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DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 447 002 SO 031 093
AUTHOR Eflin, JamesTITLE Industry in Concert with the Environment: Technological
Change and Industrial Ecology. Hands-On! Developing ActiveLearning Modules on the Human Dimensions of Global Change.
INSTITUTION Association of American Geographers, Washington, DC.SPONS AGENCY National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA.ISBN ISBN-0-89291-243-XPUB DATE 1997-00-00NOTE 151p.; Module developed for the AAG/CCG2 Project "Developing
Active Learning Modules on the Human Dimensions of GlobalChange." For related items, see SO 031 087, SO 031 089-094,and SO 031 096.
CONTRACT DUE-9354651AVAILABLE FROM Association of American Geographers, 1710 Sixteenth Street
NW, Washington, DC' 20009-3198. Tel: 202-234-1450; Fax:202-234-2744; Web site: http://www.aag.org/.
PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom Teacher (052)EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Active Learning; *Ecology; Environmental Education; Global
Approach; Higher Education; Human Geography; *Industry;*Technological Advancement; Thematic Approach; ThinkingSkills; Undergraduate Study
IDENTIFIERS *Global Change
ABSTRACTThis learning module aims to engage students in problem
solving, critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and cooperative learning. Themodule is appropriate for use in any introductory or intermediateundergraduate course that focuses on human-environment relationships. Themodule stresses the key principals, concepts, and problems in the emergingfield of industrial ecology. It focuses on three broad themes: the linkagesamong technological change, industrial change, and global environmentalchange; the utility of a systems approach to analyzing industrial activity;and the opportunities and constraints involved in making industries moreclosely resemble ecosystems in their productive and consumptive processes.Activities in the module are designed to address these themes through morespecific scenarios, such as product life cycle analyses and the examinationof local businesses. The module contains 6 figures, a guide, a summary, anoverview, a glossary, references for all units, supporting materials, andsuggested readings. It is divided into thematically coherent units, each ofwhich consists of background information, teaching suggestions, studentworksheets, and the answers expected for each activity. (BT)
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Industry in Concertwith the Environment:
Technological Change andIndustrial Ecology
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)
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An Active Learning Moduleon the
Human Dimensions of Global Change
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ofr,NDSDEVELOPING ACTIVELEARNING MODULES ON THEHUMAN DIMENSIONS OF GLOBAL CHANGE.
Industry in Concert with theEnvironment: Technological Change
and Industrial Ecology
Module developed for the AAG/CCG2 Project`Developing Active Learning Modules on the Human Dimensions of Global Change"
by
James EflinDepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Management
Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306
e-mail jefiinl@wp.bsu.edu
Significant revisions contributed by CCG2 Summer 1996 workshop participants Sarah Bednarz(Texas A&M University), Michael Coles (Clark University), Susan Cutter, (University of SouthCarolina), Lisa Graumlich (University of Arizona), Paul Laris (Clark University), Tom Lewis(Manchester Community Technical College), Susi Moser (Clark University), Shannon O'Lear(Syracuse University), Bimal Paul (Kansas State University), and Frances Slater (University ofLondon), and by Jeremy Holman (Clark University), Project Staff
Developing Active Learning Modules on the Human Dimensions of Global Change"Industry in Concert with the Environment: Technological Change and Industrial Ecology"
ISBN 0-89291-243-X
© 1997 by the Association of American Geographers1710 Sixteenth Street NWWashington, DC 20009-3198Phone: (202) 234-1450Fax: (202) 234-2744Internet: gaia@aag.org
All materials included in this module may be copied and distributed to students currently enrolledin any course in which this module is being used.
Project director, Susan Hanson, Clark University, acknowledges the support of the NationalScience Foundation (NSF) to the Association of American Geographers (AAG) (Grant No. DUE-9354651) for the development of these teaching materials. Administrative support is providedthrough the AAG's Second Commission on College Geography (CCG2) and the AAG'sEducational Affairs Director, Osa Brand, and her staff General project support is provided byClark University, Worcester, Massachusetts which also hosted a workshop to develop themodules further. The hard work of the conference participants evident in these materials is greatlyappreciated. Kay Hartnett, Clark University, gave most generous and proficient graphic designadvice. Module authors, co-authors, and other contributors are solely responsible for theopinions, findings, and conclusions stated in this module which do not necessarily reflect theviews of the NSF or AAG.
This module is printed on recycled paper. Please recycle what you don't use.
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Editor's Note
A major goal of this project 'Developing Active Learning Modules on the Human Dimensionsof Global Change," is to disseminate instructional materials that actively engage students inproblem solving, challenge them to think critically, invite students to participate in the process ifscientific inquiry, and involve them in cooperative learning. The materials are appropriate for usein any introductory and intermediate undergraduate course that focuses on human-environmentrelationships.
We have designed this module so that instructors can adapt it to a wide range of studentabilities and institutional settings. Because the module includes more student activities and moresuggested readings than most instructors will have time to cover in their courses, instructors willneed to select those readings and activities best suited to the local teaching conditions.
Many people in addition to the principle author have contributed to the development of thismodule. In addition to the project staff at Clark University, the participants in the 1996 summerworkshop helped to make these materials accessible to students and faculty in a variety ofsettings. Their important contributions are recognized on the title page. This module is the resultof a truly collaborative process, one that we hope will enable the widespread use of thesematerials in diverse undergraduate classrooms. We have already incorporated the feedback wehave received from the instructors and students who have used this module, and we intend tocontinue revising and updating the materials.
I invite you to become part of this collaborative venture by sending your comments, reactions,and suggested revisions to us at Clark. To communicate with other instructors using hands-onmodules, we invite you to join the Hands-on listserve we have established. We look forward tohearing from you and hope that you will enjoy using this module.
Susan HansonProject Director
School of GeographyClark University950 Main St.Worcester, MA 01610-1477ccg2@vax. clark-u. edu
Table of Contents
PageEditor's Note i
List of Figures v
A Guide to This Module iv
Summary 1
Module Overview 3
1
2
How Does Industry Alter the Global Environment? Understandingthe Problem Background Information 5
Setting the Stage 5
The Trends and Consequences of Technological Change 6
Technological Change and the Human Dimensions of Global Change 8
Industrial Ecology and Global Change 9
Instructor's Guide to Activities 12
Student Worksheets 18
Answers to Activities 19
A Conceptual Framework: Industrial Ecology as a SystemBackground Information 21
Entropy Isn't What it Used to Be 21
The Concept of a System 23
Industrial Systems 25The Elements of Industrial Ecology 27
Instructor's Guide to Activities 31
Student Worksheets 41
Answers to Activities 46
U'
,, 6
3Opportunities and Constraints For Industrial EcologyBackground Information 49
The Barriers to Industrial Ecology 49Product Life Cycle Assessments 51
Moving Toward Industrial Ecology On an Uneven Playing Field: TheNorth/South Cleavage 54
Instructor's Guide to Activities 57
Student Worksheets 67Answers to Activities 71
Glossary 73
References to All Units 75
Supporting Materials 83
Appendix: Suggested Readings 107
iv
List of Figures
Page
Figure 1: A Simple System Model 24
Figure 2: Open and Closed Systems of Materials Flow 25
Figure 3: (a) Linear material flows in "Type I" ecology (b) Quasi-cyclic materialsflows in "Type II" ecology (c) Cyclic materials flows in "Type DT' ecology 29
Figure 4: The Type DI Model of the Industrial Ecosystem 30
Figure 5: The Total Industrial Ecology Cycle 53
Figure 6: A Motor Vehicle Life Cycle 54
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Summary: Industry in Concert With the Environment:Technological Change and Industrial Ecology
AbstractThis module stresses the key principles,concepts, and problems in the newlyemerging field of industrial ecology. Thefocus is on three broad themes: the linkagesamong technological change, industrialchange, and global environmental change;the utility of a systems approach to analyzingindustrial activity; and the opportunities andconstraints involved in making industriesmore closely resemble ecosystems in theirproductive and consumptive processes. Theactivities are designed to address thesethemes through more specific scenarios, suchas product life cycle analyses and theexamination of local businesses.
Module ObjectivesThe module has four major objectives:
to demonstrate the linkages betweenindustrial processes and theenvironmental and human aspects ofglobal change at a variety of scales.to involve students in using a systemsapproach to understand industrialprocesses and draw analogies toecological processes.to enable students to makegeneralizations about technologicalinnovations and change.to demonstrate the opportunities,constraints, and values involved in theindustrial ecology approach to buildingindustrial systems in tune with theenvironment.
Skillsdata gathering (field work), presentation,analysis, and interpretationinterviewing
map reading and interpretationcritical reading and writingrole playingcreative writinglibrary/Intemet researchdebatingoral presentationteam collaborationissue analysis and position formation
ActivitiesActivities are designed for individuals, smallgroups, and/or the entire class:
group discussionsmap/collage presentationquantitative data gathering andinterpretationfilm review and interpretationdebatefield work (local industry and thehome)critical reading and writing
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheets (provided)Suggested readings (some provided)World mapColored markers or thumb-tacksAccess to World Wide Web (optional,but very helpful)Film Koyaanisqatsi (optional)
Human Dimensions of Global ChangeConcepts
technological changesystems, feedbacks, inputs, and outputsthermodynamics, entropyType I, II, and DI ecologiesindustrial ecologyindustrial metabolism
driving forcesimpacts
Geography Conceptsscale (local-global)core-periphery relationshipsnature-society relations
Time Requirements2-3 weeks (ie., 2 sessions per unit)
2
DifficultyIntermediate to challenging. Students learnto apply system, ecology, andthermodynamics terminology to industrialsystems at the local (firm) to global (North-South) scales through critical readings, fieldresearch, and discussions.
Module Overview
The word industry often conjures up images of dirty gray buildings with smokestacks that soilthe air and drainpipes that pollute rivers. This module takes a much broader view of industry,proposing that industrial systems are analogous to ecosystems: both consist of producers andconsumers interacting with one another in the input, output, and internalexchange of material andenergy. In industry, however, rapid technological advance has increased the speed at whichsociety converts raw material into products and accompanying waste.
This module seeks to provide students with an understanding of the key principles, concepts,and problems in the emerging field of industrial ecology. We ask students to decide forthemselves whether industry can become "greener": can it be made to replicate ecological systemsin the way ecosystems reuse all the organic material they produce?
The module explores three broad themes:
the linkages among technological change, industrialization, and global change;the utility of a systems approach to analyzing industrial activity; andthe opportunities and constraints involved in making industries more closely resembleecosystems in their productive and consumptive processes.
Unit 1 examines how technological change has enabled industry to transform nature in evermore powerful ways. As industrial production has been empowered with increasinglysophisticated technology, society's ability to effect global change has increased dramatically. Theactivities seek to develop the student's sense of connection to the global industrial complex andan appreciation of industry's ability to affect its local and global environments.
In Unit 2, students use a systems approach to analyze industrial processes; students are askedto pay particular attention to material and energy "inputs," their internal processing, and their"outputs" of products and waste. The activities engage students in systems analysis by havingthem critique their own homes, their local industrial sites, and popular case studies of their ownchoosing.
The third unit examines the problems and possibilities involved in industrial ecology study andpractice. In the activities, students grapple with the socioeconomic, technical, informational, andother constraints to making society's industrial activities sustainable. Students also identifyinstances where elements of industrial ecology are being practiced or where the potential exists todo so.
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How Does Industry Alterthe Global Environment?Understanding the ProblemBackground Information
Setting the Stage
In the popular 1984 movie The Gods Must be Crazy,' American audiences were introduced toa concept we now might call the human dimensions of global change; at that time, perhaps wewere less reflective on the global implications and simply watched the film for its humor. But in .
fact, this film illustrates the concept of technological change as a driving force,2 broadlyconceived, for environmental change.
Set in the Kalahari Desert, The Gods Must be Crazy opens with a band of Bushmen goingabout their everyday lives in their traditional encampment. One day, from high above, a Coca-Cola bottle is tossed out of the cabin window of a plane by its careless bush-pilot. The bottle fallsout of the sky and into the lives of the Bushmen The Bushmen become greatly disturbed,thinking that the bottle fell from their "gods" in the sky. Turmoil ensues among the band; theyhave never encountered an object like this before. Lacking previous experience of glass bottles,the Bushmen can only muse about the object's significance. What does it represent? How did itcome to be in their world? Is it good or is it evil? Does it have an inner power? What did thegods intend by giving it to the Bushmen? Were they being careless? Everything has a purpose,but is it possible that their gods were actually being wasteful?
Inevitably, squabbles break out among the clan over what to do with the bottle and whoshould hold it. After several disruptions to their way of life, the bottle's presence ultimately forcesthe Bushmen to reconsider their basic beliefs about power and equality in their society and toquestion their cosmological beliefs. Another society's waste quickly becomes an agent ofpermanent change in the Bushmen's way of living. At first, the Bushmen reject the new object;they try throwing it back to the gods in the sky. After this proves futile, the camp leader acceptsthe responsibility to carry it to the "end of earth," and to throw it out of their lives forever. In this
The Gods Must be Crazy was first released as a motion picture in 1984 as a C.A.T. Film, written, produced,directed, filmed, and edited by Jamie Uys. It was re-released in VHS format in 1990 by CBS/Fox Video. Length:109 minutes.
2 Words in bold face appear in the Glossary.
way, they feel that they can banish the evil that accompanied the bottle; once the bottle is gone,they believe their life will return to normal.
We can see in the Coke bottle an image of industrialized society which, as depicted in themovie, exists on the margins of the Bushmen's realm. The bottle demonstrates the contradictionsin modem society and that society's inability to recognize its influence on the rest of the world.
The bottle, of course, is a metaphor for technology; its introduction to the Bushmen's life is a
metaphor for technological change.
In this module we look at technology and technological change in terms ofhow they affectsocieties and the natural environment. Technology and its changes are, of course, createdbyhumans and affect them and the environment. This mutual relationship is important to understand
as a driving force of global societal and environmental changes and as a means of mitigating someof the impacts of these changes. The module concentrates on the crucial roles of technology,industry, and technological change in the context of global environmental change. It highlights theconceptual frameworks of industrial ecology, which serve as a guide for thinking about thelinkages between nature and society. Maybe it is safe to say that rather than the gods, "the peoplemust be crazy," if we don't think about these linkages.
The Trends and Consequences of Technological Change
Let's begin by examining technology and technological change over time. Our industrialsociety and the technology that helped create it did not fall out of the sky like the coke bottle.Technological changes evolve over long periods of time and have always had significantconsequences for humans and the environment. By technology, we refer to the means by whichpeople consciously modify the material nature of their world; technology mediates the interactionsbetween people and their environment. It is a resource like any other, except that unlikenaturalresources that exist whether humans recognize them or not, technology is intentionally created byhumans to structure the life-chances of people in society, to manipulate social and political power,and to alter the environment according to their wishes.
Over time, technological changes have lead to mechanization, industrialization, and manyassociated social changes. Lewis Mumford (1934) divided modern history into a series of threetechnological complexes, representing the rise of civilizations and economies based on mechanicaltechnologies. The first phase was characterized by the use of technical skills to harness water andwind power and by the use of wooden implements. The second phase coincided with what wenow call the Industrial Revolution and relied heavily on coal and iron resources. The third andcurrent phase is characterized by an increasing reliance on electricity and metal alloys.
According to Headrick (1990), the most important technological achievements in modemtimes have had at least two major objectives. First, each innovation has been designed to solve aparticular problem, e.g., irrigating a piece of land where water is scarce or immunizing people to
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social commentators worry that such technologies will create a cadre of "socially maladjusted"people who feel more comfortable with personal computers than interacting with each other face
to face. For some, this represents a shift from a modem to a postmodern society (Caste lls 1989;Harvey 1989; Cloke et al 1991; Soja 1989).
Technological changes also affect our relationship to the environment. Technology is the tool
by which we preserve, conserve, and exploit natural resources (Evemden 1992; Jenseth and Lotto1996; Cutter 1994). Increasingly sophisticated and powerful technology enables us to control orcondition more and more aspects of the environment; it also allows us to protect and distanceourselves from nature. Ultimately, the ways that we use technology for such purposes and its role
as a driving force for environmental change are very much influenced by our individual andcollective views of the environment.3
Technological Change and the Human Dimensions of Global Change
The first known air pollution disaster in the US occurred in 1948 in Donora, Pennsylvania
when fog, laden with sulfur dioxide vapor and suspended particles, stagnated in the MonongahelaValley for five days. Thousands of people became ill and about twenty died (Miller 1990). Thekiller fog resulted from a combination of conditions including the mountainous terrainsurrounding the valley, a stable weather pattern, and a spatial concentration ofindustries thatemitted deadly pollutants. To prevent future disasters of this kind, many industrialfacilities began
to construct taller smokestacks to force harmful emissions out of the local environment. Whilethis technological mitigation resolved a local pollution problem, it created another. Bythe 1970s,emissions from industries like coal-burning power plants were producing acid rain (deposition)that damaged forests, lakes, and buildings thousands of miles away from the source. Today, 75
percent of the acid rain that falls in Canada originates from emissions in the US. This exampleillustrates not only how one technological solution can produce another problem, but also how theenvironmental impacts of the technologies of the modem era have become regional orglobalrather than local in scale.
3 These world views (or paradigms) help explain how people relate to the biotic and abiotic worlds. Some scholars(e.&, O'Riordan 1989) place them on a continuum with the ends of the scale representing two extremes: at oneendof the scale are "ecocentric" views, which hold that humans are part of the biotic and abiotic worlds and thus haveno primacy over other species or elements that are part of planetary systems. This world view is most often held byradical environmentalists and deep ecologists. At the other end of the continuum is the "technocentric"world view,
which holds that humans hold primacy over other organisms and that nature simply provides opportunities(through its abundance of natural resources) for societies to use it and thus may manipulate elements in the bioticand abiotic world to improve human welfare and society at all cost. The ecocentric view suggests preservation ofresources over everything else, while the technocentric views tends toward exploitation of the environment.
Most people fall somewhere between these two positions. They hold a pragmatic view that combines someelements of ecocentric and technocentric views. Many of the environmental managers of today hold such amixedworld view, and believe that resources can be utilized in a sustained way to meet larger societal goals. This is the
view inherent in the concept of industrial ecology adopted in this module.
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Technological changes can have global impacts in two distinctly different ways. Some types ofglobal changes are systemic in nature. Systemic change occurs when activities in one placedirectly affect a globally functioning system (Turner et al 1990a). For example, industrialemissions of greenhouse gases like CO2, methane, or chlorofluorocarbons directly alter thechemical composition of the earth's atmosphere and may lead to changes in the global climate Asecond type of global change is cumulative. Cumulative change results from local activities thatare widely replicated in many places and together produce a change in the global environment(Turner et al 1990a). For example, many industrial processes affect local water sources. As theseindustries are replicated globally, they can have a cumulative impact on the hydrosphere and/orbiosphere.
Global environmental change results from the cumulative and systemic effects of countlessindividual and collective actions at the local level Local changes are often (but not always)immediately obvious -- they can be smelled, seen, or felt. The factors causing these changes arereasonably well understood and the means to improve local environmental conditions and toprevent further environmental degradation are relatively well known. But when there are noperceptible local effects, many individuals assume that they will have no global consequences. Asthe above discussion of systemic and cumulative global changes indicates, however, a time lag andgeographic distance between cause and effect are rather common in an age of large technologies.
Such transboundary and globally pervasive environmental problems create new challenges forpolicy makers and governments because they require international cooperation and negotiation.For example, at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 167 nations signed the FrameworkConvention on Climate Change intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the risk ofglobal warming Further, global environmental issues also involve a variety of complex issuessuch as equity and fairness, responsibility, and trust. Waste disposal (which has become a regionalor global problem as regulations, rising costs, and public opposition have forced industries andgovernment officials to search for more distant places to dispose of wastes) is just one example ofan issue involving these complexities. In some areas in the US, poorer communities often agreeto accept wastes for disposal in their community (along with the associated health andenvironmental risks) because of the increased revenues it will produce. Likewise, the poorercountries of the world have become not only suppliers of raw materials to the rest of the worldbut also the recipients of wastes produced in wealthier countries.
