Ivo Vegter, author of Extreme Environment: How environmental exaggeration harms emerging economies and columnist for the Daily Maverick, has written an article about whether legalising the trade in rhino horn could save the species.

Vegter explains why dehorning rhinos or poisoning the horns do not deter poachers – they simply kill any rhino they find in order to make their own tracking process easier and to save themselves time and money.

The author summarises the two options available to reduce rhino poaching: “Reduce demand for horn by education campaigns, improve anti-poaching security measures, tighten law enforcement, and/or legalise trade.”

Read the article in which Vegter highlights the pros and cons of each option:

His killer argument, however, is this: a government-controlled central selling organisation is far more likely to win the approval of the delegates at CITES than an unrestricted free market. As much as I prefer my capitalism unfettered, he’s right. They’re all watermelons there: green on the outside, and red on the inside (to use James Delingpole’s provocative phrase).

The fate of the rhino hangs on whether these people can be persuaded. If that means making a compromise that appeals to socialists, statists and bureaucrats, then it seems a good compromise to me.

• Complete article: Daily Maverick

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Ivo Vegter, author of Extreme Environment: How environmental exaggeration harms emerging economies, recently wrote an article for the Daily Maverick about the way that media exaggerates concerns about cancer.

In the article, Vegter looks at how the cancer risks of e-cigarettes and fracking in the Karoo have been represented in media. He says that misleading statistics and dodgy science, combined with sensationalism, are used to create an exceptionally overblown account of possible risks.

Read the article:

Because it is hard to assess the cancer risk of, say, e-cigarettes or fracking, we are often content to trust what the media, lobby groups or scientific papers say. But while we may not be masters of sophisticated risk assessment tools, a little common-sense understanding goes a long way to debunking many scary claims.

According to new research, the cancer risk of using e-cigarettes is ‘15 times greater than smoking cigarettes’. Oh boy, did I ever get that wrong. Also, fracking ‘could be sowing the seeds for a cancer epidemic in the Karoo’. Dear me. If true, I’d look a right fool.

What are we to do with all these alarming headlines? I get them sent to me routinely, by people who, one assumes, are trying to prove that something I wrote turned out to be terribly wrong.

• Complete article: Daily Maverick

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Ivo Vegter, the author of Extreme Environment: How environmental exaggeration harms emerging economies, has written an article for the Daily Maverick about the nuclear reactors South Africa has agreed to buy from Russia.

The purpose of his article is to deliberate on whether the government is taking a wise course, or if the deal is something South Africans should work to oppose.

He compares the cost and implications of nuclear power with other ways of generating electricity in South Africa, and looks other countries that use nuclear power to inform his opinion.

Read the article:

The long-rumoured deal with Russia for a family pack of nuclear reactors finally broke last week. At R500 billion and change, it weighs in at a lot cheaper than the R1 trillion mooted in energy circles. But then, we are buying nuclear plants from the only country that ever managed to blow one up.

Half a trillion rand for eight nuclear power plants delivering 9,600MW is a pretty good deal. If that is indeed what we’re getting. The Mail & Guardian reports that president Jacob Zuma personally negotiated the deal at the BRICS Summit in Brazil in July. However, the M&G’s own estimate of the cost for 9,600MW is closer to R1 trillion, and there are reasons to believe that this deal is far from final.

• Complete article: Daily Maverick

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“The history of artificial sweeteners is a history of public neuroses, bad science, paranoid distrust of corporations and regulatory failure”, writes Ivo Vegter in the Daily Maverick, “It plays to our fear of what we don’t understand, absurd risk-aversion on the part of regulators and the political effectiveness of legislating popular prejudices.”

Read Vegter’s take on the history of artificial sweeteners:

The history of artificial sweeteners is a history of public neuroses, bad science, paranoid distrust of corporations and regulatory failure. It plays to our fear of what we don’t understand, absurd risk-aversion on the part of regulators and the political effectiveness of legislating popular prejudices.

The modern food industry is a testament to human ingenuity and progress. A combination of agricultural productivity, industrial efficiency and applied science provides most of the world’s population with an abundant choice of fresh and tasty food. Food companies conduct extensive market research to try to discover what customers find good to eat, where “good” means both “healthy” and “tasty”. Chemistry, financial and operations wizards then figure out ways to produce what the studies found, at prices that customers are willing to pay. And then, and then (cue ominous music), the evil bastards give us what we want.

• Complete article: Daily Maverick

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Talk Radio 702‘s Bruce Whitfield spoke to Ivo Vegter, author of Extreme Environment, about the movie FrackNation, which Vegter recently held a screening for in Johannesburg.

Vegter discussed how FrackNation, made by Phelim McAleer, was a response to Josh Fox’s documentary, Gasland. FrackNation debunks some of the claims about the dangers of fracking made in Gasland and Vegter says that he felt it was important for the public to see all sides of the debate.

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Ivo Vegter, author of Extreme Environment, has written a column for the Daily Maverick about the need for development in the Karoo, saying that his “latest trip through the Karoo has done little to convince [him] that fears about shale gas drilling justify blocking the economic development of the region.”

Vegter writes that the “ill-founded, misinformed, and short-sighted fears of the environmentalist elite cannot trump the needs of local businesses and communities”.

