Hypertext Essay: International Conclusions

International Efforts: Conclusions

Widespread Problems, Widespread Causes

The problems in Asia and Africa are widespread, causing various health and environmental hazards that cross national boundaries.

The causes are widespread as well. A number of different companies making a wide array of products add to the over all pollution. In addition, modernization speeds the process. Poverty and population drive developing nations on both continents, and worldwide, to industrialize rapidly. In exchange, the rate of pollution skyrockets as these countries struggle between the old ways and modernization. A good example is India where they have a massive population adding to the "brown cloud" because they are still cooking in open fire using biomass, like dung, as fuel.

In both cases fixing one company's policy, changing one nation's laws, won't solve the dilemma, because the effects and causes have spread out over several nations. Americans especially have problems with widespread problems, like air pollution, having adopted a site mentality to pollution control.

Developing Countries Need Trade

While the WTO's focus on trade and market value might seem at face value to be callus--sacrificing environmental safety to preserve trade--the WTO is facing a simple fact of the modern world: these countries need trade. Many of these countries live under grinding poverty and with poverty comes massive population growth. The only way to reverse the trends of over-population and evironmental degradation is to raise the coutnry out of poverty. Unfortunately, the tools needed to do this, industrial agriculture and industrialization of labor, come with thier own environmental drawbacks. In Africa the water pollution is a direct result of growing agriculture and industry.

The WTO is trying to playing the odds, empowering countries to trade in the hope that they will fix poverty first and the environmental problems later. Whether or not this plan is feasible remains to be seen.

Multi-national Policy

One thing that has worked is the devlopment of multinational policies among the affected nations. In the article on African water pollution such a policy is detailed. Several nations, "Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo from Western Africa and Cameroon in Central Africa", have participated in a program to help stop coastal pollution. It has met with some success. Perhaps solutions such as this will work best in the long run. The WTO's policies are tunnel-visioned on trade and markets leaving nations to take matters into their own hands, regardless of "green box" policy.


Local Efforts -Cass Lake Site -Superfund Results -Local Conclusions Nationwide Efforts -California Site -New York Sites -Superfund Troubles -Federal Policy -Nationwide Conclusions International Efforts -African Water Pollution -Asian Air Pollution -WTO Policy -International Conclusions >>	bsu \| engl 4170 \| jeremy althiser home \| hypertext essay: international conclusions
	International Efforts: Conclusions Widespread Problems, Widespread Causes The problems in Asia and Africa are widespread, causing various health and environmental hazards that cross national boundaries. The causes are widespread as well. A number of different companies making a wide array of products add to the over all pollution. In addition, modernization speeds the process. Poverty and population drive developing nations on both continents, and worldwide, to industrialize rapidly. In exchange, the rate of pollution skyrockets as these countries struggle between the old ways and modernization. A good example is India where they have a massive population adding to the "brown cloud" because they are still cooking in open fire using biomass, like dung, as fuel. In both cases fixing one company's policy, changing one nation's laws, won't solve the dilemma, because the effects and causes have spread out over several nations. Americans especially have problems with widespread problems, like air pollution, having adopted a site mentality to pollution control. Developing Countries Need Trade While the WTO's focus on trade and market value might seem at face value to be callus--sacrificing environmental safety to preserve trade--the WTO is facing a simple fact of the modern world: these countries need trade. Many of these countries live under grinding poverty and with poverty comes massive population growth. The only way to reverse the trends of over-population and evironmental degradation is to raise the coutnry out of poverty. Unfortunately, the tools needed to do this, industrial agriculture and industrialization of labor, come with thier own environmental drawbacks. In Africa the water pollution is a direct result of growing agriculture and industry. The WTO is trying to playing the odds, empowering countries to trade in the hope that they will fix poverty first and the environmental problems later. Whether or not this plan is feasible remains to be seen. Multi-national Policy One thing that has worked is the devlopment of multinational policies among the affected nations. In the article on African water pollution such a policy is detailed. Several nations, "Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo from Western Africa and Cameroon in Central Africa", have participated in a program to help stop coastal pollution. It has met with some success. Perhaps solutions such as this will work best in the long run. The WTO's policies are tunnel-visioned on trade and markets leaving nations to take matters into their own hands, regardless of "green box" policy.
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