Industrial Ecology and Global Change
So where does focusing on the negative consequences of technological change leave us?Should we try to throw the "coke bottle" back to the Gods and reject technology as the Bushmendid? Or are we irrevocably committed to a world view that accepts technology despite theproblems it has created? Is the only solution to our problems more technology? If so, how do wealter our linear perspective" of technological development (which sees all new technology aspromising progress) and begin to take a more complex, holistic, and global perspective? Theanswers to these questions depend in part on the world view that each of us holds.
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?
Global changes are the ultimate consequence of a short-term perspective that focuses onsolving local and immediate problems without consideration of the global and long-termconsequences. In addition, the predominant paradigm in society is that technology can overcomeenvironmental problems and continue to improve the lives of human beings as long as we takemeasures to mediate technology's harmful effects. Some people argue that every technology willhave its unexpected consequences. But "technological fixes" or "tailpipe" solutions toenvironmental problems are at best temporary expedients and often they create as many newproblems as they solve (e.g., Lynn 1989).
Throughout history, human productive activity has occurred in what can be called an opensystem. People have taken natural materials, transformed them into products for use, anddiscarded worn-out products and left-over materials. This practice often forced early societies tochange locations as the build-up of wastes and the depletion of locally available resourcesrendered existing settlements uninhabitable or production processes unprofitable. This was fairlyreasonable behavior as long as uncontaminated places were easy to find. Today, however, thesituation is entirely different. It is no longer possible to avoid the wastes that we create; theirdisposal is a burden and, as we've seen, can contribute to global changes.
The current global situation suggests that our open industrial system cannot be sustainedindefinitely. We consume too many natural resources to produce the things we want or need whilegenerating too many by-products (toxic substances, emissions, solid waste etc.) that harm us andthe environment. These changes threaten to upset the global environmental conditions we haveadapted to and come to depend on, and they have the potential to threaten the survival of manyspecies on earth (including humans). For these reasons, we need to reconceptualize and redesignthe ways that industrial systems operate to place more control over the flow of materials. It ishere that industrial ecology can contribute.
The basic definition of the term "industrial ecology" connotes an industrial system thatoperates much like a natural ecosystem
In natural ecosystems, materials and energy circulate continuously in a complexweb of interactions: Microorganisms turn animal wastes into food for plants: theplants, in turn, are either eaten by animals or enter the cycle through death anddecay. While ecosystems produce some actual wastes (by-products that are notrecycled, such as fossil fuels), on the whole they are self-contained and self-sustaining. In a similar fashion, industrial ecology involves focusing less on theimpacts of each industrial activity and more on the overall impact of all suchactivities (Frosch 1995b:19).
Robert Frosch's notion of industrial ecology offers a useful metaphor for reconceptualizingindustrial systems while addressing issues of global change. Exactly how our current openindustrial systems will be transformed into closed industrial ecology systems remains, however, anunanswered question; it also remains to be accomplished.
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In next unit, we will examine industrial ecology in more detail and will develop the systemsapproach that forms the basis of the concept. In Unit 3, we will examine the opportunities andconstraints to industrial ecology and explore some of the analytical tools it provides for analysis.
1How Does Industry Alterthe Global Environment?Understanding the ProblemInstructor's Guide to Activities
GoalThe activities in Unit 1 (1) heighten the student's sense of place and sense of connection to bothlocal and global industrial activity, (2) emphasize how industrial activity brings about local andglobal environmental and social change, and (3) encourage students to interpret the changes thattechnological advancement has produced throughout the world.
Learning OutcomesAfter completing the activities associated with this unit, students should:
understand how local industries can have regional and global environmental impacts;recognize their connections to global industry by virtue of the everyday products they use;develop a sense of place within the global community; andrecognize the ways that technology has transformed the life chances of society and socialculture.
Choice of ActivitiesIt is neither necessary nor feasible in most cases to complete all activities in each unit. Selectthose that are most appropriate for your classroom setting and that cover a range of activity types,skills, genres of reading materials, writing assignments, and other activity outcomes. This unitcontains the following activities:
1.1 They Don't All Have Smokestacks1.2 Shirts, Shoes, and Watches1.3 Between Utopia and Dystopia
-- In-class discussion-- Mapping exercise-- Film review and interpretation
Suggested ReadingsThe following readings accompany the activities for this unit. Choose those readings mostappropriate for the activities you select and those most adequate for the skill level of yourstudents.
Background Information to Unit 1 (all students should read)Stem, Paul C., Oran R. Young, and Daniel Druckman 1992. Human causes of global change.In C. Stem, 0. Young, and D. Druckman, eds. Global environmental change. Washington,D.C.: National Academy Press, pp. 44-69.
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Lynn, Walter R. 1989. Engineering our way out of endless environmental crises. InTechnology and Environment. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, pp. 182-191.Ausubel, Jesse II, et al 1989. Technology and environment: An overview. In Technologyand Environment. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, pp. 1-20.
Activity 1.1 They Don't All Have Smokestacks
GoalsThis activity facilitates discussion on the linkages among technology, industry, and global change.Students consider industry in a broad sense in a brainstorming session, identify the important localindustries in the community, and discuss how the local industry might have links to global change.
Skillsidentifying linkages between local and global scalesbrainstorming
Material RequirementsFlip chart, notepad, or overhead projector to record information for use in a later activity(optional)
Time Requirements25 minutes
TasksThis is a starter activity intended to get students thinking about how industry in general isconnected to global change and, more specifically, how the businesses in your town or communityare linked to global change. Begin the activity by asking students the following questions:
1. What sorts of resources and what sorts of wastes are associated with the following industries?tourism agriculture military /defensefilm/entertainment construction (e.g., homes) fast food chains
2. Can you name some industries with strong global impacts that have the followingcharacteristics:
High carbon or other trace gas emissions;Large imports of resources from outside the region. (Be sure to note the impacts ofextraction. Are there any limitations to sustainable extraction of resources? What arethe implications for land degradation or biodiversity?); andLarge exports of waste, hazards or other impacts?
After you have considered these questions briefly, ask the class to select a local industry,preferably one that is important to the community and/or to the families of the students in the
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classroom. Important industries may the largest regional employer, a growth industry, a highlyvisible industry because of a recent event, or an industry with a good reputation. Ask students tobrainstorm for a few minutes about the potential impacts that the local industry has on theenvironment. Encourage them also to think about the industry's activities in a global context.
Does the local industry affect the global environment? Where do the various resources used inthe industry come from? Where do the wastes go?
Note: You may want to record the information from the brainstorming session on an overheadtransparency, a chalkboard, or flip chart for use in Activity 2.2.
Activity 1.2 Shirts, Shoes, and Watches
GoalsStudents examine local-to-global relationships by locating on a map where various items they ownhave been produced. This map can be further developed by adding the social and environmentalconditions associated with industries in various places (see Activity 2.5).
Skills1 map reading
group collaboration
Material Requirementsa world map (a copy for an overhead transparency is provided in Supporting Material 1.2)colored thumb-tacks or markers
Time Requirements20-25 minutes
TasksPlace a world map at the front of the classroom. (Use the map in Supporting Material 1.2 tocreate an overhead transparency or enlarge it to create a poster-sized map.) Ask students toexamine the label on the shirt of the student sitting next to them as well as the label on their ownshoes and watches to determine where the items were made. Ask each student (in a large class,select a few students) to use a color marker or thumbtack to indicate the origin of each item, onthe map. Use a different color for each product (ie., red for watches, blue for shoes, green forshirts). Since many countries will be marked more than once with the same color, the class shouldbe able to see a distribution of the origin of each item. Discuss the patterns visible on the map andask students to consider the relationship between their present location and the place where theitems were produced. Use the following questions to guide the brief discussion:
1101. What major regions of the world are not represented?
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2. Why are watches made in the Philippines or shoes in southeast Asia?3. What are the environmental, economic, and/or social consequences of global markets?4. Are you accountable for the environmental impacts resulting from the production of items in
other countries?
Alternative versionInstead of focusing on shirts, shoes, and watches, ask students to determine where the food theyeat in one day comes from Students will need to keep track of everything they eat during oneday and investigate where the products originate. Remind students that many packaged foods listonly the site of distribution on their labels -- not where the products were actually made. You canask students to prepare their own maps to bring to class (provide Supporting Material 1.2 as ahand-out) or use 15 minutes or more in class to map the locations as suggested above.
Activity 1.3 Between Utopia and Dystopia
GoalsStudents evaluate and respond to a film that graphically portrays the environmental and socialimpacts of the modern, global, industrial culture.
Skillsqualitative data interpretation
.( film interpretation
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 1.3 (provided)The film Koyaanisqatsi. Although this film is now out of print, copies can still be obtainedfrom university media collections or at local video rental stores. The complete citation isKoyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, an IRE presentation produced and directed by GodfreyReggio (Carmel, CA: Pacific Arts Video Records), 1983; 87 minutes.
Time Requirements2 class periods (100 minutes); 87 minutes for the film and additional time (10-15 minutes) fordiscussion
TasksA thought-provoking conclusion to this unit is to watch the popular underground film,Koyaanisqatsi by Godfrey Reggio. Depicting a view of modem American society from theperspective of Native American ideals, the film explores the largesse and imbalances oftechnologically driven lifestyles to reveal the chaos and disorder that come from the mechanicalworld view. Viewers will find the film to be intense with penetrating minimalist music by Philip
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Glass; only one word is uttered throughout the entire film -- a chanting of the film's title"koyaanisqatsi."
Beginning and ending with a slow motion observation of a rocket launch, Koyaanisqatsi takesviewers on a ride across the sacred landscape of the Hopi people in the American Southwest. Thestarkness and serenity of an untouched land is then shattered with image after image of industrialand urban settings. People are reduced to the scale of ants, their buildings to piles of rubble.Flows of people, cars, and products quicken and quicken with the tempo of the music reaching acrescendo when, like the line by Marx, "all that is solid melts into air."' From utopia to dystopia,the film provides a prophetic image a possible future.
At the film's conclusion, we are presented with five definitions of the Hopi word koyaanisqatsi,including:
crazy lifelife in turmoillife out of balancelife disintegratinga way of life that calls for another way of living.
The message of Koyaanisqatsi is clear: if we continue to let technology overwhelm human-environment interactions, global change will occur in a manner that is detrimental to all livingthings The sacredness of the land will be destroyed; settlements will outsize human scale; and ourlives will take place at a dizzying pace. It is clearly a crazy life that calls for another way of living.Take at least two class periods (50 minutes each) to show the film to the class. Instructstudents to pay particular attention to film's main themes and to contemplate how othergroups of people unlike themselves might respond to the film's message.
After the film is over, use the remaining time to ask the class the following questions:1. What is the meaning of the Hopi word "koyaanisqatsi"? (Five definitions are provided near
the end of the film ) Which definition do you think has the most power or meaning interms of this film9 Why?
2. What is the film's primary message? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?
4 Attributed to Karl Marx, from the Communist Manifesto; quoted in Berman (1982: 21).16
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3. Briefly speculate on responses to the preceding questions that might be given by personsfrom several cultures or social groups. Examples of these groups include the following:5
Libertarian party BuddhistsGreenpeace Republicans or DemocratsChristians United Auto Workers
4. Discuss the environmental images portrayed in the film in terms of three or more of thefollowing concepts:
embodied energy entropy (see Unit 2) technological changeenvironmentalism modernity sustainable development
5 References to various cultures, social groups, ethical positions, ideologies, or world views may be selected forcomparison, depending on other aims and goals of the class. The author of this module has found it useful to askstudents to provide interpretations from the standpoints of various writers whose materials have been read by theclass; these include Abbey (1968), Evernden (1992), Leopold (1966), McHarg (1971), and D. Smith (1993).Sometimes it is interesting to ask the students to provide an interpretation from the standpoint of their instructor,as well! It is equally useful to ask students to provide interpretations from the standpoint of the four schools of"environmentalism" (as discussed by O'Riordan 1981, 1989).
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How Does Industry Alterthe Global Environment?Understanding the ProblemStudent Worksheet 1.3
Activity 1.3 Between Utopia and Dystopia
You will watch a popular underground film, Koyaanisqatsi, which depicts a view of modernAmerican society from the vantage point of Native American ideals. The film explores thelargesse and imbalances of technologically driven lifestyles to reveal the chaos and disorder thatcome from the mechanical world view. The film is quite intense with penetrating, minimalistmusic by Philip Glass. Only one word is uttered throughout the entire film -- a chanting of thefilm's title "koyaanisqatsi."
Pay particular attention to the key themes about technology and industrialization thatpermeate the film_ Also, try to imagine how other groups of people unlike yourself might respondto those themes. After the film is over, you will discuss the film and several questions related tothe central message of Koyaanisqatsi. Use the space below to take notes while you watch.
How Does Industry Alterthe Global Environment?Understanding the ProblemAnswers to Activities
Activity 1.1 They Don't All Have Smokestacks
Because this activity is primarily an in-class discussion, there are no specific answers. See Noteson Active Pedagogy for suggestions on leading a small group discussion.
Activity 1.2 Shirts, Shoes, and Watches
The maps created in this activity will vary depending on the items that students own. In general,the maps will show a high concentration of products that originate outside the US in areas such assoutheast Asia. Use the map and the patterns that develop to explore the links amongconsumption, global markets, and global environmental change.
Activity 1.3 Between Utopia and Dystopia
There are no specific answers to this activity. Use the film to encourage debate and a lively classdiscussion.
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Industrial Ecology as aSystem: A ConceptualFrameworkBackground Information
In Unit 1, we mentioned that the predominant world view of our society today holds thattechnology can overcome environmental problems and continue to improve the lives of humanbeings as long as we take measures to mediate technology's harmful effects. There are those,however, who are less optimistic about science and technology. In this unit, we will look atperspectives that are critical of this dominant paradigm, and how they can inform a different, moreenvironmentally sound approach to industrial production and consumption. One such approach isknown as industrial ecology and is rooted in studies of both thermodynamics and systems. Beforewe examine industrial ecology in more detail, let's begin by exploring relevant concepts fromthese two areas.
"Entropy Isn't What it Used to Be"
In 1980, Jeremy Rifkin, a critic of the dominant techno-managerial world view, published acontroversial book entitled Entropy that provided a compelling conception of the interplay amongworld views, technology, and global environmental change Rifkin used the second law ofthermodynamics as the basis for a critique of modem society and its material economy. In anutshell, the second law holds that energy is degraded through its use; it becomes less and lessuseful to do work. Entropy is a measure of the state of usefulness of energy. The lower theentropy of a system, the more work that energy can do.
An easy way to understand entropy is to think of a home that is heated by a gas furnace. Thegas in the pipe leading to the furnace has low entropy (high energy content). Once burned, theentropy of the gas increases as the energy from the gas is dispersed into the home in the form ofheat. Eventually the heat dissipates into the surrounding environment as it escapes through thedoors and windows. The more the heat dissipates, the greater the increase in entropy. Once theenergy has escaped the house and entered into the surroundings, it is no longer in a useful state. Inother words, the energy has dissipated and is no longer useful for the purpose it was intended.Thus "entropy is never what is used to be" -- it increases all the time.
6Graffiti inscribed on the ceiling of a room in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
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In Rifkin's view, entropy plays a key role in explaining the environmental problems of today.By applying the second law of thermodynamics to energy and materials consumption in modemsociety, Rifkin argued that technology speeds up the use of both energy and materials. In his view,the modem industrial system is a transformer of materials and energy, increasing entropy andreducing the usefulness of materials and energy.
What concerns Rifkin and others is the sustainability of natural resource use. They seetechnology as a tool that has locked society into an non-sustainable future. A characteristic of themodem era is the use of technology and natural resources in a profligate way, one that continuesto transform the earth, speed up the use of nonrenewable energy, and accelerate material entropyin the process. Material waste and waste heat are inevitable outcomes of this process. Waste heatis produced in the process of fuel combustion and is a measure of the inefficiency of energytransformation. Solid waste, produced as by-products of material fabrication or mineralextractions, is a measure of the inefficiency of a material manufacturing system. Effluentdischarged from a factory or processing plant is a measure of the inefficiency of chemicaltransformations. Each case illustrates an industrial system that is operating within the greatercomplex of the global environmental system and that is generating a dissipative loss (ie.,irreversible loss through the simple dispersion of energy and materials). Such losses representtangible evidence of the inefficiency of production systems, as the wastes are no longer recycledor reused in the production processes. Once lost from the system through dissipative loss, thesewastes must be disposed of -- stored in a landfill or a containment pond or discharged into the air,
soil, or water (where they become diffused).
From this cursory look at the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, and dissipation we cansee one major requirement for an alternatively designed industry -- to limit every opportunitywithin the production and consumption processes for energy and materials to get lost. Thisrequirement produces several possible strategies:
to increase energy and material efficiency -- something that can actually be achieved throughtechnological innovation;to make the process of resource extraction, production, consumption, and wastedisposal/emission/pollution into a closed loop cycle; in other words reuse and recyclematerials wherever possible; andto reduce the need for new/fresh natural resources and the release of wasteful and potentiallyharmful by-products (both of which can be facilitated by the first two strategies). This isparticularly necessary for nonrenewable resources (those that are not replaced after usethrough natural regrowth) and waste repositories that are finite (either literally or in a practicaleconomic sense).
Another implication of Rifkin's work is that we should increase our reliance on renewableforms of resources. Coupled with reduced depletion of nonrenewables, this would be a way toreduce the consumption of energy and resources. It may not be possible to shift entirely from theuse of nonrenewable resources, but it makes sense to devise and implement strategies forminimizing the use of nonrenewable materials and energy sources.
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The Concept of a System
If technology is in fact, as Rifkin would have it, simply a transformer of energy and matter intowaste, then it is virtually inevitable that its use will lead to continued degradation of theenvironment. Increasingly, this journey toward degradation is global in scope, cumulative inimpact, and uncertain in effect. But while technology introduces negative forces of change in theworld, it also benefits society. It provides returns from the stock of natural resources that arenecessary (or desired) for maintaining the ways of life to which humans have become accustomed.A hallmark of the modem world view is that technologies make progress (at times synonymouswith economic growth) possible. Yet, if the ultimate outcome of "progress" is a degradedenvironment, we might ask (like the Bushmen did of their new-found Coke bottle) if technology isgood or evil More pragmatically, we might consider what role technology ought to play in aredesign of industrial systems such that we can live sustainably and within the limits of the naturalenvironment.
For centuries, humans have considered themselves somehow outside of nature, seemingly ableto live less and less by the laws of ecology and thermodynamics. The increasing scale oftechnologies and the growing human population on earth that use them make it paramount thatwe rethink human-nature relationships as integrated. What is commonly known as the systemsapproach is one useful framework to reconceive this mutual relationship.
A system can be defined as a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elementsforming a complex entity. Each element has specific properties that enable the system to function.This entity cannot continue to exist unless it has a continual input of materials to maintain itself;the entity will also have a constant output of waste materials to dispose of An entity that hasinputs and outputs and interacts with the external environment is called an open system. An entitythat has minimal interaction with the external environment is called a closed system.
Let's look at some examples of systems. A biologist might view the human body and its innerworkings as a system. The body itself is the entity; it has a well-defined boundary, generallyperceived to be the surface of the skin. The body is composed of many interacting, interdependentelements (e.g., the heart, lungs, stomach). Each element has a specific function that enables it tohelp the system function: the heart pumps blood, the lungs transfer oxygen, and the stomachdigests food. In order for the body to survive, it needs inputs such as oxygen, water, food, andother nutrients. The body also produces outputs of waste materials such as heat, carbon dioxide,feces, and so on. The body must in fact interact with its external environment in order to exist.On a larger scale (and one more relevant to the subject of industrial ecology), we frequently usethe term ecosystem to refer to the relationships and interactions between living things (plants,animals) and their environment (earth, air, water).
