Growth, at any cost.

In the US, "The Klamath River is free of four huge dams for the first time in generations." "Removing the dams has been a rocky road, thanks to the number of tribal, local, state and federal stakeholders, and the cost of removal - estimated at $450m." "Between 2018 and 2021 seed collections crews - many of them tribal elders - were hired to harvest native seeds, by hand," and "A total of 18 billion seeds were propagated - more than 66,000lbs (30,000kg) worth." BBC. "According to the non-profit advocacy organisation American Rivers, 2,119 dams were removed in the United States between 1912 and 2023. The peak year was 2018, which saw 109 removals." wikipedia. In August, "Massive landslides in Kerala's Wayanad have claimed at least 308 lives," "While the catastrophe left about 200 injured, another 240 were missing." ET. "The absence of forest cover and large trees replaced by plantation crops may have exacerbated the impact of continuous rainfall that triggered the landslides in Kerala's Wayanad." HT. "Road projects cutting through hillsides are common. Rock quarries are proliferating along these construction sites to provide construction materials. This is leading to a gradual crumbling and weakening of the hills," said Western Ghats expert and ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2021. "Reports of residents protesting against the 'gradual sinking' of Joshimath emerged on 24 December last year." HT. "Joshimath is a village in Chamoli district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is located at a height of 6,150 feet" in the Himalayas. rural.touris.gov.in. "A construction boom with scant regulations, often under the pressure of burgeoning tourism, finds echo across the Himalayan region." "Then there are big infrastructure and power projects." "As many as 650 hydro projects are underway across the Himalayas and Hindu Kush region, many close to glaciers or glacial lakes and seismically active zones." Construction is booming in India as, "About 15,68,281 residential units were under construction in the top seven tier-1 cities between April and September 2023, as per Liases Foras Research." "The boom in construction is great news for sectors that feed the industry - such as steel and cement. And it creates jobs mopping up the workforce at the bottom of India's labor pyramid," wrote Madhurima Nandy. Providing jobs to the bottom of the pyramids is great for winning elections. So, "In rural areas, illegal sand mining is the hottest new cash rich job for the youth. The career path is well laid out - from starting out as drivers to becoming gang lords." The Print. It is also a disaster for the environment. "Sand mining threatens the survival and persistence of endangered riverine species like the gharial crocodile, freshwater turtles, otters, river dolphins and waterbirds." Wildlife Conservation Trust. Governments cannot give up on economic growth. "Yet, today, there is a burgeoning 'post-growth' and 'degrowth movement." "Degrowth remained on the fringes of the fringes for decades, until increasing awareness about global warming percolated into public debates in the early aughts." ET. In India, politicians boast of economic growth as being good for the poor. Even if the poor suffer the most from climate change. Life is cheap.