowser named Phil Mr. Obama signed a $40 billion spend- Stine. “Phil finds the water,” Mr. Assali told nations, and the European Union. on food, banning Irish pork, among other Mr. McKinley. “No doubt about it.” “No sooner was the G-20 statement is- things. India has banned Chinese toys. Ar- ing bill that scrapped a program enabling For those with the knack, work should be sued than it was breached,” said Daniel M. gentina has tightened licensing require- Mexican trucks to haul cargo over long plentiful. Price, an official in the Bush administra- ments on auto parts, textiles and leather For comments, write to tion who helped negotiate the agreement. goods. And a dozen countries, from the Con tin ued on Page IV [email protected]. BUSINESS OF GREEN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ARTS & STYLES In Britain, cooking oil Some good news All ‘world music’ helps fight warming. VI about right whales. VII may soon be local. VIII INTELLIGENCE: For Israel, steps out of the wilderness. Page II. Repubblica NewYork II MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2009 OPINION & COMMENTARY INTELLIGENCE/ROGER COHEN National Anxiety Clouds The Zionist Dream NEW YORK Ethan Bronner of The New York Times has been filing some very important dispatches from Israel in recent weeks, chronicling Is- rael’s sense of isolation, its quest to “rebrand” itself, and its soul- searching over reports from soldiers and officers that they wit- nessed or participated in reckless killing of civilians in Gaza. Here is the paradox of Israel: a hegemonic power in its region, nuclear-armed and protected by a high-tech wall, prosperous and creative, yet inhabited by a gnawing self-doubt that seems only to grow at the same pace as its military dominance. Israel was supposed, as Shlomo Avineri, an Israeli political scien- BARRY BLITT tist, has written, not only to take the Jewish people out of exile but FRANK RICH also ensure that exile was “taken out of the Jewish people.” After the millennia of marginalization and Auschwitz, it was intended to create what David Ben-Gurion called “a self-sufficient people” rather than one “hung up in midair.” The mood Bronner has chron- Has Obama’s ‘Katrina Moment’ Arrived? icled amounts to ample evidence that, 61 years after the creation of the modern state of Israel, that “midair” feeling persists. Protests against Israel are multiplying around the world. Within A charming visit with a talk show host Within 24 hours, Summers’s stand was sums of money taking irresponsible risks the country, fissures grow between Jews and the Arab minority won’t fix it. A 90 percent tax on bank- discarded by Obama, who tardily (and im- that have now put the entire economy at while religious nationalists and secular liberals battle for control ers’ bonuses won’t fix it. Firing Timothy potently) vowed to “pursue every single risk.” But speeches won’t tamp down the of the army. Geithner won’t fix it. Unless and until Ba- legal avenue” to block the bonuses. The anger out there, and neither will calcu- The Defense Ministry was obliged to reprimand the military’s rack Obama addresses the full depth of question is not just why the White House lated displays of presidential “outrage.” chief rabbi, Brigadier General Avichai Rontzki, a West Bank set- Americans’ anger with his full arsenal of was the last to learn about bonuses that We must have governance to match the tler, after a booklet handed to soldiers was found to contain a rab- policy smarts and political gifts, his pres- Democratic congressmen had sought message. binical edict against showing the enemy mercy. idency and, worse, our economy will be hearings about back in December, but To get ahead of the anger, Obama must Certainly, little mercy was shown in Gaza, where several hun- paralyzed. It would be foolish to dismiss why it was so slow to realize the depth do what he has repeatedly promised but dred civilians were among the 1,300 dead. In all the operation made as hyperbole the stark warning delivered of the public’s anger. By the time Obama not always done: make everything about scant strategic sense: Hamas endures, as do its rockets, and the by Paulette Altmaier of Cupertino, Cali- acted, even the Republican leader Mitch his economic policies transparent and damage to Israel’s image around the world has been devastating.

Load more