Before the discovery of crude, petroleum and LPG, people were having cooked food. They used wood, dung, coal etc. for cooking food. For centuries, all over the world -including US and Europe, people used above mentioned items for their cooking fire. Glaciers were there, Antarctic and Arctic ice were there throughout these period and survived. Why suddenly uproar against the use of twigs, wood and dung in the rural Asia and Africa for their cooking purposes? Is it the emission from the Chulas’ causes the climate change? It is very much clear that there is some vested interest in promoting such arguments. The cookstove theory is more a promotional item by the petroleum company who benefit from it by two ways. One, they can divert the focus of the climate change discussion from their petroleum industry and put it on poor households who struggles to meet both ends of their life. Second, is the promotion of their own product, the COOKSTOVE. People of India have come across different kinds of stoves. But, suddenly this cookstove –debate encouraged me to do a small research on this aspect. Finding was interesting. The promotional agencies were very much linked. One article on cookstove appeared in the Indian financial newspaper MINT (hybrid of the Wall Street Journal with an Indian publishing house) in April clearly mentioned about the details of the initiatives. I am quoting the wordings of it.
Envirofit India Pvt. Ltd—founded by Shell Foundation, the UK, part of the Shell Group, and Envirofit International, a US-based not-for-profit with its research base in Colorado State University—is determined to right the problem of indoor air pollution.
Few decades back, a government agency in India called ANERT popularized a smoke less Chula and promoted through the government channels as well as through NGOs. This initiative gathered national award (3 times) for its best performance and functionality. Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) accepted its function asked ANERT to promote this initiative. ANERT has selected 350 villages as "smoke free villages' and this programme is being implemented on whole village approach. ANERT has installed 8,17,352 improved chulhas in Kerala till now including community chulhas for schools and aganwadies. Much before the oil companies searching for such solution, the common people started search for advanced as well as appropriate technology for supporting their life and environment.
Another area which I would like to touch is the popularization of the COOKSTOVE programme. During the last one week, all media channels carried at least one article on the alarm bell of SOOT and its effects on environment degradation. By reiterating the importance of ‘soot’, all the articles are indirectly saying the main cause of global warming and climate change is with the rural poor in Asia and Africa. Who found it or who got such an revelation suddenly? One think tank agency in India started publishing research article on cooking practices and cookstoves... interesting!!!. For them, it is more urgent to popularise cookstove than arguing for some cap on carbon emission by motor vehicles. Delhi roads are chocked with cars and SUVs and vehicle manufacturers are the only segment made huge profit during the recession period. Who will touch them, who are funding the earth summits and all big environment campaigns? So, it is easy to turn against the rural poor of Asia and Africa. They really forgot the fact, their forefathers also cooked food in the same way they these poor people do today. Because of some colonial advantages, they think that they become rulers and others are servants.
Now, during the days of Copenhagen summit, the media houses and corporate world successfully managed to turn the issue into their way and also succeeded in making business out of it. They way they project the issue of soot, they successfully managed to hide the problems created by the carbon emission generated by transport, energy and industrial sectors. Thankfully, the heading figures of our government will appreciate the colonial legacies and accept the term and conditions of their former colonial masters. They will, without any resistance, accept to cut down the carbon emission according to others demands, then they will ask their own people to remove their old chulas and forget about food. The way the price increase of essential commodities going, it is easy for the poor to shut down their kitchens quietly.... or your government will demand to do so.
(These are the emission from my mind. While writing, I never bothered about the language and grammar. Please accept my sincere apology)
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