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Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 15:01:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: jlash@wri.org
To: kenneth.lay@enron.com
Subject: The Other Weapon In Our War Against Terror
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X-From: "Jonathan Lash, President" <jlash@wri.org>@ENRON
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Dear WRI Friends and Family,
=20
A few weeks ago the WRI Board had a powerful and wide ranging  discussion o=
f the events of September 11 and their aftermath.  We talked  about the con=
cept of human security, and the connections among security,  environment an=
d development.  The following are some observations flowing  from that disc=
ussion that the Board suggested I circulate to WRI's friends and  family.  =
With violent conflict underway, this is a difficult and uncertain  time to =
try to draw conclusions, but it is a critical time to think about the  futu=
re. =20
=20
Terrorism is hideous theater. Victims and audience are  one.  Information a=
nd images flow around the world without regard to  borders as barriers or t=
he intentions of those who create them.  We are  compelled to respond, lock=
ed in the scenes of a tragic drama, a violent twenty  first century moralit=
y play, running round the clock on CNN.  In our minds  it began on Septembe=
r 11th, but in other minds it began perhaps a decade before  with the Gulf =
War, but now the awful question is when will it end?  How do  we create a m=
ore secure world?
=20
We do not know what the men who hijacked the four planes on  September 11 a=
nd killed thousands of innocent people hoped to accomplish.   It does not a=
ppear that they were poor men, but there is reason to believe that  Osama b=
in Laden is bent on provoking a war in which the poor would be his  soldier=
s.  Neither violence nor hatred is a pathology only of the poor, but  the c=
ompound of misery, powerlessness and injustice is volatile - exactly the  m=
ix that the terrorists who attacked us hope to ignite.  We cannot create  s=
ecurity only by striking at the flint; we must deal with the  tinder.
=20
What if we capture the leaders of terrorist groups, seize  their resources,=
 disrupt their networks, and deter their state sponsors, but act  with narr=
ow focus, treating terror as a crime without a cause that we can  address, =
will our world be secure?  A safe and stable world requires more  fundament=
al changes.
=20
The squalid slums in the sprawling cities in the poorest parts  of the worl=
d are growing explosively, expanding by a million people a  week.  Three-fo=
urths of the world's agricultural lands are degraded, and  the cities are f=
illing with people driven from rural areas by expanding  population and fai=
ling lands.  There are about a billion teenagers in the  world, most of the=
m poor, jobless and struggling for shreds of hope.   Within a decade or so,=
 if trends continue, there will be 27 cities in the  developing world that =
are bigger than New York.  If they are full of  jobless young men with nowh=
ere to turn, they will be tinderboxes of anger and  despair.
=20
One-third of the world's people face water scarcity, and water  use is risi=
ng twice as fast as population. Three great rivers, the Amu Darya,  the Col=
orado, and the Yellow no longer reach the sea in dry seasons. The number  f=
acing scarcity is likely to double in the next several decades creating a b=
and  of scarcity around the middle of the globe.  70% of the water people u=
se is  for agriculture, and it is used to produce half the world's food.  W=
ater  scarcity is already raising tensions in many places including the Mid=
dle East,  the Mekong Delta, and between the United States and Mexico.
=20
A billion people depend for food on wild caught fish, but  two-thirds of th=
e world's fisheries are being harvested beyond sustainability,  and many ha=
ve collapsed, taking with them people's livelihoods.  Half of  all jobs wor=
ldwide depend on fisheries, forests, and agriculture.  In  one-fourth of th=
e world's nations natural resources directly produce more income  than indu=
stry.
=20
Global warming caused by the industrial world's  ever-increasing burning of=
 coal and oil is underway, and scientists predict that  it will cause not j=
ust hotter weather, but more severe storms and  droughts.  It will intensif=
y the agony of dry regions, worsen the misery of  the poor, and drive still=
 more refugees from the land.  Meanwhile, two  billion people still have no=
 access to electricity.
=20
Terrorism and war are, in part, the more immediate  consequences of ever in=
creasing oil consumption, particularly for  transportation.   Osama bin Lad=
en has explained his terrorist acts  against the US as a response to the pr=
esence of US military bases in the Islamic  holy land of Saudi Arabia.  The=
 US military is there to ensure access to  Saudi Arabian oil, which represe=
nts the largest oil reserves in the world, about  25%.=20
=20
Many of the most insecure regions of the world are also the  least democrat=
ic.  People there are not only poor, they are  voiceless.  Dependent direct=
ly on natural resources they have no say in how  those resources are used, =
but suffer the consequences when the decisions are  corrupt and the use is =
destructive.
=20
The notion that security, stability, and sustainability are  linked is by n=
o means novel.  Refugees have been driven from the land by  the collapse of=
 natural systems for millennia.  Nations have fought for  access to scarce =
natural resources.  The CIA recognized the connection in  an unclassified r=
eport last year.  Human ability to improve lives while we  protect the futu=
re has grown rapidly, however, and we must use these  capabilities as an al=
ternative weapon in our war on terror.
