=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #342
— June 17, 1993 —
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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HOW DO YOUR ADVERSARIES THINK?
[It is useful for toxics activists to ask themselves how their
adversaries think. Here we present a view of the world that we
believe most well-informed polluters will secretly agree with.
The question for toxics activists is: put yourself in the place
of a polluter who sees the world this way, and then ask yourself,
“How should I behave?” You might conduct a brainstorming session
with your local group to play this game. It may help you
anticipate what your adversaries are going to do next.]
** In the U.S., many chronic health problems are increasing. The
medical establishment has had phenomenal success curbing acute
diseases like polio and meningitis, but is failing to stem the
increase of many chronic ailments. We are seeing increases in
many kinds of cancer; immune system disorders (for example,
asthma); infertility; tubal (ectopic) pregnancies; reduced sperm
count in men; disabilities; and so forth.
** Since about 1988, publications of the scientific mainstream
(e.g., the American Chemical Society’s magazines) have emphasized
that chemicals are causing reproductive and immune system damage
in wildlife, laboratory animals and most likely humans. Most
recently, it has been learned that many common industrial
chemicals mimic hormones and thus interfere with the fundamental
cell chemistry of birds, fish and mammals, including humans.
(Americans now carry some hormone-mimicking chemicals in their
bodies at levels 10 to a million times higher than
naturally-occurring hormones.)
In addition, global ecosystems are being severely disrupted (for
example, global warming, ozone depletion and large-scale acid
rain, snow and fog). In sum, modern petrochemical technologies
seem to have unanticipated side-effects that are harming humans,
wildlife, and essential ecosystems.
** As Barry Commoner pointed out in 1991, the petrochemical
industry discharges roughly 200 million tons of hazardous wastes
directly into the environment each year. At $100 per ton, it
would cost $20 billion to incinerate all these wastes. But
after-tax profits for the entire industry in 1986 were only $2.6
billion, so the petrochemical industry simply cannot afford
modern waste treatment and must continue to discharge massive
quantities of poisons directly into the environment, if the
industry is to survive in its present form.
** The federal government has a related problem. The cleanup of
old chemical dumps has proven a failure. After spending more
than $12 billion dollars, the government has managed to clean up
fewer than 100 sites. Furthermore, the total size of the problem
is large. An arm of the U.S. Congress has estimated there may be
as many as 439,000 contaminated sites, plus 6 million underground
storage tanks, 15 to 25 percent of which are already leaking.
Since cleanup efforts have largely failed, the government faces
two choices: either excavate contaminated sites and store the
toxic soil in immense steel-reinforced concrete buildings (thus
creating an embarrassing monument to technical failure), or
convince the public to accept ever-increasing amounts of toxins
in their soil, air, water, homes, and bodies.
The Toxics Movement
** The grass-roots movement for environmental justice has grown
large and visible. It is a multi-cultural, multi-racial
movement. It is beginning to recognize itself as a social force,
and to think in terms of broader issues such as decent jobs for
everyone and other necessities of life such as a home, health
care, basic education, safe streets, clean air, clean water, and
safe, nutritious food.
** The movement can be viewed as part of a world-wide trend; more
democratic decision-making seems to be occurring in many
countries that used to be authoritarian and repressive.
** Many observers have noted that this movement is based on
concerns about health. Since it is unlikely that mothers are
going to give up and declare it “OK” for their children to be
made sick, this movement seems likely to endure for a long time,
until real reforms have been won.
** The movement has been joined by a new generation of health
professionals who are asking for fundamental control of
chemicals, not merely development of new ones.
** The grass-roots strategy of “stopping up the toilet” (making
disposal neither easy nor cheap) has worked, and has forced a
reduction in waste generation. For example, because citizens
opposed siting of so-called “low-level” radioactive waste dumps,
generators of such wastes have turned to other technologies and
have reduced their waste generation by 48% during the past seven
years.
** Increasingly, the movement is discussing the “precautionary
principle” and “zero discharge” of toxic, persistent,
bioaccumulative chemicals as key strategies. The precautionary
principle says that if a chemical could cause harm, even without
scientific proof that it has caused harm or does cause harm,
emissions should be eliminated and prevented. Zero discharge
means what it says.
** The movement has access to information, computers, and fax
machines that allow its member-groups to communicate in ways not
possible just 10 years ago.