To summarize, a system can be defined as an entity that has the following properties:elements -- a set of objects within the entity having specific attributes and functions within thesysteminternal relationships -- a set of relationships among the elements (ie., inside the entity)
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external relationships -- a set of relationships between the system and its environmentinvolving the exchange of inputs and outputs.
Figure 1 summarizes these relationships in a simple model, and Figure 2 illustrates thedifference between closed and open systems. Keep in mind that these figures are simplificationsof reality in which we define the elements and boundaries. For example, we could also define theelements of a human body not at the level of organs (the heart, lung, and stomach) but at the levelof the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems. Our model could also have omitted someelements (e.g., the human soul which some believe is as essential as a heart). We could have evenforgotten to consider an essential venue of output such as the release of energy from the humanbody from stress. In sum, it is not as easy as it may seem to identify all the components andrelationships of a system.
Figure 1: A Simple System Model
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Figure 2: Open and Closed Systems of Materials Flow
a: An open system of materials flow.
INPUTS OUTPUTS
Ml (New Materials)
Energy
(Recycled wastes)
M3 (Unusable wastes)
M2 (Products)
b: A closed system of materials flow.
INPUTS
Energy
M4 (Recycled products)
M1 (New Materials)--0
EnergyM,
ProductsM4 Process
waste
OUTPUTS
M3 (Unusable wastes)
Energy
Source: Frosch, Robert. Environment 37 (10):20. 1995. Reprinted with permission of the HelenDwight Reed Educational Foundation. Published by Heldref Publications, 1319 18th St. NW,Washington, DC 20036-1802. ©1997.
Now let's take the system idea to a higher leveL Human society as a whole can be thought ofas a system standing in constant input/output relations with the natural environment. This societalsystem is made up of subsystems or related sets of elements that are functionally linked to eachother and to the external environment (again, the definition of system boundaries and elementsmakes all the difference). One type of a subsystem or subset of elements is an industrial system,which we will explore in more detail below.
Industrial Systems
Industrial society uses technology, both mechanical and industrial, to transform raw andmanufactured materials to create goods with utility for society. Traditional technologies werebased on handicrafts, manual labor, and extensive agriculture. The products of traditional sociallabors were constructed with tools made directly, or nearly directly, by human hands (e.g., knives,
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hoes, and plows). Industrial technologies, by contrast, include automated production, mechanicalprocesses, and mechanized agriculture. In these industries, most tools are produced by othertools, that are in turn produced and managed by other tools and so on through secondary andtertiary levels of economic activity.
It is not only the types of technologies that distinguish industrial from pre-industrial societies.Industrial systems are often equated with processes that developed under the larger framework ofmodernity (Berman 1988; Toulmin 1990), within a mechanical world view (Rifkin 1980), and inurban, centralized systems of modern western society (Dicken and Lloyd 1981). But the mostimportant indicators of industrial activity are the scale and intensity of the transformations.Agriculture that uses automated or mechanical processes, sophisticated information transfers, andintensive management practices to create high yields from the land is really industrial agriculture.Similarly, modem raw materials extraction is also characterized by intensive applications ofmechanical and automated technologies, as well as by increasingly sophisticated uses ofinformation, making it appropriate to refer to these practices as industrial mining, industrialforestry, or industrial fisheries. By extension, it may be appropriate to regard some tertiaryactivities as industrial services, since they are similarly involved in the intensive transformation ofmaterials.
Now that we understand what makes systems industrial, what is it that makes them systems?Based on the definition of a system from the last section, industrial systems:
are entities comprised of elements (plants or sites where goods are produced or wheresupporting functions occur),are linked together through internal relationships (transfers of goods and flows ofinformation), andinteract with the broader social and physical environments through external relationships.
Think of the extraction and processing of raw materials such as oil and metal ores (input), andthe emission of wastes (output) such as CFC's or landfill-bound trash. Individual industries canbe seen as only one element (related to other elements) in a much larger system. Much ofclassical economic geography and industrial location theory emphasized the internal relationshipsof industrial systems. These schools neglected to focus on the relations of industries with thebroader physical environment except to see it as a source of raw materials (inputs) or a sink forresiduals (outputs) in a standard input-output analysis.
When we consider the human dimensions of global change, i.e., which human activities driveand mitigate major global changes, our focus must shift from the exclusive concentration oninternal relationships to the external relationships between industrial systems and the naturalenvironment Thinking about technology as a transformer of the environment, as Jeremy Rifkindid, enables us to make choices that might reduce the effects of the inevitable entropy withinsystems. The pace or speed of material throughputs and energy flows within an industrial systemcan be thought of as the metabolism of industry. From this organic analogy, we can make anatural extension -- industrial systems are like natural ecosystems in that they are made up of setsof producers and consumers (elements) that interact with one another (internal relationships) and
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A Type I ecology is characterized by a linear flow of material throughputs and corresponds tothe earth's very early life forms that were largely unconstrained by resource limitations.Essentially, food comes in and wastes goes out, with a seemingly unlimited supply of both.Picture the massive world ocean providing H2O for the ancient microscopic protozoan andbacteria and the atmosphere serving as a sink for their CO2 waste. There was not much internalrecycling of waste occurring, but there didn't have to be. As Graedel puts it, "at that time, thepotentially usable resources were so large and the amount of life so small, that the existence of lifeforms had essentially no impact on available resources" (Graedel 1994: 24). This parallels whatwe could call "hyper-waste" in human systems in which a "frontier mentality" prevails. Thismentality, common during the westward expansion of the United States, lead to viewingresources as unlimited, production and consumption as goals, and prolifigate waste generation asa necessary (and unproblematic) consequence of human activity. From our privileged present-dayvantage point, the frontier mentality appears counter to the principle of sustainability. After theAmerican Civil War, however, this perspective more closely represented "manifest destiny" andwas used (in part) as a justification for resource exploitation (Petulla 1977).
A Type II ecology is characterized by quasi-cyclic flows of material throughputs that moreclosely resemble those of existing ecosystems. In this model, energy and limited material inputsare repeatedly cycled within the ecosystem by its members, with only limited amounts of wastesbeing generated as unusable by-products. In some cases, modem industrial systems havedeveloped such characteristics because dissipative losses of materials represent tangible monetarylosses. Within industrial systems, however, the degree of evolution toward a Type II ecologyvaries considerably by industry and place. In any event, the production of waste leads to entropywithin the system and ultimately means that such a practice is not sustainable.
Graedel presents a Type DI ecology as one that closely approximates natural ecosystems. Itis characterized by flows of materials that are continuously recycled among the members of theecological community or system. In its ideal state, the only exchanges with its externalenvironment are energy (primarily solar) as inputs to the natural ecosystem. Type DI ecologiescan be said to have achieved sustainable relationships with their surrounding environments. Figure3 below illustrates these three types of ecologies.
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Figure 3: (a) Linear material flows in "Type I" ecology. (b) Quasi-cyclic materialsflows in "Type II" ecology. (c) Cyclic materials flows in "Type Ill" ecology
(a)
(b)
(c)
energy andlimited
resources
energy
unlimitedresources
, .,_
ecosystem 'il"
unfirritede114% component ,L-
ecosystemcomponent
-.111
i1
\ ecosystem ecosystem ', component component ,1. ,
,
ecosystemcomponent
ecosystemcomponent
Iecosystem 'component
limitedwaste
Source: Graedel, T. 1994. In Socolow, Andrews, Berkhout, and Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology andglobal change. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, p. 25. @1994 reproduced with thepermission of Cambridge University Press.
Graedel observes that the process of entropy has begun to appear within industrial systems in
the form of large-scale, cumulative global changes. "Accordingly," he suggests,
industrial systems (and other anthropogenic systems) are and will increasinglybe under selective pressure to evolve so as to move from linear (Type I) toEquasi]cyclic (Type II) or cyclic (Type DI) modes of operation. For the pastdecade or two, industrial organizations have largely been in the position ofresponding to legislation imposed as a consequence of real or perceivedenvironmental crises. Such a mode of operation is essentially unplanned,
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imposes significant economic costs, and may solve one problem only byexacerbating others. In contrast, industrial ecology is intended to facilitate theevolution of manufacturing . . . by explaining the interplay of processes andflows and by optimizing the ensemble of considerations that are involved. Acentral goal of industrial ecology, in combination with appropriate activities inother development sectors, is to achieve sustainable development (Graedel1994: 26).
Industrial ecology, in his view, is more than a description of linkages among elements within asystem. Rather, it is a prescription for the evolution of industrial systems to achieve an idealizedstate for long-term sustainability. Its ultimate goal is to transform industry and technology intosomething that is environmentally benign, industry that "closes the loop" between the system'soperations (its internal metabolism) and its external environment. Essentially, industrial ecologymeans evolving from a "take-and-dump" open system to a mostly closed system of flows. Figure4 illustrates the optimal industrial ecological system.
Figure 4: The Type Ill Model of the Industrial Ecosystem
limitedresources
r
materials materialsextractor -4-0- processor oror grower manufacturer .1
wasteprocessor consumer
limitedwaste
Source: Graedel, T. 1994. In Socolow, Andrews, Berkhout, and Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology andglobal change. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, p. 27. ©1994 reproduced with thepermission of Cambridge University Press.
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[2.1
Industrial Ecology as aSystem: A ConceptualFrameworkInstructor's Guide to Activities
GoalStudents learn to examine local and regional industrial processes using analytical tools fromsystems theory and thermodynamics. Students also begin to understand the flexibility of theconcept of industrial ecology and explore their own definitions of it.
Learning OutcomesAfter completing the activities associated with this unit, students should:
be able to use systems theory and the thermodynamic concept of entropy as analytical toolsfor examining local and regional industrial processes;recognize the difficulties involved in using systems theory when boundaries are not clearlydefined;have formulated their own definition of and goals for industrial ecology;be able to deconstruct claims about the ecological merit of products or industries according totheir own positions on the principles of industrial ecology; andbecome aware of the difficulties involved in implementing industrial ecology on a scale assmall as their own home.
Choice of ActivitiesIt is neither necessary nor feasible in most cases to complete all activities in each unit. Selectthose that are most appropriate for your classroom setting and that cover a range of activity types,skills, genres of reading materials, writing assignments, and other activity outcomes. This unitcontains the following activities:
2.1 Defining Industrial Ecology2.2 Critiquing Success Stories
2.3 Entropy of Your Home
2.4 Putting Local Industry in a Global Context
2.5 You Are What You Buy
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-- Critical reading and interpretationLibrary/Internet research and researchpaper
-- Daily log of personal habits, analysis ofpersonal waste, and short essay
-- Qualitative and quantitative research of afirm, analysis, and production of flowchart
-- Exploration ofproduct origins and impact,map making, and essay writing
2.6 It's Not Easy Being Green -- Critique of "green" advertising, creativewriting, creation of a collage
Suggested ReadingsThe following readings accompany the activities for this unit. Choose those readings mostappropriate for the activities you select and those most adequate for the skill level of yourstudents.
Background Information to Unit 2 (all students should read)Frosch, Robert A. 1995. Industrial ecology: Adapting technology for a sustainable world.Environment 37 (10): 16-24, 34-37.Richards, Deanna J., Braden R. Allenby, and Robert Frosch. 1994. The greening of industrialecosystems: Overview and perspectives. In B. Allenby and D. Richards, eds. The greening ofindustrial ecosystems. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, pp. 1-19.
Activity 2.1 Defining Industrial Ecology
GoalsBecause industrial ecology is a developing field, it is still defined in many ways. In this activity,students analyze existing interpretations of the concept and develop their own definitions of thecharacter and goals of industrial ecology.
Skillscritical reading and interpretation
Material RequirementsSupporting Material 2.1 (provided; make sufficient copies for class)
Time Requirements20-25 minutes of class time
Tasks.Before class, ask students to read the various definitions of industrial ecology from some principalauthors in the field (provided in Supporting Material 2.1; photocopy and distribute as needed). Inclass, ask students to come up with their own definitions. Begin by asking for key elements andconcepts of industrial ecology. Write these on the blackboard or on an overhead transparency.Use the students' definitions and the information below to lead a brief class discussion about theconcept of industrial ecology.
For Graedel (1995), industrial ecology is a technical matter for designers; he specifies sevenaspects of design that must be considered:
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choosing the right raw materials and avoiding (where possible) nonrenewable materialsand those in short supply;minimizing emissions to the air of CFCs, halons, CH4, N20, NOR, or volatile organiccompounds (VOC) by specifying more carefully the industrial processes used or by moreconsciously sequestering them prior to emission;minimizing liquid wastes or specifying those that are more easily recycled;minimizing solid wastes by working closely with suppliers, recyclers, and marketers;designing for energy efficiency through process design, reuse of energy used inmanufacturing, and minimizing energy consumed by products once they are in circulation;designing for recycling during manufacturing, including minimizing the throughputs ofpackaging waste from components entering the industrial site; andrecycling after use by returning used products to the manufacturer for reconditioning,disassembly, or other incorporation within the industrial cycle.
Frosch would agree -- in part -- that technical design considerations are necessary for industrialecology to succeed. He stresses, however, that "the answer will not depend entirely on inventingbreakthrough technologies. Rather, it may hinge on coordinating what are fairly conventionalmethods in more prudent ways and in developing legal and market structures that will allowsuitable innovation." While such practices "will involve complex considerations of product andprocess design," equally important will be innovations in ways of thinking about "economics andoptimization, as well as regulation and handling of hazardous materials" (Frosch, 1995a: 178).Socolow (1994) presents "six perspectives" on environmental management from within industrialecology that resonate with the terminology for human dimensions of global change. Theseperspectives are:
long-term temporal scale -- replacing the "short-term insult" of conventional industrialprocesses with those that provide for long-term habitability ofenvironments;8global scope -- expanding our view of the boundedness of systems, moving from a focuson local impacts to a conscious effort to "think globally" (which includes overcoming the"not in my back yard" or NIMBY sentiment);sensitivity of natural systems -- identifying components of natural ecosystems that areparticularly sensitive to fast-paced impacts of industrial activity;vulnerability -- identifying the sensitivity of human systems to the impacts of industrialactivity, including: emissions, incidence of disease, bioavailability, exposure, and dose, lossof ecosystem function, and resilience or resistance;mass-flow analysis -- unifying the analysis of materials through an integrative approachthat considers sources, transport media, and receptors, particularly those that areindestructible or persistent over a long term;
8 Socolow is speaking here of the persistence of toxic chemicals, long-term depletion and physicaldegradation that results from human habitation and use of environments, and human-induced events that lead toextinction of species or to biological simplification (Socolow 1994: 5-7).
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centrality of the industrial firm and the industrial farm -- seeing industry as a centraldecision maker in environmental affairs, demonstrating "that environmental objectives areno longer alien, to be resisted and then accommodated reluctantly [but] part of the fabricof production, like worker safety and consumer satisfaction" (Graedel, 1994: 12-13).
Represented in this way, we see industrial ecology firmly planted within a study of the humandimensions of global change. Implicit is a "goal" for industrial ecology:
"the evolution of the world's industrial activity into a sustainable and environmentallybenign system [that] requires a long-range view and a deep analysis of the environmentalimplications of today's industrial systems, and a creative approach to the design ofservices, products, and governmental policy" (Socolow, et al., 1994: frontispiece).
Activity 2.2 Critiquing Success Stories
GoalsStudents use their own principles of industrial ecology to investigate whether local industries liveup to them.
Skillshypothesis formulationlibrary/Internet researchwriting a research paper
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 2.2 (provided)Supporting Material 2.2a and 2.2b (provided)Video on McDonald's and EDF collaboration9 or similar video° (optional)
Time Requirements20 minutes in class for film; 4 to 5 weeks outside of class for research project.
9 Video is available from the National Pollution Prevention Center at the University of Michigan, 430 E.University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115. Phone: 313-764-1412, Fax: 313-936-2195, E-mail: nppc@umich.edu.A copy of the order form is provided in Supporting Materials 2.2b. Video running time is 18 minutes.
10 A six-part video series called The Road to Sustainable Development is available from The Gauntlett Group, Inc.:Industry Advisors for Sustainable Development, 5900 Hollis Street, Suite G, Emeryville, CA 94608. Tel: 510-658 -9013 or 1-800-247-7930; Fax: 510-658-3834. The video outlines an "Environmental Quality System" for"identifying and eliminating wasteful practices throughout operations; streamlining work processes to shortenproduct delivery cycles; and reducing environmental impact from every stage of production and distribution."
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TasksIntroduce this activity by showing the suggested video on the collaboration between McDonald'sand EDF to reduce solid waste. After the film, discuss with students whether McDonald's hasreally moved toward industrial ecology in any significant way.
In the remainder of the activity, students conduct extended research on the developments madewithin one of the four industries presented in the case studies in Supporting Material 2.2a. Allowstudents to select the industry of their choice, but try to ensure that students are spread evenlyamong the four cases. Encourage students to use a variety of research tools including the library,the Internet, interviews, phone calls, and other sources of information. Some sources ofinformation are provided in each case study.
In an eight to ten page research paper, students summarize their findings and provide an analysisof their chosen industry's steps toward industrial ecology (based on the principles they defined;see Activity 2.1).
Activity 2.3 The Entropy of Your Home
GoalsStudents develop an understanding of entropy by recording the flow of energy and materials
110 through their home over a one-week period. Students gain hands-on experience in gathering andprocessing quantitative and qualitative data and become aware of problems involved in reducingentropy on a personal level.
Skillsquantitative and qualitative data analysis, interpretation, and presentationcritical examination of personal lifestyle habits
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 2.3 (provided)Supporting Material 2.3 (optional; provided)Students' own recent gas, electricity, and water bills (optional)
Time Requirements15 minutes to introduce activity in class; one week outside of class for data collection and anadditional 3 to 4 days for students to analyze their data and prepare their reports. An additionalclass period may be required for optional in-class presentation of results.
TasksAsk each student to record the flow of materials through his or her household, dorm living area,or apartment for a one-week period. By imagining their home as a system, students note theinputs and out-flows, the internal reuse, and the disposal of the materials and energy within it.
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Depending on the depth at which you wish to pursue this activity, you may choose to havestudents simply record the materials and energy they use, recycle, and waste, or you may havethem go a step further by quantifying these variables (ie., weighing material inputs such as food,purchases, and packaging or measuring water, gas, or electric usage via recent utility bills or byreading meters). By identifying and recording the flow of energy through the home, students cansee how entropy is increased by the use and transformation of energy and materials.
After collecting this information for a one-week period, students evaluate the sustainability of thehome system by answering the questions on the student worksheet and preparing a table that liststhe inputs, internal reuse, disposal, and final state of their material and energy flows. A blanktable has been provided in Supporting Materials 2.3. Based on your time constraints and on theskill level of your students, you may provide the blank table as a hand-out or ask each student tocreate his or her own using a standard spreadsheet or word-processing software program.
Students will summarize their findings in a two to three page report that includes their table andtheir responses to the questions on the Student Worksheet. In addition to (or instead of) thewritten report, you might ask each student to prepare a poster-sized flowchart that illustrates theflow of materials and energy into and out of the home. If desired, allow one class period forstudents to present their findings and/or posters to the class.
This activity could be expanded by asking students to include a discussion of the geographicorigin of the inputs they identified (ie., electric power, water, vegetables, and clothing).
Activity 2.4 Putting Local Industry in A Global Context
GoalsStudents put the analytical tools implied in systems theory and the second law of thermodynamicsto use by researching local industrial processes. Students gain a more thorough understanding ofhow local industries contribute to global environmental change.
Skillsresearch using the analytical framework provided in the Background Information to Unit 2team collaborationflow chart constructiongroup discussion
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 2.4 (provided)The original notes on the local industry discussed in Activity 1.1 may be helpful if the classdecides to continue with the same company.
