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Growing up in California and attending public school here, one of the major topics of history classes was the California Gold Rush. One of the nearby middle schools (Junior High in my school days) is named after Sutter. I don't recall ever hearing mention of any negative effects or consequences, only that California became California because of the large population infusion the call of gold caused.

For those interested in the ramifications of this event rather than merely celebrating "Gold Rush Days", this site is a good starting point. Although gold does have practical uses most is merely found in jewelry and other forms of decoration. This fact alone makes the topic appropriate for my greed blog. The site is a part of Project Underground which "... exists as a vehicle for the environmental, human rights and indigenous rights movements to carry out focused campaigns against abusive extractive resource activity."

I found the site by googling "Greed environment". There seems to be some problems with navigating the site and at least some of the pages date to 2002 so I don't know the current status of this organization.

This essay by Melanie Priya Kumar from 2004 is an excellent expression of the effect of greed upon the environment.

"Till about ten years ago, Bangalore, enjoyed the nomenclature of Air-conditioned city and did not need fans even in the summer months. But in the past few years, everybody has been making a beeline for air-conditioners as the Mercury has started to soar to unbelievable heights in the summer months."

According to Kumar the lakes and trees of Bangalore have been cut down and filled in to make way for "growth and industrialization". Somebody is making money at the expense of others. She begins her essay with a quote from Mahatma Ghandi that says it all, "The earth has enough for man’s need but not for man’s greed".