The Niger Delta as a Cautionary Tale for Environmental Sacrifice Zones Worldwide
The Niger River Delta may present a particularly painful history of the so-called "resource curse." But there are more and more places in the world that are being sacrificed to appease our demand for natural resources. Therefore, the Niger River Delta story presents a cautionary tale for the growing list of environmental sacrifice zones worldwide.
There is no sane rationale for companies to continue to explore for new sources of hydrocarbons. The science and intent enunciated by the Paris agreement cannot be more clear: far from finding additional sources of fossil fuels, we must keep most of the already discovered reserves in the ground if there is any hope for human and natural ecosystems to survive and thrive in the decades ahead.
Rockefeller Family Fund statement explaining their divestment from fossil fuels despite being one of the first founding families of the Oil Industry
March 23, 2016
"Blockadia" movement
Cases in point:
The Bakken Oil Patch
The Alberta Tar Sands
Virunga National Park
Arctic Wildlife Refuge
Environmental Justice Atlas (external link)
Sources Cited
Backman, Melvin. "One of Oil's Founding Families is Divesting from Fossil Fuels, and Slamming ExxonMobil in the Process." 23 March 2016. Quartz media. qz.com. Web. 25 March 2016.