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Time Requirements15-20 minutes to introduce the activity; two to three weeks of research outside of class; one classperiod (50 minutes) to develop a flow chart with the class and discuss the results.
TasksDivide the class into small groups and ask each group to investigate an industrial firm to answerthe questions about it below. If you live in a small community with few industrial firms, ask eachgroup to focus on the same firm. If there are several large industrial firms in your area, ask eachgroup to focus on a different one.
Questions to consider:1. What are the major products of the industrial firm?2. What are the major inputs in terms of sources of materials and energy?3. Where do the major materials and energy come from? Are there any impacts at the source of
extraction?4. How long are the sources of materials and energy likely to be economically feasible to use?5. What are the major outputs in terms of the disposition of products and byproducts?6. Where do the products and byproducts go and what are the impacts of the outputs at the sites
of disposition?7. How long will the products and by-products last?
Encourage students to use a variety of means to answer these questions, including library andInternet research, interviews with firm representatives, company brochures and other publications,and site visits. Allow at least two to three weeks for students to conduct their research. Eachgroup should prepare a three to four page report (to be handed in) that addresses the questions.The report should also include a list of sources and references.
On the assigned day, hold a wrap-up session for the activity. Use the information students havegathered to draw a simple systems flow chart on an overhead transparency or on the blackboard.If each group looked at the same industrial firm, use input from each group to create a singleflowchart. If the groups looked at several different industrial firms, you will need to createseveral flowcharts. Discuss all of the inputs and out-flows connecting the business with sourcesand sinks for materials and energy.
Use the following questions to initiate a class discussion and to close the activity:What links with global change can you identify upon viewing our flowchart?How sustainable is this system? What do you mean by sustainable?How can some of the wastes be reduced? Can the industry make use of any recycled productsas inputs?
Note: This activity may be combined with Activity 2.5.
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Activity 2.5 You Are What You Buy
GoalsStudents learn about the scale and variability of the social and environmental impacts .associatedwith the mass production, use, and disposal of a specific product. This activity is designed toexpand the level of the analysis done in Activity 2.2 to the regional scale with a focus on aparticular product.
Skillsmapping and map interpretationlibrary/Internet researchteam collaborationposter or flowchart construction (optional)discerning the variability inherent in regional/global impactsessay writing
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 2.5 (provided)Maps at the scale of the selected industries (ie., regional, national, and/or global maps)
Time Requirements2-3 weeks outside of class
TasksDivide the class into groups of two to three students and ask each group to choose a product thatis sold on at least a regional scale. Each group investigates the type and location of the social andenvironmental impacts resulting from the product's production, use, and disposal Studentsshould attempt to answer the following questions:
1. What types of natural resources are used to produce this product? Where do they comefrom?
2. What adverse environmental impacts does this product create based on its constituentmaterials, processing, use and disposal? Where do they occur? Are they of the samemagnitude and quality in all those places?
3. What adverse social impacts are involved in the product's constituent materials,processing, use and disposal? Where might these occur? Are they of the same magnitudeand quality in all those places?
4. Where did the industry as a whole begin? Where is it centered now?5. What forces have caused the industry to operate the way it has in terms of its spatial
expansion or movement (if any), its targeting of consumer market(s), its method ofproduction?
Using this information, students prepare a four to five page report that includes the answers tothese questions and summarizes their findings. In addition, depending on the skill level of the
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class, each group should include a map of the product's origin and impacts. Students can usedifferent colors or symbols to indicate the origins of the product's constituent materials, thedisposal sites, and areas of environmental and social impacts. Introductory classes with little priorexperience with maps may need additional assistance; you may need to provide students withblank maps and/or excerpts from an introductory geography or cartography text book to illustratevarious types of maps. In more advanced classes, students may be able to use computer-basedsoftware programs to create their maps.
In addition to the written report, students can also create a poster that includes maps, text,diagrams, and other information from their research. If you choose to use the poster format,allow one class period for students to display and present their work to the class.
Note: This activity may be combined with Activity 2.4.
Alternative ActivityUse the map developed in Activity 1.2 that depicts the areas where shirts, shoes, and watches
are produced around the world. Rather than allow groups ofstudents to choose their ownproducts, break the class into three larger groups, each of which will research the environmentaland social impacts of watch, shirt, or shoe production. Within each group, individual studentscould take on the task of researching the product in one particular country that produces theproduct.
Activity 2.6 It's Not Easy Being Green
GoalsStudents use their knowledge of industrial ecology to critique the claims made by producers of"green" or "environmentally friendly" products.
Skillscritical analysis of text, advertising, and product labelsapplication of recently learned conceptscreative writing to a target audiencecollage production and artistic creativity
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 2.6 (provided)Magazines, newspapers, catalogues
Time Requirements7-10 days outside of class; one class period (50 minutes) for presentation of reports and collages.
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TasksStudents have been hired by a watch-dog environmental group to investigate the claims made bythe producers of "environmentally friendly" or "green" products. Their task is to scrutinize theseproducts and their advertisements based on what they've learned from systems theory andthermodynamics and to prepare a two to three page, double-spaced essay summarizing theirfindings to be published in the group's monthly newsletter. Students should consider whether theproducts' claims have any substance (according to what they identify as important factors inmeasuring the ecological merit of a product). Students may need to purchase and use the product,do additional library research on it or a similar product, or even request a catalog or otherliterature from the producer. Using these sources, students should be able to critically evaluatethe advertising claims and assess their validity. For example, some "green" paper napkins nowcontain recycled materials. Students considering such a product should investigate how muchrecycled materials the product contains, whether the recycled material is pre- or post-consumer,and whether the final product requires bleaching or other inputs that affect its "environmentallyfriendly" image In addition to the report, students also produce a collage of the advertisementsand product labels they've examined to be published with the essay.
Encourage students to find as many examples of advertising and packaging labels as they can forthe product they chose that make environmentally friendly claims. Students can use magazines,newspapers, catalogues, photographs, or other visual media for this exercise. Allow one classperiod for students to present their essays and collages.
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Industrial Ecology as aSystem: A ConceptualFrameworkStudent Worksheet 2.1
Activity 2.1 The Entropy of Your Home
Think of the activities you undertake at home (your house, apartment, or dormitory). If youimagine your home as a system that serves to fulfill your needs and wants, what are the energyand material inputs and outputs of your home ; how have the inputs been transformed by the timethey leave? What outputs still have a use? How does seasonality affect the flows through yourhome? Is there any recycling or reuse of materials before they flow out of your home? How doyou dispose of the materials that leave your home?
By answering these questions, you will begin to understand the notion of entropy and the conceptof a system. Keep track of all of the materials and energy that enter and leave your home for aweek. For inputs, record your water use, gas use, electrical use, and all of your purchases (ie.,food, clothes, household products). You may need access to your utility meters or recent utilitybills. If you live in a dormitory, you will need to devise other ways of measuring or estimatingthese variables. For outputs, consider your solid wastes, recyclables, waste water, and thetemperature of your living space. Your instructor will provide you with additional information onjust how precisely you need to measure these materials.
Keep track of your data in a table including input, use, reuse/recycle, output, method of disposal,and the physical state of the material in disposal Indicate whether the entropy of the energy thatenters your home has increased, decreased, or been unaffected by the time it leaves your home.Prepare a two- to three-page summary of your findings and include your answers to the questionslisted below.
1. What are the environmental implications of your outputs? Where do they go for finaldisposal?
2. Do you have a sustainable supply of inputs?3. How can you reduce your dependence on unsustainable inputs and wasteful outputs? What
constraints do you face in reducing your use of unsustainable inputs and your production ofwasteful outputs? What actions have you taken (or will you take)?
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Student Worksheet 2.2
'Activity 2.2 Critiquing Success Stories
Some industries have taken steps to "green" their production processes. You may questionwhether or not their steps are truly meeting the principles of industrial ecology. In this activity,you will choose one industry from a set of four case studies provided by your instructor andinvestigate the steps it has taken toward becoming greener. Each case study includes a list ofresources that should help you get started on your research project. You should use theseresources as well as the library, the Internet, industry publications and reports, interviews withindustry representatives, and/or site visits to research the case study further. Your assessment ofthe industry's progress toward industrial ecology will depend on what you argue to be thedefinition, the direction, and the goals of industrial ecology.
Based on your research, write an eight- to ten-page, doubled-spaced research paper thatcritically analyzes the production and distribution cycle of the industry. You should identify whatcriteria you used to assess the industry's progress and support your conclusions with sufficientevidence from a variety of sources. Be sure to include a complete list of references.
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Student Worksheet 2.4
Activity 2.4 Putting Local Industry Into a Global ContextI
In this activity you will do some basic research on a local industrial firm that your instructorsuggests. You will work with two or three of your classmates and together you will answer thefollowing questions:
1. What are the major products of the industrial firm?2. What are the major inputs in terms of sources of materials and energy?3. Where do the major materials and energy come from. Are there any impacts at the
source of extraction?4. How long are the sources of materials and energy likely to be economically feasible to use?5. What are the major outputs in terms of disposition of products and byproducts?6. Where do the products and byproducts go and what are the impacts of the outputs at the
sites of disposition?7. How long will the products and byproducts last?
You will have at least two weeks to complete your research. You should use as many types ofsources as possible to answer these questions including the library, the Internet, interviews withfirm representatives, company brochures and other publications, and even tours or site visits.With your group, prepare a three to four page report (to be handed in) that responds to each ofthe above questions and that includes a complete list of sources and references.
On the assigned day, your instructor will draw a simple systems flowchart on an overhead orblackboard based on the information in your reports and your group's input. The flowchart willinclude all of the inputs and outputs of the industrial firm and the sources and sinks of materialsand energy. You will also discuss the sustainability of the firm, and the ways in which its wastescan be reduced, re-used as inputs, or recycled.
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Student Worksheet 2.5
Activity 2.5 You Are What You Buy
Every product you purchase is derived from some type of natural resource and the use ofthese resources has impacts in locations that are often remote from where you live. With a groupof two or three other students, select a product that you use often and that is distributed on atleast a regional scale. Find out as much as you can about the product and the industry thatproduces it. The most useful sources of information (although quite biased) will be the brochuresand annual reports that the industry produces and distributes. You can obtain these publicationsby calling or writing the consumer information departments of particular companies in theindustry. Other typical sources will include newspaper, magazine, and journal articles. Lastly,many companies have their own Web pages on the Internet.
As you research your product and industry, try to answer, the following questions:What types of natural resources are used to produce this product? Where do they come from?What adverse environmental impacts does this product create in its consumption ofconstituent materials, its processing, use and disposal? Where do they occur? Are they of thesame magnitude and quality in all those places?What adverse social impacts are involved in the product's consumption of constituentmaterials, processing, use and disposal? Where might these occur? Are they of the samemagnitude and quality in all those places?Where did the industry as a whole begin? Where is it centered now?What forces have caused the industry to operate the way it has in terms of its spatialexpansion or movement (if any), its targeting of consumer market(s), its method ofproduction?
Be careful not to choose a product whose material components are too complex to traceadequately in the limited time you have -- products like computers or automobiles. Such a projectwould take much more time and resources than you have.
As a group, write a four to five page report that answers the above questions. Include with yourreport a map depicting the source and use regions of your particular product. Use differentcolors, symbols, or arrows to identify the sources of inputs, the destinations of wastes, andlocations of significant social and environmental impacts.
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Student Worksheet 2.6
Activity 2.6 It's Not Easy Being Green
As consumers, we are often faced with a wide range of products. There are dozens of differenttypes of breakfast cereal in the local supermarket. Aside from your own individual preferences,how do you select Cheerios over Rice Krispies or Fruit Loops? Environmentally consciousconsumers often make choices based on the level of environmental sensitivity of the product. Inother words, we look for "environmentally friendly" products -- those that reduce excesspackaging, use natural fibers over synthetic ones, and/or contain recycled materials. The"greening" of consumer products has now become quite a cottage industry.
You have been hired by a watch-dog environmental group to investigate the claims made by theproducers of an "environmentally friendly" or "green" product. Your task is to scrutinize theadvertisements and the product labels for this product and to consider whether the claims theymake have any substance. Find examples of environmentally friendly claims on advertising andpackaging labels for this product. You can use magazines, newspapers, catalogues, photographs,or other visual media for this exercise. You may need to purchase and use the product, doadditional library research on it or a similar product, or even request a catalog or other literaturefrom the producer to help you assess the validity of the claims. In addition, use what you'velearned from systems theory and thermodynamics to help you identify important factors inmeasuring the ecological merit of a product.
The environmental group has asked that you prepare a two- to three-page, double-spaced essaysummarizing your findings to be published in the group's monthly newsletter. They have alsoasked that you produce a collage of the advertisements and product labels to be published withthe essay.
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Industrial Ecology as aSystem: A ConceptualFrameworkAnswers to Activities
Activity 2.1 Defining Industrial Ecology
This activity is primarily a way of initiating a class discussion; therefore, no specific answers areprovided.
Activity 2.2 Critiquing Success Stories
The research papers for this activity will vary based upon the case study chosen and the researchconducted by each student. Use the following list of criteria as a guide for evaluating theirreports:
Did the student define the principles of industrial ecology that he/she used to critique theindustry and did he/she cite the authors who influenced these principles?Did the student clearly, methodically, and fairly apply these principles to the study?Did the student use the case study and the suggested sources of information provided by theinstructor?Did the student use a variety of research tools (e.g., library and Internet research, interviews,site visits, etc.)?Is the paper well written and concise?Does the paper reflect a considerable amount of research, synthesized knowledge, and timecommitment?
See Notes on Active Pedagogy for additional suggestions on evaluating students' work.
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Activity 2.3 The Entropy of Your Home
Answers to this activity will vary depending upon students' access to relevant data and the levelof detail you ask students to include in their diary of the material and energy flow through theirhomes. Students should be able to provide quantitative estimates or measurements of most of theinputs and some of the outputs of their home "system." For example, electricity, water, and gasinputs can be estimated from a recent utility bill or by monitoring existing meters. Students wholive in dormitories may have to contact the physical facilities of the university or devise anotherway of measuring these variables. Inputs such as food products, packaging, and other purchasescan be quantified in terms of weight or volume. Outputs may be a bit more difficult for studentsto quantify. For example, students will not be able to quantify the outflows from electric or gasinputs, but should be able to indicate the use of these materials and their final disposition.Students can weigh or record the volume of solid wastes and recyclable materials. Waste waterwill most likely have to be estimated based upon the amount recorded as inputs.
Students should prepare a clear and concise table that provides a comprehensive list of the typesand quantities of all inputs and outputs (even those that are difficult to measure), reused andrecycled materials, and waste materials. Students should also provide a concise two to three pagereport that summarizes their one-week investigation and considers (1) the environmentalimplications of their outputs (2) the sustainability of their supply of inputs, and (3) ways to reducetheir dependency on unsustainable inputs and wasteful outputs and bathers that may prevent themfrom doing so. See Notes on Active Pedagogy for additional suggestions on evaluating students'written work.
Activity 2.4 Putting Local Industry in A Global Context
Student reports will vary based upon the industry chosen for analysis. Use the following generalcriteria as a guide for evaluating the reports.
Did the group address all of the questions on the student worksheet?Did the group consult a wide range of information sources and did they provide a detailed listof references?Is the report well written and concise?
You can also include in the evaluation each group's contribution to the class discussion and thecreation of the collective flow chart of the industry. See Notes on Active Pedagogy for additionalsuggestions on evaluating students work
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Activity 2.5 You Are What You Buy
Student reports will vary depending upon the product chosen for investigation.Use the following criteria as a guide for evaluating the reports:
Did students choose a product distributed on a regional or larger scale?Does the paper address the five questions on the student worksheet?Did the group produce effective maps to illustrate the sources of inputs, the destinations ofwastes, and locations of significant social and environmental impacts?Is the paper well referenced and did the group make use of a variety of information sources?
See Notes on Active Pedagogy for additional suggestions on evaluating students' written work.
Activity 2.6 It's Not Easy Being Green
Students' essays will vary depending upon the product and the advertisements they choose.Students should be given the freedom to be creative in their collages, which may consist ofmagazine and newspaper clippings, product labels or wrappers, photographs, and/or othermaterials. Their essays should be written in a style that targets the audience of the environmentalgroup's newsletter.
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[..3.1 Constraints andOpportunities for IndustrialEcologyBackground Information
The evolution of the world's industrial activity into a sustainable andenvironmentally benign system requires a long-range view and a deep analysis ofthe environmental implications of today's industrial systems, and a creativeapproach to the design of services, products, and government policy (Socolow etal. 1994: frontispiece).
Near the end of Unit 2, we stated that the goal of industrial ecology is the transformation ofexisting wasteful industrial systems into efficient ecological industrial systems. But where doesone begin this process? In this unit, we look at the constraints and opportunities for industrialecology from a theoretical perspective and in the real-world context of individual industries andfirms. Let's begin with a general look at what stands in the way of industrial ecology before weexplore how the barriers actually play out.
Barriers to Industrial Ecology
The first use of the term "industrial ecology" is recent" and was popularized by RobertFrosch (1994, 1995a, 1995b) in his articles in Environment and Scientific American. Accordingto Frosch, there is a great deal of interest in industrial ecology and numerous efforts to achieve ithave begun, but important bathers remain. These barriers fall into six general categories:technical, economic, regulatory, legal, informational, and organizational.
A technical bather is the physical impossibility of conducting industrial activities such asrecycling and waste minimization. Right now, for example, there is no technology sophisticatedenough to chemically transform radioactive waste into useful material, even if a nuclear powerplant had the financial capability to afford it. Currently, the waste is either protected in storage oris kept in transit from one site to another.
" The first reference to industrial ecology is acknowledged to be Frosch and Gallopoulous (1989); see also Ayres(1989).
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Economic barriers are formidable. Firms weigh the cost of retrieving and recycling their by-products and wastes against the cost of either obtaining new materials or of simply disposing ofthe wastes. Even if it is technically possible to reuse and recycle, a firm will not do so unless it iscost-effective. When products are created and when wastes are disposed of, materials are mixedtogether. Almost always, they must be separated into their constituent parts in order to berecycled. This separation requires work and some financial expense. You are probably familiarwith the washing and/or sorting involved in the recycling of glass, plastic, and paper wastecollected by municipal recycling programs. Of course, much of this labor is voluntary (unlessrecycling is mandated by law) or unpaid. Nevertheless, the work needed to turn the wastematerial into useful products continues inside the factory, where sophisticated dismantling andseparation technologies are employed. Some materials are more easily recycled (entail a lowercost) than others. Metals are relatively easy to recycle. For example, soda cans (minus thelabeling) are all essentially composed of aluminum. Thus, the extra time to consider how theproduct's constituent elements should be separated and the energy to do so, do not have to beexpended. When you recycle aluminum, you get aluminum. Organic waste, on the other hand, ismuch more difficult to recycle and requires additional decisions about what to recycle (ie., theconstituent elements or the energy stored in the chemical bonds between them). These decisionswill be based heavily, although not entirely as we shall see, on cost.
Regulatory provisions such as taxes, fines, and pollution quotas have been used to imposeartificial (but environmentally related) costs on firms that would otherwise be ignored in an open-system method of waste control and resource usage. The intent of these regulations is to forcebusinesses to minimize their waste and to recycle. These regulatory provisions, however, can alsoserve as barriers. Regulations often contradict each other, leaving industries in a bind about whatthey can or cannot do. In response to many regulations, some industries have simply shifted thetype of waste they produce from one form to another. When firms were made responsible for air-and water-borne wastes, they often created more solid waste instead. For example, someindustrial facilities use "scrubbers" to remove particulate pollution from their air emissions.Although this technology helps control air pollution, it also produces a solid waste known assludge that must be disposed of
Legal barriers are laws that discourage firms, usually unintentionally, from practicingindustrial ecology. For example, according to a 'joint and several liability" clause associated withlawsuits, all firms involved in the production, use, and/or disposal of a toxic material areresponsible for any damages resulting from the product. Thus, a firm that supplies a harmlesscomponent of the product can be held responsible if the product in which that material iseventually used (by another firm) is harmful.