Every time I visit towns along the N12, they are a little more dilapidated and desperate. This is the backdrop, the quiet tragedy, against which wealthy elites protest the potential development of shale gas resources.

My latest trip through the Karoo has done little to convince me that fears about shale gas drilling justify blocking the economic development of the region. On the contrary, the towns and rural areas need a boost, and urgently. The ill-founded, misinformed, and short-sighted fears of the environmentalist elite cannot trump the needs of local businesses and communities.

• Complete article: The Daily Maverick

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Ivo Vegter, author of Extreme Environment, has organised a screening of Phelim McAleer’s documentary FrackNation at The Bioscope in Johannesburg. Vegter will be holding a Q&A session after the screening.

The première will be held on Wednesday 3 July from 7 PM to 9:15 PM. Tickets cost R180, with seniors over 60 and students getting in for R140, children under 16 for R100 and under 12s for R50.

Don’t miss it!

Event Details

• Date: Wednesday, 03 July 2013
• Time: 7:00 PM to 9:15 PM
• Venue: The Bioscope,
  286 Fox Street,
  Johannesburg,
  South Africa | Map
• Guest Speaker: Ivo Vegter
• Cover charge: R180, seniors over 60 – R140, students – R140, children under 16 – R100 and under 12s – R50
• Bookings: Ivo Vegter

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• Extreme Environment: How environmental exaggeration harms emerging economies by Ivo Vegter
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Ivo Vegter has written a column for the Daily Maverick, reflecting on the idea of the “reasonable man”, a phrase that was used by Jonathan Deal, of the Treasure the Karoo Action Group, at the “To Frack or Not to Frack” Talk at the Franschhoek Literary Festival.

Deal “raised the legal notion of a “reasonable man”, and pointed at the audience as representative” arguing that “If such reasonable people object to shale gas drilling, both in law and in democratic politics, that objection should be upheld.” Vegter argues that “The legal concept of a reasonable man, or the democratic concept of a majority vote, does not imply that the average person knows what is best for everyone else” and says that “Few average people, reasonable or otherwise, have anywhere near the knowledge required to make a decision about whether or not a particular industrial activity can be undertaken sufficiently safely to reap its benefits.”

In our recent debate on shale gas drilling, one salient question that arose is whether the audience represented the “reasonable man”, in the phrasing of environmental activist Jonathan Deal. Faced with rising electricity prices, what exactly distinguishes the economic choices and values of one person from those of another?

A possible clue to why two sides in a debate, both of whom claim to have a benign view of human nature and a healthy concern for the environment, differ so strongly on an issue such as shale gas drilling, lies in something Cormack Cullinan said. Cullinan is an environmental lawyer retained by the Treasure the Karoo Action Group, led by Jonathan Deal. His lobby group opposes shale gas drilling in the Karoo, fearing pollution, even if the evidence shows that such a choice has grave consequences for electricity prices, which impact heavily on industrial productivity, consumer prices and unemployment rates.

• Complete article: Daily Maverick

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Ivo Vegter was on the panel at the Franschhoek Literary Festival talk, “To Frack or Not to Frack”, on Sunday, along with Former Business Day editor and Karoo resident Tim Cohen, environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan and Jonathan Deal of the Treasure Karoo Action Group.

Vegter has written about his thoughts on the talk for the Daily Maverick, writing that he “didn’t come away from the debate with the usual feeling that I had missed opportunities, but it did raise some issues that are worth closer examination.”

At the Franschhoek Literary Festival last weekend, I had another opportunity to debate Jonathan Deal, the environmental activist opposed to shale gas drilling in the Karoo who recently shot to world fame for winning a rich environmental prize. I didn’t come away from the debate with the usual feeling that I had missed opportunities, but it did raise some issues that are worth closer examination.

The school hall in Franschhoek was filled to capacity with visitors to the annual literary festival. The faces were uniformly white, the hair predominantly grey, and the clothes tasteful. I had just driven 650km from a talk I had delivered the previous night at Moneyweb’s Ibandla retreat for company CEOs and chairmen. I was exhausted, but felt well-prepared and confident in my position. Anticipation of high drama hung in the still, warm air of this pretty, wealthy town.

• Complete article: Daily Maverick

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Ivo Vegter, author of Extreme Environment, has written a column for the Daily Maverick about the possible benefits of “red-tape tourism”, that would see smaller suburbs and towns competing to “become the “cut-red-tape” destination of choice for their provinces.”

Vegter discusses some of the objections that may arise, such as money that was meant for locals being spent catering for visitors and that if they start competing for tourism they might let the standards of the civil services slip.

I heard a clever idea the other day. It has some warts, and needs some caveats, but it might just boost tourism, reduce bureaucratic burdens on citizens, and motivate civil servants, all at once: let suburbs and towns compete to become the “cut-red-tape” destination of choice for their provinces.

If you want an ID book, passport or a driver’s licence and you don’t like queuing, you have a few options. One is to employ a professional queuing service, which will handle much of the hassle for you.

• Complete article: Daily Maverick

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• Extreme Environment: How environmental exaggeration harms emerging economies by Ivo Vegter
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  EAN: 9781770223646
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