Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.08.2004, Síða 6

Hilmar Malmquist Discusses Kárahnjúkar, Reindeer, and the
Myth of Progress
Oldest bakery in Iceland
since 1834
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Price of gas goes up
The price of gas
of the three largest
oil companies,
Esso, Shell and
Olís, went up
by 1,5kr and is
now at 113kr at
all of them, the
highest ever. The
companies have been accused of
cartelism, but surely the fact that
they all put gas up by 1,5kr at the
same time is a coincidence. Ego is
still cheaper at 100,9, and the price
at Atlantsolía hasn´t gone up at all.
Skyr and berries for 30 days
It didn´t take
the market long
to recover from
Super Size Me.
Following Morgan
Spurlocks lead,
Valdi Bernhöft
has decided to eat
nothing but three meals a day for a
month at the Booztbar, which spe-
cialises in skyr and berries. Valdi
is an avid rollerblader and in good
shape, and will no doubt continue
to be so, while Boozt may or may
not boost its income.
Two Days That Shall Live in Infamy
by Paul Fontaine-Nikolov
Every August 6th and 9th for the past 20 years, hundreds of
Icelanders have gathered at the lake Tjörnin and floated candles on
the water. This simple act - taken from part of a Japanese Buddhist
mourning ritual - has gone from mourning those killed in the two
atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to encompass much more.
Auður Karitas Ásgeirsdóttir, one of the organisers of this event, says
that this event pertains to more recent events as well.
“The Cold War had a real effect on
the mentalities of Icelanders about
the dangers of the nuclear arms race
and even with the Cold War over,
the threat continues. The US was
testing nuclear weapons as recently
as last May and tensions between
them and North Korea have brought
us close to the brink. Just because the
Cold War is over doesn’t mean any
of those missiles have gone away.”
When asked what floating candles
on Tjörnin does to counter this,
she replied: “It’s a gesture which
encourages people to wake up, to
think more about this. We need to
start shifting our idea of importance
from jobs which are based on mak-
ing money, to jobs which are based
on creating stronger educational and
social systems. Such a shift requires
a change in our sense of values. The
importance is in believing that this
can be done - any act, no matter how
small, can make a change for the
better.”
I mentioned that it seemed like a
lot more young people in Iceland
were getting involved politically
than there were even just a few years
ago. “It’s become kind of a trend
to be politically aware,” she says.
“There are people asking questions,
criticizing the government, and there
was no one thing that created this
change. It was more of an accumula-
tion. But it’s a small country and
change spreads fast. Plus, we have
it pretty good here. I don’t want to
sound superior to anyone else of
course, but with the quality of life we
have here, you should have time to
know what’s going on in the world
and try to do something about it.
That’s why so many of these groups
have been created. We help each
other out, too; participate in each
other’s events, lend a hand with
fundraising. There’s a lot of solidar-
ity.”
At the same time, she indicated that
there’s still a long way to go: “Voters
end up voting for the very people
who are against their wishes because
they’re confused a lot of the time
- they have to choose between lower
taxes and more social benefits and
usually choose the former. The pro-
test aspect needs to be stronger, too.
There are so many laws that people
are furious about, that they get
very angry talking about with their
friends over coffee, yet so few actu-
ally do something about it. Of course
I don’t want people to get hurt, but I
do wish they would express publicly
the anger which they express pri-
vately. I think a lot of them could be
afraid of hurting their employment
prospects. So much of your carreer
in this country is based on knowing
someone and culturally, people here
are generally afraid of those who
express themselves too loudly.”
Still, her faith in Icelanders becom-
ing more politically active persists.
“When I first got involved political-
ly, many of my friends agreed with
me and encouraged me. They got
involved, too. It’s this combination
of informing and encouraging others
which gets the momentum going.
Even people who say they have
no opinions are taking a political
position. There is no such thing as a
non-political person.”
For some Icelanders, environmental-
ists represent a few sentimentalists
who hang onto antiquated notions of
preserving nature despite economic
“realities.” Yet when Kárahnjúkar
was first proposed in 2002, only
49% of Icelanders approved of the
project, most of whom said that it
would bring jobs to the East. Those
opposed to this dam have defied
the demographics, ranging from
dyed-in-the-wool activists to usually
non-political farmers who found
themselves in a situation where
they were practically forced to act.
One group in particular, Náttúru-
verndasamtökin (Icelandic Nature
Conservation Association), has been
quite active in debunking many of
the myths surrounding the Kárahn-
júkar project and is today the largest
NGO (Non-governmental organiza-
tion) in Iceland, with 1300 members,
including Hilmar Malmquist, who is
also curator of the Natural History
Museum of Kópavogur.
What environmental impact would
the Kárahnjúkar dam have?
Probably the biggest environmental
impact of any project ever in Iceland.
In an area with few roads, where
you can enjoy the birds, geese and
reindeer, this reservoir will cover
approximately 57 square kilometres,
creating a 20 to 25 kilometre long
cut across the highlands. This lake
will fluctuate in depth by 40 metres.
At it’s high point, what was once
land becomes silt. At it’s low point,
this silt dries and will be carried
by winds from the southwest over
Egilsstaðir, the wetlands to the
northeast and over much of the
surrounding farm area. In truth, the
government was supposed to fully
examine the environmental impact
of projects like this but never did.
Even Landsvirkjun [the national
power company] wasn’t completely
sure what impact the project would
have. The general rule in Iceland has
always been, “When in doubt, nature
benefits,” and that’s been completely
ignored here.
The argument could be made that
this project will create jobs.
The vast majority of these jobs are
in the construction of the dam and
the aluminium smelter - when that’s
finished, so are the jobs. In addition,
almost all the labour for this project
has been imported because Icelandic
labour standards are so high, in terms
of minimum wage, benefits and so
on. Once built, only 15 people will
be required to run the plant. An
additional 750 jobs could be created
in related fields but at far too high
a price with far too little benefit.
The real solution to the employment
problem in the east would be for the
government to create a job diversity
program.
If the project were halted, what kind
of solutions could we give to the
people in the East?
The money which the government
is putting into this project could be
invested into creating jobs repairing
roads, developing the tourist indus-
try, sea ranching and also the build-
ing of geothermal power stations and
“running water” plants - hydropower
that doesn’t create reservoirs - to
produce hydrogen. This list goes on.
Expecting Kárahnjúkar to solve the
problems in the east would be to put
all our eggs in one basket. There’s no
need to rush into building this dam
and smelter - we have plenty of solu-
tions right here.
Anyone wishing to get in touch with
the Icelandic Nature Conservation
Association can visit their website at
www.inca.is
NATURAL DEFENSE
Icelandic Peace Activists Honour the Victims
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
6