The remaining bathers are informational and organizational. Informational barriers refer to afirm's lack of knowledge of (or inability to find out) the costs involved in taking on an industrialecology production system or practice. Organizational barriers are often the "corporate culture"or "internal incentive system" of a firm that conflicts with the ideals of industrial ecology.Shareholders, corporate executives, and managers can become so accustomed to placing value on
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increased rates of production and profit that the ideals and values implied in industrial ecology areseen as foolish and contradictory.
These bathers to industrial ecology also produce opportunities (e.g., using cost-efficient"green" technologies, implementing practical regulatory structures, facilitating the distribution ofinformation). Overcoming the bathers to industrial ecology will require actions by individuals,firms, and governments. As you read through the rest of this unit, keep in mind these bathers andopportunities.
Product Life Cycle Assessments
It is probably not feasible to turn every individual firm or industry into a Type II or IIIindustrial ecological system. It seems much more realistic to link different companies andindustries such that what one company produces as "waste" could be used as inputs by another.For example, a company that produces waste water containing metallic elements could supply itto another company that needs it as input into its production process. In order to establish themost optimal linkages between firms and industries, it is necessary, however, to know exactlywhat materials go in and come out of each participant's production process. In other words, eachproduct needs to be analyzed from "cradle to grave" for material and energy flows to identify thetypes and quantities of materials needed and available. One useful analytical tool to do this is aproduct life cycle assessment. It allows companies and policy-makers to integrate environmentalconcerns into economic decisions. According to Richards and colleagues,
[A product life cycle] approach requires that, environmental impacts -- with"environmental" taken broadly to include relevant safety, health, and social factors-- be understood and summed up across the lifetime of the product, process,material, technology, or service being evaluated. The goal is to reduce to aminimum the overall environmental impact of a product or process, and not simplyaddress one aspect of that impact. The goal becomes important becauseminimizing the impacts of the subsystem does not insure that the impacts of theentire system are minimized, or even reduced (Richards et al. 1994: 13).
The first life cycle analysis was carried out by Coca-Cola in the late 1960s to define andquantify the total material and energy requirements and the environmental impacts of all theprocessing steps (from mining and extraction to disposal) for each technical option available tothe soft drink industry. The study forced Coca-Cola to examine issues such as materialavailability, energy use, and long-term opportunities for technical improvements. The companywanted to determine whether to purchase beverage cans or to produce them internally. They werealso interested in developing a plastic container for carbonated beverages. Simultaneously, publicconcern with the environment and rising costs of waste disposal were pressuring corporations toconsider the environmental impacts of their activities (Duda and Shaw 1996).
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The concept of the life cycle assessment developed out of the Coca-Cola study and othersimilar studies. The fundamental goal is to help producers and consumers choose the mostappropriate product or process. The choice is often made on the basis of calculating energy andmaterials flows, as the following example of grocery bags illustrates:
The purpose of this study was to determine the energy and environmental impactsof polyethylene and paper grocery sacks. In this study the term impact refers tothe quantities of fuel and raw materials consumed and the emissions released to theenvironment. The comparative recyclability, incineration, and landfill impacts ofthese sacks were also addressed in this analysis. (Franklin cited in Duda and Shaw1996).
Life cycle assessments provide a snapshot of the inputs and outputs from a system. They aretherefore an important tool for evaluating the opportunities and constraints for a particularproduct or process to close a loop in an industrial ecosystem. Life cycle inventories may be usedboth internally by organizations or externally to inform consumer or public policy decisions(Keoleian 1994).
Product life cycle assessments, however, do not always provide consumers with clear cutanswers. Consider the ongoing debates over paper vs. styrofoam disposable cups, cloth vs.disposable diapers, and paper vs. plastic grocery bags. Numerous life cycle studies have beenconducted on these products with conflicting results. One reason for the conflicting results is theproblem of delineating system boundaries. How far must one take the analysis? For example, insome cases solid waste is incinerated to create energy. Should this energy production be deductedfrom the sum total of energy used to create the product? This also presents a geographicalproblem. Should life cycle assessments be different for products consumed in different places?After all, a consumer in one country may not have the same ability to recycle his or her waste as aconsumer in another country because of a lack of infrastructure, incentives, and so on. The secondpoint of contention in life cycle studies involves comparing trade-offs. How does one choosebetween a product that consumes less energy but produces more solid waste and an alternativeproduct that may consume more energy but produce less waste? In all of these instances publicperceptions and preferences play an important role in deciding such questions.
Figure 5 is a model of the entire industrial ecology cycle and Figure 6 illustrates a life cycle forone specific product -- a motor vehicle.
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Figure 5: The Total Industrial Ecology Cycle
virginmaterials
extraction
concentratedmaterials
separation,refining
processedmaterials
physical andchemical
preparation
finishedmaterials
forming
additionalcomponents
finishedcomponents
fabrication
finishedproducts
V
use
recycle obsolete disposalproducts
Source: Graedel, T. 1994. Industrial ecology: Definition and implementation. In R. Soca low, C.
Andrews, F. Berkhout, and V. Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology and global change. Cambridge, MA:
Cambridge University Press, his Figure 6. Reprinted with the permission ofCambridge University
Press.53
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Figure 6: A Motor Vehicle Life Cycle
raw materials manufacturing primary use
recyclematerials,
fluids. parts
body panelswheelcovers,
tires
platinumon
catalysts
.4
(vehicleassembly
1
secondary use
recyclingbattery >a.,
)4...platinumrecycling
tire %.--toi: incineration/ :
recycling
( ,
landfill i pyrolysis :
'.
oil, gas,filler
Note: Rectangles indicate products; ovals indicate processes
....1polypropylenebumpers
lead.plates.plastic
catalystpellets
. .plastics h. ; plasticrecycling products
autobodysteel
steelrecycling
steelproducts
Source: France, W. and V. Thomas. Industrial ecology in the manufacturing of consumer motorvehicle life cycle products. In R. Socolow, C. Andrews, F. Berkhout, and V. Thomas, eds. Industrialecology and global change. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, their Figure 4. Reprintedwith the permission of Cambridge University Press.
In the next section, let's take the issue of barriers and opportunities from the local to theglobal scale. Clearly, not all industries and nations can begin the evolution toward industrialecology from an advantaged position like those in more developed countries like the US.
Moving Toward Industrial Ecology on an Uneven Playing Field: TheNorth/South Cleavage
Unit 1 outlined the development of the global industrial system in terms of the increasingability that technology has given humans to transform their local, regional, and globalenvironments and to influence culture as well. As we noted, these changes do not take placehomogeneously across the globe. There was, and is, regional variability in the effects of
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technological change. Some people and places have been devastated by the effects oftechnological change while others have profited.
The global system has experienced not only marked technological change in the course of itscreation, but also political and economic changes. In short, there is a clear division in theeconomic and political power among the nations of the world. The two parts of this division arecommonly referred to as the developed and developing countries, the First World and ThirdWorld, or the North and the South. Knox and Agnew, borrowing from Meier and Baldwin,describe this division in terms of core and periphery countries:
A country is at the core of the world economy if it plays a dominant, active role inworld trade. Usually such a country is a rich, market type economy of theprimarily industrial or agricultural-industrial variety. Foreign trade revolvesaround it: it is a large exporter and importer, and the international movement ofcapital normally occurs from it to other countries (Meier and Baldwin 1957: 147).
In contrast, . . . a country could be considered peripheral if it plays a secondary orpassive role in world trade. In terms of their domestic characteristics, peripheralcountries may be market-type economies or subsistence-type economies. Thecommon feature of a peripheral economy is its external dependence on the centreas the source of a large proportion of imports, as the destination for a largeproportion of exports, and as a lender of capital (Meier and Baldwin 1957: 147)(Knox and Agnew 1994: 16-17).
The countries of the North are considered core countries; they include the industrializedcountries of North America, Europe, the former USSR, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. TheSouth, representing the political-economic periphery, includes China, all of South and SoutheastAsia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Core-periphery divisions intensify barriers to industrial ecology. The periphery is at adisadvantage in its attempts to minimize its environmental impacts. People in the periphery havemuch lower incomes, and the core has an advantage in terms of its power to influence rules andregulations, international trade organizations, and the financial institutions of the world economy.This uneven distribution of money and power has pervaded (to a greater or lesser extent) allinternational meetings on the major global environmental issues such as global warming,hazardous waste trading, deforestation, and population issues.
Let's take global warming as an example. While the "developed" countries (core or Northerncountries) have relied on the burning of vast amounts of fossil fuel to reach and maintain theirstandard of living, the "developing" (peripheral /Southern) countries, which contribute much lowergreenhouse gas emissions per capita to the global total, are being asked to hold back the reins ontheir own development. At the same time, many in the developed world maintain that onlyeconomic development will be able to curb the exponential population growth occurring in theSouth. The rich nations, with only 25% of the world's population, produce more than half of all
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greenhouse gases. Most of this energy burning goes toward fueling what most peripheral citizenswould consider luxury items: cars, TV's, microwaves, and other amenities. In the periphery, mostcontributions to climate change are coming from agriculture and forests, in the form of methanefrom cattle and rice paddies, and carbon released from the burning of trees. These activities arelargely associated with survival efforts.
At the same time, Third World leaders are desperately trying to increase the availability ofelectricity and oil for development in their countries while millions of Third World citizens laborto increase their standard of living to one that comes closer to that of the First World. To achievethese goals, large investments are required in the periphery. The pressing issue here is that ifnations on the periphery follow the same wasteful road to development as the core countries havetaken, the global atmosphere and the earth's resources will be dangerously affected. Meanwhile,the periphery cannot afford the advanced pollution control technology that the core nowpossesses. The popular solution being proposed in international negotiation circles is for the richcore countries to finance the necessary technology, while simultaneously reducing their ownemissions.
In short, the move toward industrial ecology at the global level is only to some extent atechnological problem. It is also a political and economic problem involving complex issues suchas population growth, lifestyle choices, economic development, equity, and international justice.Again, these challenges are daunting and will require action at all scales from the farm and firm tothe international negotiating table and on all fronts (regulatory, political, organizational, andeducational). Nations across the globe need to turn to systems thinking regarding their economiesand the global environment. The essence of systemic and cumulative global changes is that whatwe do in one place can change what happens to all of us.
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Constraints andOpportunities for IndustrialEcologyInstructor's Guide to Activities
GoalStudents explore the opportunities and constraints provided by industrial ecology in the real worldat the local and regional scales. Students also read and respond to essays and articles that presentunsettling arguments or that make disturbing claims about the current trends in issues related toindustrial ecology.
Learning OutcomesAfter completing the activities associated with this unit, students should:
be able to compare the usefulness of data used in life cycle analyses;recognize the role that values play in evaluating the relative environmental impacts of certainproducts (e.g., cloth versus disposable diapers);understand the major bathers to, and opportunities for, implementing industrial ecology;understand how bathers to implementing industrial ecology are intensified at the internationalscale; andbe able to respond critically to arguments against the feasibility of implementing industrialecology.
Choice of ActivitiesIt is neither necessary nor feasible in most cases to complete all activities in each unit. Selectthose that are most appropriate for your classroom setting and that cover a range of activity types,skills, genres of reading materials, writing assignments, and other activity outcomes. This unitcontains the following activities:
3.1 Life cycle Analysis
3.2 Industrial Ecology Game
3.3 Industrial Ecology Field Trip3.4 Free Trade and Agriculture
3.5 A Critical Brief
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-- Data analysis, recognition of values inassessing data, and creative writing
-- In-class game on creating inter-industrycooperation
-- Field trip or guest presentations-- Text comprehension, in-class debate, and
critical writing-- Writing a critical briefresponding to hot-
button issues in industrial ecology
Suggested ReadingsThe following readings accompany the activities for this unit. Choose those readings mostappropriate for the activities you select and those most adequate for the skill level of yourstudents.
Background Information to Unit 3 (all students should read)
For Activity 3.1Graedel, Thomas and Braden Allenby. 1995. An introduction to life cycle assessment. InIndustrial Ecology. New York, NY: Prentice HallHocking, Martin B. 1994. Disposable cups have eco-merit. Nature 369 (12 May): 107.
. 1991a. Paper versus polystyrene: A complex choice. Science 251 (1 February):504-505.
. 199 lb. Paper versus polystyrene: Environmental impact. (Letters section).Science 252 (7 June): 1361-1363.Portney, Paul R. 1995. The price is right: Making use of life cycle analysis. Issues in Scienceand Technology 10 (2): 69-75.
For Activity 3.2Edgington, Stephen M. 1993. Industrial ecology: Biotech's role in sustainable development.Bio/technology 13 (January): 31-34. (provided)
For Activity 3.4Globerman, Steven. 1993. Trade liberalization and the environment. In S. Globerman andM. Walker, eds. Assessing NAFTA: A tri-national analysis. Vancouver, Canada: TheFraser Institute, pp. 293-314. (provided)Ritchie, Mark 1993. Agricultural trade liberalization: Implications for sustainableagriculture. In R Nader, ed. The case against free trade: GATT, NAFTA, and theglobalization of corporate power. San Francisco, CA: Earth Island Press, pp. 163-194.
For Activity 3.5Helvarg, David. 1996. The big green spin machine: Corporations and environmental PRThe Amicus Journal 18 (2): 13-21. (provided)Puckett, Jim. 1994. Disposing of the waste trade: Closing the recycling loophole. TheEcologist 24 (2): 53-58.Tiemey, John. 1996. Recycling is garbage. The New York Times Magazine (30 June): 24-29,44, 48, 51, and 53.
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Activity 3.1 Life Cycle Analysis
GoalsStudents compare the material, water, and energy flows of the life cycles of the three products(paper, plastic, and ceramic cups). Students recognize the complexities involved in life cycleanalyses including data quality, boundary delineation, and value judgments.
Skillsqualitative/quantitative data assessmentdetermining relevant and non-relevant dataidentifying the role of values in making data interpretationsposition formulationcreative writingrole playing
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 3.1 (provided)Supporting Material 3.1 (provided; needed for Option 2)Suggested Reading (for all options): Graedel and Allenby (1995); Portney (1995)Suggested Reading: Option 1: Hocking (1994, 1991a, and 1991b)
Option 2: Hocking (1991a)Option 3: Hocking (1994)
Time RequirementsOption 1: 7- 10 daysOption 2: 7-10 daysOption 3: 2-3 days
TasksNote: All three options for this activity rely heavily on the three suggested readings listed above.Because of copyright restrictions and costs, these articles could not be distributed with thismodule. These readings should be readily available in your university's library or throughinterlibrary loan. Allow sufficient time to obtain them.
Option 1Divide the class into three groups, each of which will represent paper, plastic, or ceramic cupmakers. Ask each group 1) to conduct research outside of class to calculate the material flows,energy consumption, and water consumption for all three products and 2) to prepare an argumentfor why their product is more environmentally sound than the others. The three suggestedreadings by Hocking (1994, 1991a, 1991b) will be helpful to that end. Students should performthe calculations individually outside of class before meeting in group to compare results anddiscuss. Together they should consider how they could improve their product to make less of aproblem.
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On the assigned day, ask each group to present their calculations and their arguments. You maywish to structure the class discussion like a debate with each group defending their product.
Option 2:Students practice their creative writing skills by finishing a dialogue between fictional colleaguesin the life cycle analysis field about the relative environmental impacts of paper versus polystyrenecups. [The dialogue is provided in Supporting Material 3.1. Students will need Table 1 from thesuggested reading by Hocking (1991a) to make sense of the dialogue.] Students will firstsummarize the dialogue in Supporting Material 3.1 and then complete it by leading the discussiontoward some sort of closure or consensus. In addition to the dialogue, students will also write afew paragraphs answering the questions below:
Was any relevant information left out of the discussion?Were any of the comments in the dialogue redundant or unimportant?Do you agree or disagree with what anyone said? Why?Can all the variables in this debate really be measured quantitatively?Are any value judgments evident?What seems to be the biggest roadblocks to deciding which cup is best?
Option 3Ask students to read Hocking (1994). In the article, the author reports the findings of a life cycleanalysis comparing ceramic, glass, plastic, paper, and polystyrene foam cups.
Students write a two-page essay about the article to encourage critical thinking about theassumptions and value judgments underlying life cycle analyses. In their essays, students willaddress the following questions:
What criteria did Hocking choose for his analysis?Where did he draw the boundary of the system?Does he consider the energy use associated with disposing of or recycling disposable cups?How would you determine the energy used in disposing of a cup?Would the test results have been different if he had selected both materials flow and energyflow as his criteria?What cup should you use and why?
Activity 3.2 The Industrial Ecology Game
GoalsStudents see the potential (or lack thereof) for industries to cooperate by reusing each other'swaste products.
Skillslibrary/Internet researchteam and class collaboration
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Material RequirementsSuggested reading: Edgington (1993) (provided)3" x 5" note cards
Time Requirementsone class period (50 minutes)
TasksStudents read the suggested article by Edgington (1993) to get a feel for how industries caninteract to recycle each other's waste. The article reviews the apparent success of an industrialpark in Kahmdborg, Denmark in trading and reusing the wastes of its constituent companies; thisdescription provides a concrete example of how industrial ecology can work in the real world.
Before class, select several industries whose material and energy inputs and outputs arecomplementary. For example, a meat packing industry could provide hides to be used in makingleather furniture, or a soda manufacturer could provide waste plastic bottles to a carpet maker.Divide the class into small groups of three to four students and assign each group one of thepotentially cooperative industries (make sure that each group has a different industry). Give eachgroup a stack of 3" x 5" index cards and ask them to write each output that their industry createson the cards including the principal product and by-products (one per card). At the top of eachcard, they should also write the name of their industry. Finally, on a separate sheet of paper,students should make a "shopping list" of the material and energy inputs that their industryrequires. Allow them 10 or 15 minutes to complete this task.
Next, tell the groups that their task is to create an industrial ecology park (like the one in thesuggested readings). They must circulate throughout the classroom looking for sources of theinputs on their "shopping list" and attempting to find "takers" for their outputs. If they find asource of their inputs, students take the appropriate card from that industry. When they find ataker for one of their outputs, they give the appropriate card to that industry. The goal is to getrid of all of their output cards and to collect all of the necessary input cards. Allow only 5 or 10minutes for this part of the activity to provide a fast-paced, open-market atmosphere.
After the trading, bring the class together to discuss the process. Ask them how well they did infinding buyers for their outputs and in finding sources for the materials they need. Were theysuccessful in creating an industrial ecology park? What difficulties did they encounter? If timeallows, you may choose to draw a diagram or flowchart of the industrial park on the chalkboardattempting to link all of the industries.
Variations1. If your class has had little experience with this subject or if you have time constraints, you
may choose instead to provide a set of completed cards to each group on which you havealready listed the outputs for their industry; you can also provide them with the "shopping list"of inputs they need. This will require some preparation before class on your part, but it may
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allow the activity to run more smoothly because you can ensure that the inputs and outputsfrom all the industries are complementary (although they need not be perfectlycomplementary).
2. If you have sufficient time and would like to make the activity more detailed, assign industriesto each group and give them three or four days to research its processes and to prepare theiroutput cards and their "shopping list." This will allow students to get a more thoroughunderstanding of the real material inputs and outputs of the industry. Similarly, you can usesome of the industries that students have already examined in earlier activities so that they arefamiliar with their processes. This will reduce the need for students to do additional research,and it will link this activity to others in the module.
Activity 3.3 Industrial Ecology Field Trip
GoalsStudents learn about an industrial firm first-hand by visiting the site, interviewing the people whowork there on a daily basis, and developing a flowchart of the firm's system.
