Amazon Jungle
Saturday, January 01, 2000
Our species is threatened by atmospheric pollution. Saving the Amazon forest would be a major step towards our survival. The solution: let the world buy the jungle, and let it grow as a UN territory, a trekkers-only paradise.
Poor and indebted South America cannot be expected to give it away. The atmosphere moves across all nations, so we should all foot the bill. Let the UN divide the cost among the nations according to each one's production of exhaust gases.
I predict confidently that this scheme, for all its billions, will prove cheaper than what it would cost us later to save ourselves. This deal would also ease South America's financial predicament.
Philip O'Carroll