It is a pretty safe bet that most people know absolutely nothing
about Iceland. Most are vaguely aware that it is greener than Greenland, some
could make a good attempt at explaining their economic crash back in 2008, and
a handful might even be able to tell you about Iceland’s volcanoes while
simultaneously ranting about how their international flight got canceled in
2010. When preparing for my trip to Iceland, I was just as naïve as the rest of
the world. I placed the people of Iceland on a pedestal based on my limited
knowledge of their use of renewable resources, small population size, and willingness
to preserve their pristine landscapes. Don’t get me wrong, I had been
warned. A family friend of mine had blatantly told me that the people of
Iceland don’t really give a hoot about the environment and that it was the
economic benefits of geothermal energy and hydropower that allowed them to
prevail. However, I was hard to convince
and until I actually arrived and experienced it all for myself, there was no
way anyone could possibly shatter my allusion of perfect little Iceland.
The pedestal
first began to crumble when Hank showed us the film Dreamland, a documentary based on the book “Dreamland: A Self Help
Guide for a Frightened Nation” written by Andri Magnason. From the title one
might think Dreamland is another one
of those films that highlights the many wonderful and beautiful aspects of
Iceland. On the contrary, the entire film is dedicated to unearthing the
madness of Icelandic politics and the corporations that control them. We were
lucky enough to meet Andri at his office in Reykjavik and talk politics. His
office is a transformed coal-burning power plant that has been around since
1947. He and his colleagues purchased the rights to the plant and converted it
into collaborative work space for creativity. If that doesn’t set the tone for
what kind of person Andri is, then perhaps I should also reveal that aside from
writing a hard hitting book about politics and corporate dominance, he is also
the successful author of a children’s book that has now spread to about 30
countries. Between watching Dreamland and
talking with Andri, I had successfully been convinced that there is way more to
Iceland than meets the eye.
In a way, Iceland is falsely advertised to the rest of the world. It
is advertised as a place of abundant clean energy, vast landscapes, and
beautiful waterfalls. However, what is not advertised is that this “clean”
energy is created by environmental destructive processes such as damming and
then sold cheap to the world’s most polluting corporations – aluminum smelters.
It all began in 1980 when the government built a large dam with the
intention of providing cheap energy in the form of hydropower to large
profit-turning corporations. The main problem with this project, aside from the
numerous environmental disruptions associated with dams, was that for a long
time no corporations were stepping up to take advantage of it. The people of
Iceland already had access to more than enough energy before the dam was built,
resulting in major economic losses when the government could not find a buyer.
However, the opportunity to exploit the environment reached corporate
headquarters soon enough and within a few decades, three aluminum smelters were
built.
Currently Iceland
takes out huge international loans to build dams for aluminum corporations,
which can take up to 40 years to pay off. Meanwhile, because they have access
to such cheap energy, aluminum smelters are making back the amount of that loan
in less than five years, hardly any of which goes to the Icelandic economy. When
profits are the bottom line, lower input costs are what corporations seek. This
is what makes Iceland the perfect target for the aluminum business. So what are the benefits of these smelters? Well, about 5-600 jobs and
small infrastructure projects for small communities. This hardly all seems
worth it. These corporations are getting away with murder in a lot of
ways. For one, they are able to utilize extremely cheap energy at the expense
of Iceland’s natural landscapes. Furthermore, the public at large is completely
blind to the issue. Nobody in their right mind is thinking about aluminum
corporations. When you think big bad corporations you think Exxon, Monsanto,
Suez. Names like Alcoa do not even register in people’s minds when there are
larger roots to strike. When you hear hooves you think horses, not Icelandic
ponies. The reality of it is that aluminum smelting is one of the most
environmentally damaging and greenhouse gas emitting processes known to
man. To make
matters even worse, Iceland only accounts for 2% of global aluminum smelting.
That means that the other 98%, mostly carried out in countries like China and
Russia, is achieved using dirty energy (mainly coal).
Andri identified it as a problem rooted in lack of creativity. When an
economic crash as severe as that experienced in 2008 occurs, people depend on
their government to come up with an immediate solution. Unfortunately, this
often means more dams, more smelters, and larger exports of clean energy. What
Andri suggested is that there needs to be a shift in trust back to the small business
sector. If people could identify localized solutions to problems related to the
economy, then the country would not have to fall victim to corporate take-over
or environmental exploitation. Furthermore, he discussed how infrastructure needs to be adapted
to a finite planet. Personally I consider it quite alarming that aluminum and oil
consumption is expected to increase 100% in the coming years. As Andri put it,
we are duplicating our mistakes. So this raises the question of whether Iceland
is really helping the world by providing corporations cheap energy, as clean as
it may be. Cheap energy and free nature allows corporations like Alcoa to keep
metal prices down, creating highly disposable products. This, in turn, allows
countries like the US to throw away 4x the amount of aluminum annually than
what is required to build an entire airplane fleet. Talk about lack of an
incentive to curb aluminum consumption.
Our meeting with
Andri provided me with an entirely new perspective on Iceland. It was hard to
believe that a country like Iceland is just as victimized by corporations as
some developing countries. It was painful to hear Andri draw a connection
between American consumption patterns (our disposal of cheap aluminum) and the destruction
of the natural beauty of Iceland. At
first I was disappointed by all this information, however I was not going to
become discouraged. While we uncovered the many problems of Iceland we were
surrounded by engineers, artists, designers all working together in the offices
of ex coal head honchos. Andri certainly lives within the context of his
beliefs. It is one thing to have grand ideas such as small solutions thinking,
but to actually live by it, and successfully, really says something about
Andri’s credibility. Maybe these ideas are not as radical as one might think. I
walked away from Andri’s office with a lot to think about. I look forward to
all the field trips ahead and to unraveling the real story behind this little
island nation.
Written By: Emily Spognardi
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