Skillsinterviewingfield observation
Material RequirementsTransportation to the site for the class
Time RequirementsOne day to visit the chosen site; allow additional time for in-class preparation before the visit andfor a debriefing after the visit.
TasksExploring industrial systems works well by taking a field trip to industrial firms or industrial farmsthat exemplify the elements of industrial ecology. The first step in preparing this activity is toscan the region to locate environmentally innovative industrial practices. Although not alllocations are equally endowed with firms that follow the ecological or metabolic metaphors, evenmaking a visit to one that does not permits a close comparison of ideals and realities (once youare back in the classroom).
Ask students to prepare for the site visit by investigating conventional practices within thetargeted industry through their library. (Alternatively, if you are familiar with the firm, providestudents with this background information.) This allows students to become familiar with theeconomic and social context of the firm and its industry, including a listing of categories of peoplewho benefit (or are negatively affected) by the firm.
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For additional background preparation, you can ask students to develop a flowchart of theindustrial process, including inputs and outputs of the firm's operations. A useful way for them toorganize this might be to borrow the formats for materials flows in raw materials processing,manufacturing, and customer use from Socolow (1994), with case examples for the automotive,beverage, camera, and clothing industries from France and Thomas (1994). This part of theactivity is not necessary if you have particular time constraints or if students have had sufficientpractice in previous activities creating flow charts.
Once students have gained an understanding of the firm and its industrial system, they are readyfor the site visit. Companies who are proud of their environmental record are likely to be open tovisits by students of environmental sciences, while those with less rosy records may be reluctantto extend a welcome. With a little persuasion and persistence, however, it is possible to get intomany sites (even the grayest of industries benefit from the public relations they gain by openingtheir doors a little bit). Once inside, students should (1) pay particular attention to the processesof materials and energy flows, (2) ask questions about the product cycle and the firm'smanagement practices, and (3) take notes of their visit.
After the visit and as a homework assignment, ask students to review their notes and prepare aone to two page written assessment of the performance of the firm. Using the concepts learnedthrough classroom lectures, background readings, and other activities, students should devisetheir own methodology for assessing the performance of the industry. You may want to referstudents to readings on impact assessment to enable them to have a firm grounding in the varietyof procedures and concerns found in other assessment techniques.12 Although the students'assessments are apt to be qualitative, you may encourage students to bring comparativequantitative data into the assessment, as well.
In the next class session after the visit, conduct a debriefing to discuss the visit and to comparestudents' notes and written assessments with the background information and flowcharts gatheredbefore the visit.
Variation: Inviting Industry into the ClassroomSometimes there are logical reasons why site visits are prohibited. Suitable sites may be too farfrom the school, resources for travel may be lacking, or class size may make a field trip difficult.Some firms may be unwilling to permit visitors, citing liability, staffing, or production disruptionreasons; size of class may also be a factor, since most factories are designed for efficiency ofoperation and not as classrooms or laboratories. In any of these cases, bring the industry to theclassroom!
12 Several excellent sources on impact assessment include McAllister (1980), Morris and Therivel (1995),Ortolano (1984), Porter, et. al. (1980), Smith (1993), and Wood (1995).
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Most firms maintain public relations offices, and many have programs for public education.Speakers bureaus and company officials may frequently be tapped to present a classroomdiscussion of the environmental affairs of the firm. With appropriate pre-planning by theinstructor, this can be a reasonable alternative to taking students on site for a first-hand look.Prior to the class presentation, students should read some focused literature about the particularindustry to gain some familiarity (this can include their own research, articles that you provide, orliterature provided by the firm). As an in-class or out-of-class exercise, students can develop achecklist for assessing the performance of the firm (see the main activity above).
A telephone call to the local or regional office of a particular industrial firm is certain to yieldinformation, if not an actual acceptance of an invitation. Contacting national trade organizationsor industrial associations may-also prove fruitful, as most industries maintain public relationsoffices or environmental quality assurance programs. There is nothing quite so effective,however, as finding a personal contact within a plant and exploiting that firm's image within thelocal community as a means of bringing the speaker to the classroom.
Activity 3.4 Free Trade's Effects on Sustainable Agriculture: A Debate
GoalsStudents develop a position on an international policy issue (international trade regulation) thathas serious potential effects on the future of industrial ecology.
Skillsassessment and comparison of opposing argumentsposition formulationdebatingtext comprehension
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 3.4 (provided)Suggested readings: Ritchie (1993)
Globerman (1993) (provided)
Time RequirementsFour to five days preparation outside of class before the debate; one class period (50 minutes) forthe debate; allow additional time outside of class for the optional written assignment after thedebate.
TasksStudents read the suggested articles, which present conflicting opinions of the effects of free tradeon the future of industrial ecology. Assign one-half of the class to one viewpoint and the otherhalf to the opposing viewpoint before students read the articles so that they can begin to
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formulate their arguments. Allow several days for students to do additional research to supporttheir perspective.
On the assigned day, hold a class debate. You should help keep the debate on track and ensurethat all students get a chance to speak.
If you wish, you can ask students to write an op-ed piece in which they defend their assignedposition. Essays should be no longer than two pages.
Activity 3.5 A Critical Brief
GoalsStudents write a critical brief in which they react to controversial issues in industrial ecology.
Skillscritical reading and writingposition formulation
Material RequirementsStudent Worksheet 3.5 (provided)Suggested readings: Helvarg (1996) (provided)
Tierney (1996)Puckett (1994)
Supporting Material 3.5a (provided; includes a list of alternative suggested readings)
Time Requirementsone week outside of class
Tasks13
Students need to learn how to think critically about global environmental change issues in thenews. Instructors need to teach students that to be critical is not to be harsh, negative, orjudgmental, but to demand that claims and propositions be well-constructed, logical, andsupported by principles of sound reasoning. The critical brief is an activity that helps studentslearn and practice these skills
Students read and respond to one or more controversial articles in a three- to four-page criticalbrief A critical brief should achieve two goals: 1) it should be descriptive, briefly stating thepremises, major themes, or arguments of each point of view; and 2) it should be evaluative,critically analyzing and critiquing the premises, arguments, and conclusions of each viewpoint.
13 Eflin and Eflin (1996) describe an in-class actiivity integrating critical reasoning skills and themes from globalenvironmental perspectives; a copy is available from the authors.
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Depending on your time constraints and your classroom situation, you can have students read justone, several, or all of the suggested readings. Additional topics and the references for suggestedreadings are provided in Supporting Material 3.5a.
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Constraints andOpportunities for IndustrialEcologyStudent Worksheet 3.1
Activity 3.1 Life Cycle Analysis1
This activity consists of three related, but different exercises. Your instructor will tell you whichof the following options you will complete.
Option 1Your instructor will divide the class into three groups, with each group representing either paper,plastic, or ceramic cup makers. Your group must conduct research to calculate the materialflows, energy consumption, and water consumption of all three cups, and then make an argumentfor why your product is more environmentally sound. Perform the calculations on your ownoutside of class and then meet with your group to compare results and discuss. Consider howyou could improve your product to make it more environmentally benign. Be prepared to presentyour findings and your argument to the class.
Option 2Imagine you are in a conference room with several of your colleagues in the life cycle analysisfield. You have been discussing and comparing the environmental impacts associated with theproduction, use, and disposal of paper and polystyrene (foam) cups. Everyone in the room wantsto reach an agreement on what factors need to be considered to compare the two disposableproducts and how these factors should be measured.
Your instructor will provide you with a written copy of the dialogue and some backgroundinformation to help you understand what has been said. Your task is to finish the dialogue as ifyou are actually a part of the conversation in the conference room. Write down exactly what youwould say. Begin by summarizing the conversation so far and suggesting how to move thediscussion toward consensus. Be sure to add more than just your own words -- include additionaldialogue from your colleagues. For example, if you think that Mrs. 0 would object to one ofyour statements, what would she say (besides "1 object")? Feel free to expand the bounds of the
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initial question. If you think reusable ceramic cups, for instance, have eco-merit, you could arguethat it is pointless to look at only paper and polystyrene. But be sure to support your argument!
After you've completed the dialogue, write a few additional paragraphs that respond to thefollowing questions:
1. Was any relevant information left out of the discussion?2. Were any of the comments in the dialogue redundant or unimportant?3. Do you agree or disagree with what anyone said? Why?4. Can all the variables in this debate really be measured quantitatively?5. Are any value judgments evident?6. What seem to be the biggest roadblocks to deciding which cup is best?
Option 3Determining the boundaries of a system and choosing the criteria for comparison (ie., energyflow, material waste or both) are two of the most controversial aspects of a life cycle assessment.Read the article provided by your instructor and answer the questions below in a two to threepage essay. While you read, be sure to consider the assumptions and value judgments implicit inthe analysis.
1. What criteria did Hocking choose for his analysis?2. Where did he draw the boundary of the system?3. Does he consider the energy use associated with, disposing of or recycling disposable
cups? How would you determine the energy used in disposing of a cup?4. Would the test results have been different if he had selected both materials flow and
energy flow as his criteria?5. What cup should you use and why?
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Student Worksheet 3.4
Activity 3.4 Free Trade's Effects on Sustainable Agriculture: A Debate
Before class, read the chapter provided by your instructor (Ritchie 1993) in which the authordenounces the international loosening of "barriers" to commerce in food products. These so-called bathers, however, include many food safety regulations, price regulations, and othermeasures designed to protect the sustainability of small farms and the livelihood ofthose workerswho cultivate them.
Also read the chapter by Globerman (1993) provided by your instructor. Although agriculture isnot his main focus, Globerman presents a different perspective, arguing that free trade may begood for the environment.
Your job is to defend one of the above perspectives in an in-class debate on the liberalization ofinternational agricultural trade. You will need to do some additional research before the debate toprepare your argument.
During the debate, be sure to take notes on the arguments made by both sides of the issue. Yourinstructor may ask you to write a formal essay based on the debate, your own research, and whatyou learned from the other perspective.
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Student Worksheet 3.5
Activity 3.5 A Critical Brief
Technological change, industrial ecology, and the human dimensions of global change arecontroversial subjects that require critical assessment for a rich and complete understanding. Youmay agree with the prevailing paradigm in modem society that technology brings progress andprogress is good. Likewise, the idea of an industrial ecology may seem idealistic or too complexto be practical For many themes within the field of the human dimensions of global change,arguments are made on both sides of the debate, requiring readers to take a close, criticalapproach.
One way to learn this approach is by writing a critical brief A critical brief should achieve twogoals: 1) it should be descriptive, briefly stating the premises, major themes, or arguments of eachpoint of view; and 2) it should be evaluative, critically analyzing and critiquing the premises,arguments, and conclusions of each viewpoint. The brief should be about three or four pageslong. It is advised that you locate additional related articles to help you respond to the assignedarticle(s).
Choose from among the following articles for your critical brief Your instructor will tell youhow many readings you are responsible for.
Helvarg, David. 1996. The big green spin machine The Amicus Journal 18(2):13-21Tierney, John. 1996. Recycling is garbage. The New York Times Magazine (30 June ):24-29,44,48,51,53.Puckett, Jim. 1994. Disposing of the waste trade. The Ecologist 24(2): 53-58.
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LI]Constraints andOpportunities for IndustrialEcologyAnswers to Activities
Activity 3.1 Life Cycle Analysis
Option 1There are no right or wrong answers to this activity. Student assessments will vary dependingupon the data sources they use for their analysis. Use the activity to initiate a lively classdiscussion or a class debate about the relative environmental impacts of each product.
Option 2Because this is a creative writing activity, student essays will vary. Make sure that students havemade a serious attempt to provide additional realistic dialogue to that provided. Students shouldalso include several paragraphs that address the questions on the student worksheet. See Notes onActive Pedagogy for additional suggestions on evaluating students' work.
Option 3Because this is a creative writing activity, student essays will vary. Their essays should includeresponses to the questions on the student worksheet and should demonstrate a clearunderstanding of the suggested reading. See Notes on Active Pedagogy for additional suggestionson evaluating students' work.
Activity 3.2 Industrial Ecology Game
There are no specific answers to this activity. The success of the game will depend on thevariation used, the industries selected, and student and instructor enthusiasm. If you providecompleted 3" x 5" cards with the outputs already specified, the activity will run more smoothlybecause you can ensure complementarity among the various groups' outputs and inputs. If youallow students to develop their own cards and lists, the game may not result in a perfect fit amongthe industries' needs and wastes, but it may describe a more realistic situation.
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Activity 3.3 Industrial Ecology Field Trip
Because of the nature of this activity, there are no specific answers.
Activity 3.4 Free Trade's Effects on Sustainable Agriculture: A Debate
Because this activity is a class debate, there are no specific answers. If it is necessary to gradestudents on this activity, you can evaluate them on the clarity of their arguments, their level ofpreparation, their respect for other students' perspectives, and their overall participation in thedebate. You should help to keep the debate moving and to allow each student to speak.
Activity 3.5 A Critical Brief
Students' critical briefs will vary depending upon the article they choose (or are assigned) to read.Use the following criteria to evaluate their work:
Is the brief descriptive and does it state the premises, major themes, and/or arguments of thereading(s)?Does the student critically analyze and critique the premises, arguments, and conclusions ofthe reading(s)? In other words, do they do more than summarize? Do they engage with thematerial?Is the brief well written, concise, and less than four pages (double-spaced) in length?
See Notes on Active Pedagogy for additional suggestions on evaluating students' written work.
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GlossaryNote: Words in bold in the right-hand column appear elsewhere in the glossary.
closed system
cumulative change
driving forces
ecosystem
a system that has little or no links to its external environment.
a type of global change resulting from individual local activities thatdo not directly affect a global functioning system but when widelyreplicated in multiple locations are globally significant.
societal forces that bring about global environmental change,including population, economy, technology, ideology, and socialorganizations.
self-regulating natural community ofplants and animals interactingwith one another and with their non-living environment.
entropy a measure of the amount of energy in a system that cannot beused to perform work; high entropy means that the energy in thesystem has very little capacity to do work.
greenhouse effect the role of various trace components of the atmosphere(such as H2O, CO2, etc.) in reabsorbing certain wavelengths of theenergy spectrum radiated from the earth's surface therebyincreasing the global temperature. This effect occurs naturally, butis augmented by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuelsand land cover changes since these changes emit trace gases thatbecome further concentrated in the atmosphere (enhancedgreenhouse effect).
greenhouse gases a group of gases, including carbon dioxide, methane,chlorofluorocarbons, ozone, and nitrous oxide that are radiativelyactive, i.e., they absorb longwave radiation in the atmosphere.
Industrial Revolution a series of social, political, and economic changeswithin the Britisheconomy between 1750 and 1850 that transformed the forces ofproduction; the influences of these changes spread throughout partsof the world and were seen in the US with the growth of the steelindustry, engineering, and increased electricity consumption.
nonrenewable resource a resource that is available in fixed amounts on the earth and can betotally depleted because (1) it is not replenished by naturalprocesses or (2) it is used more quickly than it can be replenished.
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open system a system that has flows to or links with its environment.
paradigm
sinks
the working assumptions, procedures, and findings routinelyaccepted and employed by a group of people; a paradigm definesone's view of the world and the approach one takes to definingproblems, researching them, and solving them.
places where materials are collected or disposed of eithertemporarily or permanently (i.e., the global atmosphere is a sink forgreenhouse gases; biomass or riverbeds are temporary sinks forcarbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous.)
sustainable (-ability) an activity that can be maintained without jeopardizing the health ofhumans or the environment now or in the future.
sustainable development development that meets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their ownneeds.
system a group of elements organized in such a way that every element isto some degree dependent on every other element.
systemic change
technology
Type I ecology
Type II ecology
Type DI ecology
a type of global change that results from human activities thatdirectly affect a globally functioning system (e.g., release ofgreenhouse gases into the atmosphere may lead to changes in theglobal climate system)
practical methods for controlling physical objects and forces;the means by which humans modify the material nature of theirworld.
a system characterized by a linear flow of material throughputs;involves the consumption of unlimited resources and the productionof unlimited wastes.
a system characterized by a quasicyclic flow of materialthroughputs; involves the consumption of energy and limitedresources and the production of limited wastes.
a system characterized by a cyclic flow of materials that arecontinuously recycled among the members of the system; in an idealstate, involves minimal exchanges with the environment, except forenergy inputs.
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Ayres, Robert U. 1988. Self organization in biology and economics. International Journal on theUnity of the Sciences 1(3).
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Daly, Herman. 1992. Is the entropy law relevant to the economics of natural resource scarcity? --Yes, of course it is! Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 23: 91-95.
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Dollof Norman if 1975. Heat death and the phoenix. Ificksville, NY: Exposition Press.
Duda, Mark and Jane S. Shaw. 1996. A new environmental tool? Assessing environmental lifecycle assessment. Contemporary Issues Series #81 (August). St. Louis, MO: Center for theStudy of American Business.
Edgington, Stephen M. 1993. Industrial ecology: Biotech's role in sustainable development.Bio/technology 13 (January): 31-34.
Eflin, James and Juli Eflin. 1996. Critical thinking with global environmental perspectives. Paperpresented at Uniting Visions: The Great Lakes Regional Council for the Social Studies andSchools of Many Voices 1996 Great Lakes Regional Conference. Indianapolis, IN.
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Frosch, Robert, and Nicholas E. Gallopoulos. 1989. Strategies for manufacturing. ScientificAmerican 261(3): 144-152.
Fulkerson, William, Roddie R Judkins, and Manoj K Sanghvi. 1991. Energy from fossil fuels. InEnergy for planet earth, readings from Scientific American. New York, NY: W. IL Freeman,pp. 83-94.
Globerman, Steven. 1993. Trade liberalization and the environment. In S. Globerman and M.Walker, eds. Assessing NAFTA: A tri-national analysis. Vancouver, Canada: The FraserInstitute, pp. 293-314. (provided)
Goldemberg, Jose, Lourival C. Monaco, and Isaias C. Macedo. 1993. The Brazilian fuel-alcoholprogram. In T. Johansson, H. Kelly, A. Reddy, and R. Williams, eds. Renewable energy:Sources for fuels and electricity. Washington, DC: Island Press, pp. 841-863.
Graedel, Thomas. 1994. Industrial ecology: Definition and implementation. In R. Socolow, C.Andrews, F. Berkhout, and V. Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology and global change.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 23-41.
Graedel, Thomas and Braden Allenby. 1995. An introduction to life cycle assessment. InIndustrial Ecology. New York, NY: Prentice Hall.
Hafele, Wolf 1991. Energy from nuclear power. In Energy for planet earth, readings fromScientific American. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman, pp. 95-105.
Harvey, David. 1989. The condition of postmodernity. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.
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Hayes, Denis. 1991. Nuclear power: The fifth horseman In T. Goldfarb, ed. Taking sides.Guilford, CT: Dushkin Press.
Headrick, David. 1990. Technological change. In B.L. Turner et al., eds. The earth astransformed by human action: Global and regional changes in the biosphere over the past300 years. Amsterdam: Cambridge University Press, pp. 55-68.
Helvarg, David. 1996. The big green spin machine: Corporations and environmental PR TheAmicus Journal 18 (2): 13-21.
Hocker, Christopher. 1991. In search of excellence in waste-to-energy. Solid Waste & Power4(7): 12-16.
Hocking, Martin B. 1991a. Paper versus polystyrene: A complex choice. Science 251 (1February): 504-505.
. 1991b. Paper versus polystyrene: Environmental impact. (Letters section). Science252 (7 June): 1361-1363.
.1994. Disposable cups have eco-merit. Nature 369 (12 May): 107.
Hogan, William 1991. Global steel in the 1990s: Growth or decline? Lexington: D.C. Heath.
Hohenstein, W. G. and L. L. Wright. 1994. Biomass energy production in the United States: Anoverview. Biomass dc Bi oen e rgy 6(3): 161-173.
Holdren, John P. 1991. Energy in transition. In Energy for planet earth, readings from ScientificAmerican. New York, NY: W. IL Freeman, pp.119-130.