=20
Imagine if we determined not only to root out terrorism, but  also to depri=
ve it of soil in which to grow.  We in the United States might  triple our =
aid to the poorest nations from $17 to $50 per American per year,  supporti=
ng a vast improvement in education, health, and micro credit to launch  sma=
ll businesses.  We would support improved agriculture, community based  fis=
hery management, and the dispersion of practical technologies to use water =
 many times more efficiently. We would work for greater access for more peo=
ple to  sustainable energy resources. We would work to ensure that people h=
ave the  chance to participate in decisions about natural resources and  en=
vironment.  We would honor our commitments to ensure that poor women can  p=
lan their families.  We would seek to broaden our anti-terror alliance  int=
o a partnership for human security, abandoning unilateralism for broad  col=
laboration.  We would join the same allies whose help we now seek in  confr=
onting terrorism, to combat global climate change, using our immense  techn=
ological capacity to reduce our use of fossil fuels, and diminish our  depe=
ndence on foreign oil. =20
=20
The partnership for human security would make the world a  safer place even=
 if it cannot remove all of the causes of conflict between  peoples and amo=
ng nations.  Consider the alternative.  If the United  States takes direct =
action but withdraws from collaboration on broader purposes  any security w=
e achieve will be ephemeral.  If our oil use continues to  rise we will hav=
e fewer options in the Middle East.  If we fail to invest  in development w=
e will have fewer friends and fewer customers.  If we do  not solve tomorro=
w's problems today, we will still have today's problems  tomorrow.
=20
What is WRI's role?  Do we matter?
=20
There are organizations around the world, many of them WRI's  partners, who=
 work to improve human security.  Human security is at the  heart of WRI's =
work.  Our mission is to "move human society to live in ways  that protect =
Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for?future  generations".  =
Our work is to create solutions to global problems and  vehicles for the co=
llaboration necessary to implement them.
=20
After the attacks on September 11th, WRI staff received  several thousand m=
essages of concern and outrage from our colleagues in more  than 100 countr=
ies.  These were not the list serve exchanges of rumors and  misinformation=
 that surged through the web, but affirmations from our partners  in values=
-based networks that rise above the differences of place.  They  form the l=
inks that are essential to maintain understanding in moments of  violence.
=20
WRI uses the technologies of the Global Era to create  connection among peo=
ple, and we use connection to provide information and  voice.  For example:
=20
? Global Forest Watch supplies space based data and  Information Age tools =
to local groups on the ground in the world's last frontier  forests.  They =
collect information on who is doing what and whether it is  legal which Glo=
bal Forest Watch uses to create a real time, on-line, map based  early warn=
ing system of threats to the forest, a system that enables companies  to av=
oid purchasing wood from unsustainable logging, and consumers to hold  comp=
anies accountable.  The groups on the ground are empowered.
? Earth  Trends provides people with the world's best source of information=
 about their  environment and natural resources, and the tools to use that =
information to  influence decisions.  Information is power.  Earth Trends e=
nables  people to find and use it.
? The Access Initiative has built a global  alliance of groups and institut=
ions to hold governments publicly accountable for  their compliance with th=
eir commitments to open environmental governance  articulated in the Rio De=
claration and the Aarhus Convention.  The  initiative will strengthen peopl=
e's claims to information, voice, and  justice.
? New Ventures creates opportunity and hope.  It identifies and  supports a=
 new generation of entrepreneurs in Latin America who are seeking to  creat=
e sustainable enterprises in their communities.  New Ventures provides  bus=
iness mentoring, visibility, and access to venture capital for ideas that u=
se  local resources and capacity sustainably, and has mobilized millions of=
 dollars  in investment capital even during a strong economic downturn in L=
atin America. =20
? Oil for a Finite Future demonstrates how long term deployment of more  ef=
ficient, non-fossil fueled vehicles such as hydrogen or electric cars power=
ed  by renewable energy resources can alleviate the underlying long-term se=
curity  issues of oil depletion and global climate change, not to mention t=
errorism.  Since non-Persian Gulf oil production is nearing its peak we sho=
w that we cannot  drill our way to energy security. =20
? SafeClimate provides tools for  individuals, businesses, and institutions=
 to reduce their impact on climate  change by taking low cost steps to redu=
ce the emissions of greenhouse gasses  that they cause, making climate prot=
ection as easy as putting out the recycling  bin.  Americans are hungry to =
do something that helps.  When they do,  their government will follow them.
? Climate and Developing Countries - WRI  has been a leading voice of reaso=
n about the role of developing countries in  addressing climate change, dev=
eloping widely used indicators, and policy  proposals that have helped crea=
te the basis for a dialogue more constructive  than the sloganeering of man=
y American political leaders.
? Digital Dividends  explores the opportunities for development, empowermen=
t, and improved management  of natural resources on the other side of the d=
igital divide, and has linked  leaders in the digital industry to hundreds =
of innovative projects created by  local entrepreneurs and activists worldw=
ide.
=20
We have done innovative and influential work on energy,  agriculture, and w=
ater resources.  We have sought to engage businesses and  investors in crea=
ting strategies for sustainability.  We believe that work  that connects pe=
ople across the boundaries of region and sector is the most  powerful antid=
ote to the toxins of misery, mistrust, and disempowerment.   We will contin=
ue to be advocates of the proposition that protecting the web of  life that=
 connects and supports us all is essential to long term  security.
=20
Violence is not new.  Brutality and hatred have afflicted  humanity for as =
long as the capacity to do good has elevated us.  We  learned the knowledge=
 of good and evil only when both entered our hearts.   Do we have the occas=
ion to do good as well as justice in responding to the  terrible evil that =
was committed on September 11th?
=20
The modern violent evil is both terrifying and shocking not  only because i=
t occurred on American soil, but also because it was so sudden and  powerfu=
l.  The force of evil has been amplified, its reach extended, its  speed ac=
celerated like so many things in the global era, by technology and  connect=
ion.  The jetliners that were the instruments of destruction are  among the=
 forces shrinking our world.
=20
Jonathan