** However, the movement does not have a common agenda, and many
of its member-groups are hardly aware of the existence of other
member-groups. The movement is thus fragmented; it has no
publication that everyone reads (which would provide a place to
debate strategy); it has no think tanks; no real university base;
no coherent funding base; no political party of its own; no
access to the major party that dominates elections (the
Republicrats). It has made no systematic attempt to learn from
its adversaries.
** The grass-roots movement is not represented in Washington.
Traditional environmental lobbyists lack “fire in the belly” and
they lack a down-home constituency. Furthermore, they seem to
like “politicking” but in general they fail to see that POLITICS
IS ABOUT CREATING NEW DEFINITIONS OF REALITY.
** Environmental activism is growing rapidly among children.
Something like a children’s crusade is occurring. Equity and
justice are increasingly a part of childrens’ new understanding.
Emerging Views of Justice
** It is now widely recognized and acknowledged that the hazards
of the toxic economy have not been evenly distributed. People of
color, the poor, the disadvantaged, and rural dwellers bear an
unfair burden of contamination.
** In the 1990s, a deep worldwide economic recession brought
issues of economic justice to the fore. Now it is widely known
that a mere one percent of American families own an astonishing
37 percent of all tangible assets. This top one percent owns 49
percent of all publicly-held stocks, 62 percent of all business
assets, 78 percent of all bonds and trusts, and 45 percent of all
non-residential real estate.
** If stagnation continues and economic growth is curtailed, the
pie will not grow larger and people will be permanently stuck
with the slice of pie they’ve presently got, unless the pie is
intentionally redistributed by taxation. On the other hand, if
economic growth continues using current petrochemical
technologies, increased pollution will occur and increased health
costs will be incurred.
** Without more equitable distribution of the available pie, some
people fear that we will not have domestic tranquility. After
all, many crimes are just a way (an illegal way) to redistribute
income and wealth.
Business and Industry
** Since 1987, business and industrial leaders have acknowledged
openly that the industrial system as we know it is not
sustainable, partly because resources have been depleted but even
more because there is no safe place to hide wastes. Therefore we
know that many political and industrial leaders recognize that
the system must change, and fairly quickly. Therefore, their job
is no longer to maintain the status quo, but to manage
change–quite a different job.
** Industry and government leaders have not published any plans
for making the needed changes, moving to sustainable technologies
to reduce global damage from petrochemical-dependent economies.
** Corporate leaders are now acknowledging that they need to be
accountable to more “stakeholders” besides just investors. They
are acknowledging that local communities, neighbors, and the
general public have a stake in decisions made by the private
sector.
** Increasingly, corporate leaders are being held personally
liable for the consequences of their actions. For example, the
Superfund program says polluters are “strictly and severally”
liable for old chemical dumps–meaning that they bear
responsibility even if they were not “negligent” in dumping, and
they bear the entire burden of responsibility for a dump even if
they did not create the whole thing.
** This talk of increased liability for corporate decision-makers
is leading to open discussion of reforming the legal framework
that creates “the corporation.” The concept of a “corporation”
was created to shield people from personal liability and
responsibility for their actions. But everyone knows that the
only way to get people to behave prudently is to make them feel
the consequences of their decisions.
Other Important Realities
** The Earth probably cannot support the world’s present
population in a “typical” American lifestyle. This probably
means diminished expectations not only for many people in
developing countries, but also for many Americans. Disappointed
Americans may tend to exhibit a mean streak.
** NAFTA and GATT (free trade legislation) will require
world-wide “scientific consensus” on chemical regulations before
they can be enforced. Innovative environmental regulatory
programs will be outlawed; only regulatory programs agreed upon
world-wide will be allowed within nations. Furthermore, free
trade legislation will resolve disputes by secret arbitration
sessions, to which the public is not invited. Risk assessment
will become the official standard way of deciding what is an
acceptable technology or practice.
** Many American youth don’t read well enough to comprehend
newspapers, and thus are turning to other media for information
and entertainment.
GIVEN THESE REALITIES, IF YOU WERE A POLLUTER, HOW WOULD YOU
BEHAVE? SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS, AND WE’LL ASSEMBLE THEM IN A
FUTURE NEWSLETTER.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: overviews; hazardous wastes; toxic chemicals;
hormones; wildlife; fish; petrochemical industry; llw; health;
radioactive waste; strategy; strategies; precautionary principle;
zero discharge; literacy; nafta; gatt; population; liability;
sustainability; economic growth; environmental justice; children;