Jenseth, Richard and Edward E. Lotto, eds. 1996. Constructing nature. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Prentice Hall.
Keoleian, G.A. 1994. Product life cycle assessments to reduce health risks and environmentalimpacts. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Publications.
Knox, Paul and Agnew, John. 1994. The geography of the world economy. Second Edition.London, UK Edward Arnold.
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Lynn, Walter R. 1989. Engineering our way out of endless environmental crises. In Technologyand Environment. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, pp. 182-191.
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McAllister, Donald M. 1980. Evaluation in environmental planning. Cambridge, MA: MITPress.
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Miller, G. Tyler. 1990. Living in the environment. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
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Pawlick, Kurt. 1991. Perceptions and assessment of global environmental conditions and change(PAGEC): Report 1, HDP Occasional Paper 4. Barcelona: Human Dimensions of GlobalEnvironmental Change Programme (HDP) of the International Social Science Council
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Portney, Paul R. 1995. The price is right: Making use of life cycle analysis. Issues in Science andTechnology 10 (2): 69-75.
Preston, Richard. 1991. Annals of enterprise: Hot metal. The New Yorker (February 25): 43-71;(March 4), 41-79.
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Ramney, J. W. and L. K Mann. 1994. Environmental considerations in energy crop production.Biomass & Bioenergy 6(3): 211-228.
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Turner, B.L. II., W.C. Clark, R. W. Kates, J.F. Richards, J.T. Mathews, and W.B. Meyer. 1990b.The earth as transformed by human action: Global and regional changes in the biosphereover the past 300 years. Amsterdam: Cambridge University Press.
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Williams, Susan. 1990. Waste-to-energy's popularity is growing among power plant developers.Solid Waste & Power 3(7): 12-18.
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Wright, L. L. 1994. Production technology status of woody and herbaceous crops. Biomass &Bioenergy 6(3): 191-209.
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Young, Jeffrey T. 1991. Is the entropy law relevant to the economics of natural resourcescarcity?" Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 21: 169-179.
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Supporting MaterialsThe materials in this section support the background information and the student activities. EachSupporting Material is numbered according to the section or activity in which it may be used.For example, Supporting Material 1.1 accompanies Activity 1.1. Materials that are intended tosupport the Background Information in the module, such as overhead originals or otherdocuments, are numbered according to the Unit. For example, Supporting Material 3accompanies the Background Information for Unit 3.
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Overhead Originals for Class Discussion of Unit 2
The following pages contain overhead originals that can be used to support the informationpresented in Background Information of Unit 2. The instructor may use these in class tosummarize the information students read in the module or to organize lecture material.
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A Simple System Model
Supporting Material 2a
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Open and Closed Systems of Materials Flow
a: An open system of materials flow.
INPUTS
M1 (New Materials)
Energy
OUTPUTS
(Recycled wastes)
M3 (Unusable wastes)
M2 (Products)
b: A closed system of materials flow.
INPUTS
M1 (New Materials)--
Energy
Energy
M4 (Recycled products)
M2Products
Ms Processwade
OUTPUTS
-* M3 (Unusable wastes)
Energy
Source: Frosch, Robert. Environment 37 (10):20. 1995. Reprinted with permission of the HelenDwight Reed Educational Foundation. Published by Heidref Publications, 1319 18th St. NW,Washington, DC 20036-1802. ©1997.
Supporting Material 2b
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(a) Linear material flows in "Type I" ecology (b) Quasi-cyclic materialsflows in "Type 11" ecology (c) Cyclic materials flows in "Type Ill" ecology
(a)
(b)
(c)
energy andlimited
resources
energy
unlimited ecosystem unlimitedresources component , w to
--111a
s
t, ecosystem ecosystem ,,, component component ,
- - - - _
ecosystemcomponent
ecosystemcomponent(
ecosystem ecosystem ', component component
limitedwaste
Source: Graedel, T. 1994. In Socolow, Andrews, Berkhout, and Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology and
global change. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, p. 25. 01994 reproduced with the
permission of Cambridge University Press.
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Supporting Material 2c
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The Type Ill Model of the Industrial Ecosystem
r
limitedresources
materials materialsextractor processor oror grower manufacturer
wasteprocessor consumer
limitedwaste
Source: Graedel, T. 1994. In Socolow, Andrews, Berkhout, and Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology andglobal change. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, p. 27. ©1994 reproduced with thepermission of Cambridge University Press.
Supporting Material 2d
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Selected Definitionsof Industrial Ecology
Frosch, Robert A. Industrial ecology: Aphilosophical introduction. Proceedings,National Academy of Sciences 89 (February1992): 800-803.`The idea of an industrial ecology is based upon astraightforward analogy with natural ecologicalsystems. In nature an ecological system operatesthrough a web of connections in which organismslive and consume each other and each other's waste.The system has evolved so that the characteristic ofcommunities of living organisms seems to be thatnothing that contains available energy or usefulmaterial will be lost. There will evolve someorganism that will manage to make its living bydealing with any waste product that providesavailable energy or usable material. Ecologists talkof a food web: an interconnection of uses of bothorganisms and their wastes. In the industrial contextwe may think of this as being use of products andwaste products. The system structure of a naturalecology and the structure of an industrial system, oran economic system, are extremely similar."
Allenby, Braden. Achieving sustainabledevelopment through industrial ecology.International Environmental Affairs 4, no.1(1992)."somewhat teleologically, 'industrial ecology' maybe defined as the means by which a state ofsustainable development is approached andmaintained. It consists of a systems view of humaneconomic activity and its interrelationship withfundamental biological, chemical, and physicalsystems with the goal of establishing andmaintaining the human species at levels that can besustained indefinitely, given continued economic,cultural, and technological evolution."
Jelinski, L.W., T.E. Graedel, R.A. Laudise, D.W.McCall, and C. Kumar N. Patel. Industrialecology: Concepts and approaches.Proceedings, National Academy of Sciences,USA 89 (February, 1992)."Industrial Ecology is a new approach to theindustrial design of products and processes and theimplementation of sustainable manufacturingstrategies. It is a concept in which an industrial
system is viewed not in isolation from itssurrounding systems but in concert with them.Industrial ecology seeks to optimize the totalmaterials cycle from virgin material to finishedmaterial to component, to product, to waste products,and to ultimate disposal. Characteristics are: 1)
proactive not reactive, 2) designed in not added on,3) flexible not rigid, and 4) encompassing notinsular."
Patel, C. Kumar N. Industrial ecology.Proceedings, National Academy of Sciences,USA 89 (February 1992)."Industrial ecology can be best defined as the totalityor the pattern of relationships between variousindustrial activities, their products, and theenvironment. Traditional ecological activities havefocused on two time aspects of interactions betweenthe industrial activities and the environment -- thepast and the present. Industrial ecology, a systemsview of the environment, pertains to the future."
Hileman, Bette. Industrial ecology route to slowglobal change proposed. Chemical andEngineering News (August 24, 1992), p.7."Industrial ecology is the study of how we humanscan continue rearranging Earth, but in such a way asto protect our own health, the health of naturalecosystems, and the health of future generations ofplants and animals and humans It encompassesmanufacturing, agriculture, energy production, andtransportation nearly all of those things we do toprovide food and make life easier and more pleasantthan it would be without them."
Tibbs, Hardin B.C. Industrial ecology: Anenvironmental agenda for industry. WholeEarth Review 77 (December 1992)."Industrial ecology involves designing industrialinfrastructures as if they were a series of interlocking[hu]manmade ecosystems interfacing with thenatural global ecosystem. Industrial ecology takesthe pattern of the natural environment as a model forsolving environmental problems, creating a newparadigm for the industrial system in the process."
"The aim of industrial ecology is to interpret andadapt an understanding of the natural system and
Supporting Material 2.190
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apply it to the design of the [hu]manmade system, inorder to achieve a pattern of industrialization that isnot only more efficient, but that is intrinsicallyadjusted to the tolerance and characteristics of thenatural system. The emphasis is on forms oftechnology that work with natural systems, notagainst them."
Lowe, Ernest. Industrial ecology Anorganizing framework for environmentalmanagement. Total Quality EnvironmentalManagement, Autumn 1993."The heart of industrial ecology is a simplerecognition that manufacturing and service systemare in fact natural systems, intimately connected totheir local and regional ecosystems and the globalbiosphere. . . . the ultimate goal of industrial ecologyis bringing the industrial system as close as possibleto being a closed-loop system, with near completerecycling of all materials."
Allenby, Braden and Thomas E. Graedel.Industrial ecology (pre-publication edition). NewYork: Prentice Hall, 1993."Industrial ecology is the means by which humanitycan deliberately and rationally approach andmaintain a desirable carrying capacity, givencontinued economic, cultural, and technologicalevolution. The concept requires that an industrial
system be viewed not in isolation from itssurrounding systems, but in concert with them. It is asystems view in which one seeks to optimize the totalmaterials cycle from virgin material, to finishedmaterial, to component, to product, to waste product,and to ultimate disposal. Factors to be optimizedinclude resources, energy, and capital."
Hawken, Paul. The ecology of commerce. NewYork: Harper Business, 1993."Industrial ecology provides for the first time alarge-scale, integrated management tool that designsindustrial infrastructures 'as if they were a series ofinterlocking, artificial ecosystems interfacing withthe natural global ecosystem.' For the first time,industry is going beyond life cycle analysismethodology and applying the concept of anecosystem to the whole of an industrial operation,linking the 'metabolism' of one company with thatof another."
Source: University of Michigan. 1995. AppendixB. Pollution Prevention Educational ResourcesCompendium: Industrial Ecology. NationalPollution Prevention Center, pp. 21-22. Reprintedwith the permission of the National PollutionPrevention Center.
Supporting Material 2.191
Case Study 1: "Clean Coal" and the Future of Electric Power
The United States is richly endowed with coal, a form of carbon-based fossil fuel. Much ofthe coal in the Western US is low in sulfur content (lignite), while that found in abundance in theMidwest is higher in sulfur content (bituminous). The trick is to balance the blends of these twocoals to optimize power production while limiting air emissions, particularly of sulfur dioxide(SO2) and nitrous oxides (NO.). In 1986, the US Department of Energy (DOE) launched the"Clean Coal Technology Program" to demonstrate a new generation of innovative coal processes.We can envision a coal "fuel chain," along which steps can be taken that affect the amount of
sulfur and nitrogen emissions released to the atmosphere from the production system. In industrialecology, the goal is to minimize these emissions. Advanced technologies include precombustioncleaning (through physical, chemical, or biochemical means); fluidized bed combustion andadvanced combustors (which clean coal in the process of its combustion); post-combustion"scrubbing" of SO2 and catalytic reduction of NOR, and integrated coal gasification combinedcycles (which use turbines that run on conventional steam and waste gas).
Suggested sources of information:Center for Energy and Economic Development, 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite370, Alexandria,VA 22314. Tel (703) 684-6292; FAX (703) 684 -6297; online at CEEDNet viahttp://www.conx.com/ceed. An 11-minute video called America's Fuel is available onlinewhich describes clean coal technology.National Mining Association, 1130 17th St. N.W., Washington D.C. 20036-4677; telephone(202) 463-2665.Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), P.O. Box 10412, Palo Alto, CA 94303;telephone(510) 934-4212.
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Case Study 2: The Future of Steel Production -- Minimills
Once the world's leading producer of steel, the United States saw its market share dropprecipitously during the 1970s and 1980s. Midwestern cities were hurt by steel mill closures, asjobs vaporized and an increasing stream of foreign-manufactured products entered themarketplace. The large steel mills that lined the south shore of Lake Michigan and elsewhere inthe southern Great Lakes region -- belching smoke and acidic emissions and consuming vastquantities of coke, iron ore, and other inputs -- attested to the failure of Big Steel to adapt to achanging economic landscape and technological developments. For many years, Big Steel failedto modernize its plants, even though the adoption of new production technologies could havelessened the industry's environmental impacts and improved its efficiency. Big Steel and itsindustrial-social culture seemed destined -- in the US at least -- to go the way of the dinosaurs.
The integrated steel mill of the past serves as a perfect example of an immature industrialecology -- closer to the Type I than Type II model of Graedel (1994). Its problem was waste,including wasteful material inputs (virgin ore and coke), wasteful conversions of energy (relianton high-sulfur coal for coke in blast furnaces), wasteful outputs (sulfurous emissions and otheratmospheric pollutants), and wasteful human inputs (top-heavy management and lowproductivity).
During the 1980s, a new model developed that turned the tide for American steel
II)manufacturing -- the steel minimill. Richard Preston (1991) traces the rise of the minimill in aseries of articles published in the New Yorker. Preston's particular focus is the Nucor SteelCorporation and its revolutionary process for continuous snip production of sheet metal Thephenomenon is important both from an economic geography perspective (with its implications forinternational trade, regional development, and location theory) and from an industrial ecologyperspective. From the latter perspective, minimills represent small-scale installations whosematerial inputs come from scrap steel; hence, minimills serve as materials recyclers. They useelectric arc furnaces instead of coal-fired blast furnaces, greatly reducing the energy inputs perunit of steel output, and having the potential to reduce atmospheric emissions.
Suggested Sources of Information (see References to All Units for complete citations)On the future of the steel industry in general: Baker, 1994b, 1995a; Boyd, et aL, 1993; Clash,1994; Church, 1994; Hogan, 1991; Miles, 1988; Ohasi, 1992; and Smith, 1995.On Nucor Steel Corporation in particular: Alexander, 1994; Baker, 1994a, 1995b; Boston,1990; Brody, 1988; Lubove, 1993; Pare, 1991; Schroeder and Konrad, 1990; Wofford, 1995.
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Case Study 3: Recycling Scrap: Municipal Solid Waste and Waste-to-Energy
There has been a growing recognition that the "waste stream" of municipal solid waste(MSW) represents an abundance of materials that can be reused or recycled. In particular,organic materials comprise a significant proportion of MSW and can provide a source of fuel.The process of turning waste material into an energy source is known in the industry as "waste-to-energy"(WTE). The industrial ecology cycle involved in WTE is fairly straightforward.Organic material in MSW is separated from non-combustible material, then incinerated in a WTEplant. Combustion of this organic fuel produces thermal energy that is harnessed using a steamturbine to drive an electric generator. Advanced technologies are used to capture the sulfur andNOx byproducts, preventing them from leaving the plant.
The electrical power thus produced can be sold to the local power grid, and the uncombustedsolid wastes (recyclable metals, compostable matter, glass, rock) can be sold elsewhere makingthe WTE business lucrative. The overall reduction in solid waste that has to be sent to a landfill isa credible environmental benefit. The appeal of WTE from MSW is great, given our industrialecology perspective, and our recognition that technology change can serve as a positive guidingforce for global change. There were approximately 125 WTE plants in the United States in 1995and they appear to be growing in popularity (Arrandale 1993; Charles and Kiser 1995; Hocker1991; Williams 1990).
Additional Sources of InformationSolid Waste Technologies (formerly Solid Waste & Power) is a trade journal with a wealth ofinformation on the solid waste industry including companies, services, and products. Eachyear, its annual special issue Industry Sourcebook provides company profiles and a guide toover fifty organizations that provide technical assistance, information, or other supportfunctions for the solid waste industry.Power Plays, by Susan Williams, is a database of renewable energy developers, with particularfocus on MSW WTE producers ( $150 softbound, $200 hardbound available from InvestorResponsibility Research Center, P.O. Box 50, Plainfield, NH 03781; telephone 603-675-9274)A catalog of government publications is available from the US Environmental ProtectionAgency, Catalog of Hazardous and Solid Wastes Publications (EPA 530-B-95-001 Sept.1995)Online Sources:
- EPA Fact Book (http://www.epa.gov or http://www.cainet/recyclellin.dexhtml)- Recyclers World (http://www.recycle.net/recycle/index/index/html)- Use Less Stuff( http : / /www.com.ch.as.msen.com:70 /1 /vendor /cygnus/uls)- Also, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Solid Waste Association of North
America (SWANA) maintain websites; access may be gained by typing "municipal solidwaste" in a netsearch.
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Case Study 4: Energy Crops and a New Role for Industrial Agriculture
A promising alternative to unsustainable hydrocarbon fuels may come from the farm. Thebiomass produced by plants represents stores of chemical energy, fixed through their metabolic
processes and powered by the photosynthesis of CO2 and H2O. Plant tissues can be convertedinto thermal energy through combustion, which releases CO2. In biomass energy conversion,however, there is the possibility of achieving a Type DI ecology: if the CO2 released duringcombustion is balanced by CO2 taken up by growing plants, then biomass energy can "close theloop" and qualify as an industrial ecology.
Biomass energy stocks are derived from two principle sources -- the production of energycrops and organic wastes. Various grasses, conventional row crops that are rich in starches (e.g.,corn and sorghum), fast-growing trees (or short-rotation woody crops such as hybrid poplar andhoney locust in North America), and wetland species such as cattails and reeds (often used forwastewater treatment) can serve as energy crops. To provide liquid fuels that are especiallyattractive for use in transportation, the carbohydrates in biomass may be distilled to yield alcoholssuch as ethanol, which is already in use in many parts of the American Midwest and throughoutBrazil. Biomass energy production has the potential to protect against soil erosion, establishwildlife habitat, provide versatile and modern energy carriers (in the form of solids, liquids, orgases), and to protect the viability of agricultural communities against increasing urbanization.
Additional Sources of Information (for complete citations, see References to All Units)On ethanol production:
More for Less is a video from the Annenberg/CPB Project film series Race to Save the Planet;it describes the ethanol program in Brazil (approx. 60 minutes in length).See also Goldemberg et al. (1993); Reddy and Goldemberg (1991); and Wyman et aL(1993).On technical problems with biomass conversion, see Hohenstein and Wright (1994); Wright(1994).On economic problems see Turhollow (1994).On environmental problems see Ramney and Mann (1994) and Williams (1994)Also useful is NREL in Review, the periodical produced by the National Renewable EnergyLaboratory, Golden, Colorado.Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a Website on the biofuels feedstock development program(BFDP), URL is http://wwvv.esd.omLgov/bfdp/bfdpmosaic/binmenu.htmlThe addresses of the DOE's five regional biomass energy programs are listed below;Biologue is the industry's trade journal.
. Northeast RegionRichard Handley
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CONEG Policy Research Center, Inc.400 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 382Washington, DC 20001(202) 624-8454(202) 624-8463 FAX
Northwest RegionJeff JamesU. S. DOE Seattle Regional Support Office800 5th Avenue, Suite 3950Seattle, WA 98104(206) 553-2079(206) 553-2200 FAX
Southeast RegionPhilip C. BadgerTennessee Valley AuthoritySoutheast Regional Biomass Energy Program435 Chemical Engineering BuildingMuscle Shoals, AL 35660(205) 386-3086(205) 386-2963 FAX
Western RegionDave SwansonWestern Area Power Administration1627 Cole BoulevardP. O. Box 3402Golden, CO 80401(303) 275-1706(303) 275-1707 FAX
Great Lakes RegionFred KuzelCouncil of Great Lakes Governors35 East Wacker Drive #1850Chicago, IL 60601(312) 407-0177(312) 407-0038 FAX
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The
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Overhead Originals for Class Discussion of Unit 3
The following pages contain overhead originals that can be used to support the informationpresented in Background Information of Unit 3. The instructor may use these in class tosummarize the information students read in the module or to organize lecture material
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The Total Industrial Ecology Cycle
virginmaterials
extraction
concentratedmaterials
separation,refining
processedmaterials
physical andchemical
preparation
finishedmaterials
forming
finishedcomponents
recycle
fabrication
additionalcomponents
finishedproducts
V
use
obsoleteproducts
Source: Graedel, T. 1994. Industrial ecology: Definition and implementation. In R. Socolow, C.Andrews, F. Berkhout, and V. Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology and global change. Cambridge, MA:Cambridge University Press, his Figure 6. Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge UniversityPress.
