Politics and Society | Iceland Monitor | Thu 22 Jan 2015 | 10.46 GMT

A war against the land?

Dettifoss in the Jökulsá á Fjöllum glacial river is a popular tourist site. It is the most powerful waterfall in Europe and is rather awe-inspiring. Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

Orkustofnun, The National Energy Authority has published a draft of 23 suggestions for new energy harnesssing options in Iceland. Among them are two hydroelectric power plants in Jökulsá á Fjöllum, home to Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. Writer and environmentalist Andri Snær Magnason calls the proposal "the war against the land", in a post on his Facebook page, thus citing Nobel-prize laureate Halldór Laxness.

Landvernd, The Icelandic Environmental Association has published severe remarks to the suggestions, which were sent to the committee responsible for the third stage of the framework programme on power plants and environment protection. "One of the ideas is to harness Hveravellir, one of the most popular stops for travellers in the highlands. This area is protected and has no place in the framework programme."

The suggestion for the hydroelectric plant in the Jökulsá river says that both Dettifoss and Hljóðaklettar, echoing rock formations in the river, would be affected. However, a waterflow of 165 cubic metres per second to the Dettifoss waterfall would be secured. The waterflow in Dettifoss is currently 193 cubic metres per second increasing to up to 600 cubic metres per second in floods.

Writer Andri Snær Magnason, who has been active in the fight against the destruction of the Icelandic highlands posted a quote by nobel laureate Halldór Laxness on his Facebook page yesterday. "In light of the National Energy Authority proposal of harnessing Dettifoss, new words are not necessary. Halldór Laxness can be quoted word for word, just exchanging the names Gullfoss for Dettifoss," he writes, citing a quote by Laxness from his influential ecological essay Hernaðurinn gegn landinu (The War Against the Land). In this essay Laxness talks about the National Energy Authority wanting to harness the famous Gullfoss waterfall. "We were to understand that Gullfoss should be used for smelting companies, more aluminium," writes Laxness whose essay was published in 1971.