Development and Pollution

That development and pollution go hand in hand cannot be disputed. Whether it is industrial development, housing development and urban sprawl, or implementing new farming techniques, pollution of some kind is inevitable, be it air pollution, water pollution, or soil contamination. Brook (611-617) puts the blame on capitalist corporations which, he says, impose these externalities on people and the environment, while privately collecting the profits of their ventures. Corporations freely dispose of their wastes into the environment at a minimum cost to themselves by shifting the costs to the public and the environment in terms of the damage done by the pollution to people in terms of higher health costs and shorter life expectancies, and to the environment in terms of polluted air and water, deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, and even extinction of some animal species (612).

For more than a decade, sustainable development has been part of public policy debates as to how business and society should interact and function (Dorward-King 51). The chemical industry has been responsible for many advances which have been very beneficial to mankind, but has also brought about many disasters, such as the DDT, which saved many lives from malaria and typhus but also harmed beneficial species and was difficult to eradicate from the environment. Incidents of mercury contamination of local fishing streams in Japan, and the acci

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eavy metal contamination of the coral reef. This project, along with two other coal-fired projects, mean the production of massive amounts of carbon dioxide, and coral rock from the reef will be used to treat the acidic mine trailings. The potential for environmental damage is enormous. A fierce battle is being waged to stop the project. Nickel is extremely toxic, so much so that the World Health Organization will not even set a minimum human tolerance level for it. This is an extreme example of Brook's capitalism over the externalities in today's world. In the Amazon rain forest, severe damage is taking place from clearing of forest areas (for farms, roads, etc.) by burning ("Forest" 6). Fires produce tiny particles which accumulate in the clouds which are smaller than naturally occurring particles such as dust, and they reflect sunlight back into space. This has a cooling effect on the ground below, which affects the cycling of water from tropical to temperate regions. Levels of photosynthesis are lowered, and the ozone produced by the fires can poison plants. Sources of pollution today do not only come from industrial sources. Development of everyday products has made the consumer an active participant in the pol

Category: Science - D