Formal environmental politics

The 14th of July “Pino” Solanas, who was elected representative to the Congress for the City of Buenos Aires for the party “Proyecto Sur”, spoke at the TV channel “TN”. The TV channel is part of the Clarin news group. He got the opportunity to raise his central concerns about the recovery of the Argentine natural resources, the role of companies in the veto against the “law of glaciers”, the pollution, and the recovery of the national railway system. In large these questions can be considered as typical environmental issues, and as a movie producer Solanas has discussed these matters before in productions like “Memorias del Saqueo [Memories of the sacking]”. Even if several of the people I have been talking to through my study consider that there is a lack of formal environmental politics in Argentina, I believe it is important to highlight these sprouting initiatives. My aim is not to judge the ideological standpoints involved in the Proyecto Sur, only to recognize their existence.

Similarly I believe it is interesting to notice “la Iniciativa Verde” [The green initiative] who received a bit over 8000 votes in Buenos Aires in the elections in June, which they themselves considered a victory. Now they expect to spread their work to the other provinces of Argentina. Among the issues that la Iniciativa Verde went to the polls with, one find demands for renewable energy sources, sustainable construction policies, recovery and application of the policy “Basura Cero” which I have commented on previously, the sorting of recyclable waste at the source (i.e. at home or at the company site), improved transportation systems that cut noise and air pollution, and finally the promotion of green consumption according to international standards like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Since I am lagging behind with my political science classes, I cannot analyze the relative worth or influence of these two formal political initiatives, only acknowledge their existence.

Sources:
http://www.proyecto-sur.com.ar/
http://www.iniciativaverde.org.ar/elecciones/