Guðfrídur Lilja Grétarsdóttir
writes from the front lines of the struggle in Iceland and says that we cannot delay.
I never tire of quoting Jóhanna Jóhansdóttir from Hamarsheidi in Gnúpverjahreppur, she has lived with Thjórsá River for almost a century:
“The beauty was absolute. I thought of Landsvirkjun that might drown the hayfields of Hagi, this beautiful estate from the time of Settlement, drown it in such a way that it will no longer be habitable – and then no one will sit by a window and admire this beauty, or enjoy the fruits of the earth. It is a great authority that a few greedy men take into their own hands.”
There is a tendency to brand the struggle for nature preservation as extremist or unrealistic. Jóhanna Jóhannsdóttir, former farmer in her 90s is no extremist. Her fellow farmers, who valiantly fight for the preservation of Thjórsá, are no extremists either. These are normal Icelanders with different interests, different political backgrounds, who have different outlooks on life. They do, however, share the wish to protect their country – our country.
For more than four decades the locals around Thjórsá have stood guard and fought the Thjórsárver plant. These people have sacrificed precious time, energy, and even health, for the cause, and future generations shall forever be in their debt.
Many battles have been won by active, everyday people, but there are still several precious areas and natural phenomena under threat from the quick profit policies. Among these is the lower part of the longest river in the country, Thjórsá.
The harnessing of the lower part of Thjórsá, means sacrificing the entrance to Thjórsárdalur valley, the doorway to the Icelandic Highlands, where the peaks of Hekla stretch up into the sky. The famed natural beauty at the foot of the Highlands; the rapids, the rocks, the islands and banks of Thjórsá River are to be sunk.
Who, exactly, is going to drop in on Jóhanna in Hagi and claim responsibility for the destruction? The Minister of the Environment or the Minister of Industry? The Minister of Finance or the Prime Minister? The Independence Party or the Social Democrats? The whole nation? Or is this just the same old song as always: Is this all just someone else’s responsibility and not our own?
Who is going to accept the blame for the disappearance of the waterfalls Búðarfoss and Urriðafoss? For the loss of Hagaey and islets and the ravines of the river, and the shrinking of the riverbed itself? For the submergence of the wilderness and the farmlands along Thjórsá? For the reduced bird-life and salmon in Thjórsá? For endangering the spawning grounds of cod by the mouth of the river? Who is going to take responsibility for the massive damage of the river’s flora and fauna, the views, the landscape, the beauty and the archaeological remains from the time of Settlement?
Even though some people have a knack for shunning responsibility, the bill will find its way to the guilty.
We have ministers within the government who have publicly declared to be opposed to power plants in the lower part of Thjórsá. What’s the delay? Why have these destructive plans not been wiped of the drawing board? People by Thjórsá and other Icelanders should not have to contest broken promises for another 40 years, 40 months, weeks or days. People should not have to live between hope and fear of what may come. The struggle should have yielded results already.
Even though some might try to give the impression that this matter is only the business of a tiny group of people in the area around Thjórsá, the truth is that Icelandic nature is our common responsibility. Those who do not accept that responsibility will have to take the blame for the irreversible damage to come.
If Icelanders have ever witnessed the fickleness of the quick profit, it is in times such as these. When will this roller coaster ride stop? When will the fleeting short-term solutions and the injections of environmental damage run its prehistoric course? When all the rivers finally run dry?
The history of nature preservation in Iceland is tainted with deceit and betrayal. There’s nothing new in these matters, but we now have the chance to set a new course. We stand before a choice and that choice will be momentous. The fight is on, and it is a fight that cannot be delayed, and all must heed the call.
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