A Dream for a Better World

The environmental damage caused to developing nations by the world’s richest countries amounts to more than the entire third world debt of $1.8 trillion, according to the first systematic global analysis of the ecological damage imposed by rich countries. There are huge disparities in the ecological footprint inflicted by rich and poor countries on the rest of the world because of differences in consumption.  The researchers examined so-called “environmental externalities” or costs that are not included in the prices paid for goods but which cover ecological damage linked to their consumption. They focused on six areas: greenhouse gas emissions, ozone layer depletion, agriculture, deforestation, overfishing and converting mangrove swamps into shrimp farms. The team confined its calculations to areas in which the costs of environmental damage are well understood.

Some scientists believe that there is reason to believe that Gaucho, a pesticide, and other members of a family of highly toxic chemicals — neonicotinoids — may be responsible for the deaths of billions of honeybees worldwide. They believe that these pesticides, which are applied to seeds, travel systemically through the plant and leave residues that contaminate the pollen, resulting in bee death or paralysis. The French refer to the effect as “mad bee disease” and in 1999 were the first to ban the use of these chemicals, which are currently only marketed by Bayer (the aspirin people) under the trade names Gaucho and Pancho. Germany followed suit this year.  In 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted an emergency exemption allowing increase use of Gaucho.  The agency also granted a conditional registration for its close relative, Pancho, allowing the chemical on the market with only partial testing.

The next time you make some microwave popcorn or cook a frozen pizza, consider this:  The packaging of many of these products contains a chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency considers potentially carcinogenic and wants businesses to voluntarily stop using by 2015.  Studies show that this chemical – perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA –is present in 98% of Americans’ blood and 100% of newborns.  It doesn’t break down and thus accumulates in the system over time. PFOA is used to make Teflon pans, Gore-Tex clothing and to prevent food from sticking to paper packaging. The industry says that while the EPA’s carcinogen concerns are based on animal tests, there’s no evidence that PFOA is harmful to humans. Public-health advocates counter that the industry is being disingenuous and that there’s never been a chemical found that affects animals but has no effect on humans.