Why is free trade the cause of environmental degradation?
Once again, this claim is wrong and statistics are arrived at by manipulating facts. There are many types of pollutants in the world today. Anti-globalization activists focus on those pollutants that result from economic progress. Many Third World families are forced, for example, to use coal to heat their home. Coal particles fall in the food and drinks, and all through the day, people have to “breathe coal”. Likewise, many do not have basic sanitation, which causes far greater environmental harm to the family living in such house than a car would. This is ignored by anti-globalization activists. But when a family gets wealthier and able to purchase proper heating and bathroom equipment, suddenly anti-globalists are concerned about the environmental damage caused by factories that produce this equipment. Moreover, at times one pollutant, the more dangerous one, gets replaced by another, safer pollutant. Now, the second pollutant may not be good for the environment, but it’s better tha
