Chile Rewrites Its Constitution, Confronting Climate Change Head On

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by Helicase21

Dr. Dorador, the Constitutional Convention member, walks through a busy market in her hometown, Antofagasta. “The Constitution is the most important law in the country,” she tells a man selling mangoes.

Dr. Dorador, 41, describes what the assembly is discussing — water, housing, health care. She explains the timeline: a draft constitution by July, followed by a national vote.

Behind her, a man yells out the price of corn. Another is selling rabbits. One woman vents about shoulder pain. A few tell her they have no time.

Dr. Dorador became drawn to the microorganisms that have survived for millions of years in the salt flats. “We can learn a lot of things about climate change studying the salares, because they are already extreme,” she said. “You can find clues of the past and also clues of the future.”

Dr. Dorador is vying to be the convention’s president. She wants the constitution to recognize that “humans are part of nature.” She bristles when asked if lithium extraction is necessary to pivot away from fossil fuel extraction. Of course the world should stop burning oil and gas, she says, but not by ignoring yet unknown ecological costs. “Someone buys an electric car and feels very good because they’re saving the planet,” she says. “At the same time an entire ecosystem is damaged. It’s a big paradox.”

Indeed the questions facing this Convention aren’t Chile’s alone. The world faces the same reckoning as it confronts climate change and biodiversity loss, amid widening social inequities: Does the search for climate fixes require re-examining humanity’s relationship to nature itself?

“We have to face some very complex 21st century problems,” said Maisa Rojas, a climate scientist at the University of Chile. “Our institutions are, in many respects, not ready.”

Responsible-Hair9569 on December 29th, 2021 at 03:48 UTC »

It’s great that Chileans and their politicians had agreed to consider the future of the nation over making money with environmental sacrifices.

autotldr on December 28th, 2021 at 23:01 UTC »

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 96%. (I'm a bot)

Anger over powerful mining interests, a water crisis and inequality has driven Chile to rethink how it defines itself.

Mining companies in Chile, the world's second-largest lithium producer after Australia, are keen to increase production, as are politicians who see mining as crucial to national prosperity.

Convention members will decide many things, including: How should mining be regulated, and what voice should local communities have over mining? Should Chile retain a presidential system? Should nature have rights? How about future generations?

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