Supporting Material 3a
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A Motor Vehicle Life Cycle
raw materials manufacturing primary use
fluids, partsmaterials,
recycle
body panelswheelcovers,
tires
Platinumon
catalysts
( vehicleassembly
1
platinumrecycling
.tire
incineration/recycling;
( landfill 1 pyrolysis
*-
oil, gas,filler
Note: Rectangles indicate products; ovals indicate processes
Hpolypropylenebumpers
secondary use
lead.plates.plastic
catalystpellets
plastics plasticrecycling : ; products.
autobodysteel
landfill
steelrecycling
steelproducts
Source: France, W. and V. Thomas. Industrial ecology in the manufacturing of consumer motor
vehicle life cycle products. In R. Socolow, C. Andrews, F. Berkhout, and V. Thomas, eds. Industrialecology and global change. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, their Figure 4. Reprintedwith the permission of Cambridge University Press.
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Life Cycle Dialogue
Mr.
Ms. W:
Mr. M:
Okay, so it's obvious that the major raw material for a paper cup is wood,and the major raw material for polyfoam cups is hydrocarbons, or oil and gas. Theraw extraction of both of these materials involves some well- known impacts. In thefirst case, the clear cutting of extensive areas of watersheds increases the likelihood offlood and drought. In the second case, we are all familiar with the name ExxonValdez, not to mention the daily leakage of oil from coastal refineries and fromdelivery systems.
Interestingly enough, according to my Canadian data, the production of the average10.1g paper cup requires as much hydrocarbon fuel as that of a polyfoam cup. Thetable I provided you shows the petroleum needed per paper cup to be between 2.8 and5.5g, for an average of 4.1g, versus 3.2g for polyfoam.
That is interesting. But I think your data is either incorrect or outdated because myown research has led me to a much lower value for oil use in paper cups. I know thatin the United States today 56% of the energy used in paper production (this is anaverage for all grades of paper) comes from waste biomass. Of the other 44%, onlyabout 8% comes form oil. Only 15% comes from natural gas. The 8% oil amounts toaround 1.7g per cup.
Well, I'd personally agree with those figures for a modem integrated paper mill. But Iknow that lightboard paper from nonintegrated mills requires a bit more fuel,something like 2 to 3 grams per 10-gram paper cup. Also, only half the petroleumused to make polyfoam cups is burned, leaving half still available within the finishedcup if recycled. In the end, paper and polyfoam cups probably leave the same amountof net nonrecycled petroleum.
Ms. 0: Yeah, if the polystyrene is recycled to reuse that other half of fuel .
Mr. H: Well, I had relied on older reference material which was more readable, althoughadmittedly less up to date. I wouldn't be surprised if the fuel use has decreased overthe years, especially in the United States.
Mr. J: Let's move on, then. Could you explain your comparison of the chemicals used in theraw materials category, Mr. H?
Mr. Yes, theinorganicchemicals.used for paper cups include sodium hydroxide, sodiumsulfate, sodium chlorate, sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, and calcium dioxidemost ofwhich are used only one time around, without being recycled.
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The chemical requirements for the polystyrene foam cup are much smaller. One reasonis that in some of the chemical reactions solid-phase catalysts are used that can reactmany thousands of times over before they have to be replaced.
Ms. 0: Now, for the rest of your table, Mr. H, you show "per metric ton" figures rather than"per cup" figures. How do we compare these?
Mr. H: If you notice at the top of the table, I've listed 10.1g as the average paper cup weight,and 1.5g as the average polyfoam cup weight. So the mass of a paper cup is 6.73times larger. For the data under utilities, water effluent, and air emissions, you mustmultiply the numbers for paper by 6.7 to compare the two on a per-cup basis.
Mr. M:
Mr. H:
Ms. 0:
So, looking at the amount of cooling water used per metric ton of material, we see50m3 of water for paper cups and 154m3 of water for polyfoam cups. To comparethem, multiply 50m3 by 6.7, which gives us 335m3 for paper cups. Thus, a paper cupuse about 2.2 times the cooling water of a polyfoam cup.
Following the same logic, we'd find that the paper cups use 14 times the steam, 44times the electricity, 43 times the waste water effluent, and so on, on a per-cup basis.
About that effluent data -- there are a few things that trouble me. I noticed yourreferences are based on kraft mills in the 1970s which did not treat their effluent thenat all. Today, any US mill would discharge only about 5kg of biochemical oxygendemand (BOD) per metric ton, not 30 to 50 kg. I also think your 5 to 7kg oforganochlorides should be closer to 3kg.
Actually, at least some of the Canadian mills had effluent discharges between 1985 and1989 in the amounts I listed. But I would agree that the American experience inreducing BOD, organochlorides, and the like, has to be much better to meet EPAstandards.
Let's talk about recycling capability for a moment. I've been hearing that paper cupscan't be recycled because the adhesive resin used to hold the paper fibers together isunable to be removed in the repulping process.
Mr. J: That goes for cups with plastic or wax films as well.
Ms. 0: And as far as polystyrene goes, its recycled resin can't legally be reused in foodapplications. Food applications includes disposable cups!
Ms. W: Well now, hold on. Polyfoam can be reused as products other than just food and drinkcontainers. We've got standard packing materials, insulation, flotation billets, patio
Supporting Material 3.1
Mr. J:
Mr. H:
furniture, etc. All the technical problems with polystyrene recycling are pretty muchtaken care of now. What remains is the expansion of recycling programs.As for paper cups, they in fact can and are being recycled as part of mixed officewasteresin and all. Actually, one of the biggest technical bathers to its recyclabilityis contamination with styrofoam!
The biggest plus I see for paper is that its major raw material, wood, is renewable,whereas oil for polystyrene is not -- at least not on human time scales. And polyfoamcups are basically inert, so they won't biodegrade, where paper will.
Actually, there's increasing evidence that paper does not degrade fully in landfillconditions, especially in dry climates. And when it does degrade, it releases methaneand carbon dioxide in a 2:1 ratio of methane to CO2. And a methane molecule hasfrom 5 to 20 times the greenhouse warming effect of a CO2 molecule.
Ms. 0: But wouldn't the fixing of carbon dioxide by new tree growth compensate for any CO2emissions from degrading paper?
Mr. H: Well, I don't know about that.....
And now your turn
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Additional Readings for Critical Briefs
The following readings are selections that have been successfully used as assignments for criticalbriefs. You can substitute these topics and the associated readings for the ones suggested onStudent Worksheet 3.5.
Entropy and Natural Resource ScarcityRifkin, Jeremy. 1989. Entropy: Into the greenhouse world. New York, NY: Bantam, pp.19-114, 207-256, 274-291.Dollog Norman H. 1975. Introduction. From Heat death and the phoenix: Entropy,order, and the future of man. Hlcksville, NY: Exposition Press, pp. xi-xviii.Young, Jeffrey T. 1991. Is the entropy law relevant to the economics of natural resourcescarcity? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 21: 169-179.
After reading Young's article, students should also read the two Comment papers written inresponse to Young:
Daly, Herman E. 1992. Is the entropy law relevant to the economics of natural resourcescarcity? -- Yes, of course it is! Journal of Environmental Economics and Management23: 91-95.Townsend, Kenneth N. 1992. Is the entropy law relevant to the economics of naturalresource scarcity? Comment. Journal of Environmental Economics andManagement 23:96-100.
Nuclear Energy and Wastes
Berkhout, Frans. 1994. Nuclear power: An industrial ecology that failed? In R. Socolow,C. Andrews, F. Berkhout, and V. Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology and global changeCambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, pp. 319-327.Hafele, Wolf. 1991. Energy from nuclear power. In Energy for planet earth, readingsfrom Scientific American. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman, pp. 95-106.Weinberg, Alvin M. 1991. Is nuclear energy necessary? In T. Goldfarb, ed. Taking sides.Guilford, CT: Dushkin Press.Hayes, Denis. 1991: Nuclear power: The fifth horseman. In T. Goldfarb, ed. Takingsides. Guilford, CT: Dushkin Press.
In addition, ask students to locate at least one secondary reading that focuses on nuclear energyor issues of nuclear waste. They should provide complete bibliographic citations for eachadditional article they use and include a discussion of it in their critical brief
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Industrial Ecology & Fossil FuelsFor this brief ask students to include a discussion of the first three articles below plus one thatthey have selected from those noted with asterisks (**). Students should also locate at least oneadditional reading that focuses on the industrial use of energy. They should provide completebibliographic citations for each additional article they use and include a discussion of it in theircritical brief
Graedel, Thomas. 1994. Industrial ecology: Definition and implementation. In R.Socolow, C. Andrews, F. Berkhout, and V. Thomas, eds. Industrial ecology and globalchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 23-41.Fulkerson, William, Roddie R Judkins and Manoj K Sanghvi. 1991. Energy from fossilfuels. In Energy for planet earth, readings from Scientific American. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman, pp. 83-94.Ross, Marc H., and Daniel Steinmeyer. 1991. Energy for industry. In Energy for planetearth, readings from Scientific American. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman, pp. 35-48.**Davis, Ged R. 1991. Energy for planet earth. In Energy for planet earth, readings fromScientific American. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman, pp. 1-10.**Holdren, John P. 1991. Energy in transition. In Energy for planet earth, readings fromScientific American. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman, pp.119-130. Include theassociated chapter, Epilogue: Moving toward greater energy efficiency, by Robert Malpas,pp. 131-132.**Spitler, E. E. 1992. The energy business and conservation. In M. Oelschlaeger, ed.After Earth Day: Continuing the conservation effort. Denton, TX: University of NorthTexas Press, pp. 106-119.
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Appendix: Suggested ReadingsThe AAG was able to obtain reprint permission from the original publishers for only some ofthereadings suggested in the activities of this module. To avoid copyright problems, we suggest youmake these readings available to your students by putting them on reserve. The followingreadings are enclosed:
Edgington, Stephen. 1995. Industrial ecology: Biotech's role in sustainable development.Bio /Technology 13 (January): 31-35. Reprinted with the permission of Nature America Inc.
Globerman, Steven. 1993. Trade liberalization and the environment. In S. Globerman and M.Walker, eds. Assessing NAFTA: A trinational analysis. Vancouver, Canada: The FraserInstitute, pp. 294-314. Reprinted with the permission of The Fraser Institute and StevenGloberman
Helvarg, David. 1996. The big green spin machine: Corporations and environmental PR. TheAmicus Journal 18,2 (Summer): 13-21. Reprinted with the permission of the NaturalResources Defense Council.
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Industrial Ecology: Biotech'sRole in Sustainable
DevelopmentCan an enviromental concept rally business, government, and academia
to work together for long-term economic growth?
In July 1994, the National Science and Technol-ogy Council (Washington, D.C.) rolled out itsplan for the U.S. to regain its global competitiveadvantage over the next 50 years. "Our vision is
of long-term economic growth that creates jobswhile improving and sustaining the environment,"declares its executive summary.' "Reconciling thesegoals requires an environmental technology strategythat helps industry shift from waste management topollution prevention, efficient resource use, andindustrial ecology."
Industrial ecology? While it may sound like vote-getting doublespeak, some say it represents the firstreasonable plan for reconciling technological devel-opment with environmental concerns. So far, lead-ers of business, government, and academia are en-thusiastically supporting it.
What is the driving force behind this new shadeof "green?" "We are in the early phases of a newindustrial revolution," says Joel Hirschhorn(Hirschhorn & Associates, Lanham, MD), a long-time observer of Washington's industrial policies."Technology is beginning to be judged. not only forthe cost of producing the product, but for the cost ofits environmental impact and clean up." Hirschhornsays regulatory commitments to clean up the envi-ronment worldwide, culminating in the U.S. with the1990 Pollution Prevention Act, have driven thisprocess. In his view, these laws have set in motion aparadigmatic shift in which technology's new role isto prevent problems rather than to solve them.
Industrial ecologists are looking to biotechnol-ogy for the tools to enable this revolution. This bodeswell for expanding biotech's applications beyondhealth care to almost any waste-producing industrialprocess. But in the near term, biotech drug makersand those who want to beneed to examine theirown production facilities through the eyes of anindustrial ecologist. For those companies that havealready done so, reduced production costs, fewerregulatory hassles, and the public's enhanced per-ception of their products suggest that this new indus-trial revolution has already begun for themat theirbottom line.
cc0u.LLw
Stephen M. Edgington
Switzerland), who has spent the past year writing abook about industrial ecology,2 the concept in itscurrent form sprang from a Scientific Americanarticle proposing that business should operate morelike biological ecosystems: A network of interrela-tionships in which everything that is produced isused by some organism in the system to support itsown metabolism! The analogy, although never in-tended to be perfect, somehow caught the imagina-tions of a diverse group of academics, governmentpolicy makers, and business people.
"A very basic thing about industrial ecology,"says Erkman, "is that for the first time it gives youthe big picture as opposed to the various segmentedapproaches of environmental groups." Erkman saysthe concept's major theoretical impact was to changethe perception of industry from being opposed tonature to being a part of nature. "Carrying thisbiological metaphor to its logical conclusion sug-gests that industrial systems today are similar to theprimitive ecosystems that first evolved on earth," hesays. "At first there was no recycling, and toxicwastes accumulated to the point where they threat-ened life as it existed." Erkman says that whenmicroorganisms learned to use this wasteby con-
1
FIGURE 1.
Some technologydevelopmentscenarios.'Remediation andrestoration: Treatharmful materials afterthey enter theenvironment. Control:Treat hazardousmaterials before theyenter the environ-ment. Monitoring andassessment: Monitorthe releases ofpollutants. Avoidance:Avoid the productionof environmentallyhazardous materials.
AVOIDANCE
mirtiii MONITORING &ASSESSMENT
O 0M130 O 0
TIME
00
OO
A New ParadigmWhat is this new paradigm for business? Accord-
ing to Suren Erkman (Journal de Geneve, Geneva, Stephen M. Edgingron is senioreditorof Bio/Technology.
Reprinted with the permission of Nature America In 1. 5.
CONTROL
REMEDIATION &RESTORATION
BIC/TECHNOLOGY VOL. 13 JANUARY 1995 31
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Business should
operate more like
biological
ecosystems: A
network of
interrelationships
in which
everything that is
produced is used
by some
organism in the
system to
support its own
metabolism.
verting from anaerobic to aerobic metabolismtheyestablished the first means of using what had beentoxins to support life and to make their waste prod-ucts support other existing life forms. "The idea is toevolve industrial systems like biological systems sothat they too become sustainable in their develop-ment," he says.
In the face of stepped-up government regulationand increased liability, industrial ecology's real sell-ing point for business is that it converts a probleminto a potential revenue stream. Instead of standingat the end of the production pipetrying to catchany potentially hazardous wastethey can nowreengineer the process so that what "comes out of thepipe" finds ready buyers. Forecasts of tighter andtighter profit margins and less reliable raw materialstreams makes the idea of recycling part of their"waste" back into their own production processesvery appealing..
But despite these economic imperatives, a centralquestion that still needs answering is "What are theindustrial equivalents of microorganisms ?" The ques-tion of how one designs industrial processes that candeal with variability in its raw materials is alsocentral to making the system work. This will requirenew technologies that are both more selective andmore adaptive than most machine-driven processesat present. To answer this question, industrial ecolo-gists are looking to biotech applications for answers.
Industrial SymbiosisIndustrial ecologists are fond of pointing to the
biotech company Novo Nordisk (Kalundborg, Den-mark) as a real-world example of how industrialecology's goals might be accomplished. Located in asmall industrial city of 20,000 Novo Nordisk hasworked with other companies to evolve symbioticrelationships over the past 40 years that have resulted inboth reduced costs and lessened environmental impacton the community. The companies have learned how touse each other's "waste" to create viable commercialproducts (see "Making an Industrial Ecology ParkWork").
"People sometimes claim the environment will costmoney," says Novo Nordisk's Jorgen Christensen, sitemanager of the Kalundborg plant, "and that may betrue, but in our case, it has not been sowe have mademoney." Christensen says the process that is now called"industrial ecology," or "industrial symbiosis," beganin Kalundborg, not through the execution of some well-developed plan, but through a series of projects thattook place because they made economic sense.
Christensen thinks it was the close proximity of theindustries involved that was an initial driving force."The fact that these companies are located a few milesfrom each other," he says, "first of all made it economi-cally feasibleif we were 100 miles away from eachother it would not have worked." But Christensen isalso quick to point out that it was also the "mentaldistance" between the employees of the various com-panies that made a significant contribution to its devel-opment. "In a small town like ours," he says, "peopleknow each other: Our children go to the same schools,we compete with each other in sports, we see each othersocially." He says the process started when employeesat these companies beginning to talk informally about
32 810/TECHNOLOGY VOL. 13 JANUARY 1995 116
how they could share resources.Christensen says the initial incentive was not envi-
ronmental but economic. "We saw increased profitsresulting from resource saving, reduction in emissions,and gains in recycling," he says. One by one, theseinitial projects suggested other projects until at somepoint in the 1980s people began to realize that some-thing unique was occurring. "People started saying thatit is nice that we cooperated," says Christensen, "andthen someone said that this is a kind of symbiosis orecology, a local journalist picked it up, then a nationalnewspaper, and soon we were asked to give papers onthis internationally." Christensen says that as a result allthe companies involved are becoming more environ-mentally conscious.
But exactly how much has this alliance of compa-nies saved by joining forces? "Since we are asked thisquestion so often we have tried to make a 'guestimate'of economic benefit," he says. The group calculatesthat, out of a total investment of $60 million, they areannually receiving a $10-12 million payback$120million total so far. "We think the average payback timeis less than five years," he says, "with most of theprojects requiring less time, but a few taking up to sevenyears to begin to show a profit."
Christensen says there are other rewards from imple-menting these systems that are difficult to measure inhard cash. "Novo Nordisk published an environmentalreport in 1994 that it will issue annually," he says. "Ithink the fact that we did that has been well received inmany places." But Christensen is quick to point out thatso far it is the city itself that has received the lion's shareof publicity.
With Novo Nordisk's $2 billion in annual sales and11,000 employees worldwide, it would seem that Novomight want to replicate the successful Kalundborgmodel elsewhere. "It's embarrassing to say that so farwe have not been able to," Christensen says, citing alack of the kinds of proximity that launched theKalundborg site.
Designing for the EnvironmentWhile Kalundborg demonstrates that industrial
ecology's principles can work, businesses must alsodevelop processes to replace those that are heavilypolluting. At present, the chemical and electronicsindustries have led the way in making formal commit-ments to explore this path. This past summer, theAmerican Chemical Society (Washington, D.C.) hostedfour days of presentations under the banner "Design forthe Environment" at their annual meeting. "Traditionalchemistry has been designed to optimize yield withlittle regard for the impact of the chemicals or theprocess on the environment," says coorganizer JoeBreen (Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Wash-ington, D.C.). "We are trying to promote the ideaamong chemists that designing environmentally be-nign molecules is a better option overall."
In searching for alternati ve synthetic methods, Breensays some elegant solutions are beginning to emergefrom the adaptation of enzymatic processes for specificapplications. Not only does an adaptation like thisdecrease the number of steps in chemical synthesis, butthe geometric orientation that enzymes give chemicalbond formation means maximizing yields and eliminat-ing the racemic mixtures that can produce pollutants
through side reactions. "Instituting enzymatic reac-tions in industrial processes that can eliminate dozensof steps is definitely the trend of the future," he says.
Among drug makers, pharmaceutical giant Hoechst(Frankfurt, Germany) is one of the first to implementthese methods to clean up its processes. "A new law inGermany requires companies to check each productionprocess in order to detect any kind of byproducts thatcould be seen as waste for which there may be somekind of use," says Hoechst's manager, corporate re-search, Dieter Brauer. Hoechst asked a team of tenresearchers to look at alternative processes for produc-
ing cephalosporic acid, a precursor of their antibioticproducts. Working part time, the researchers were ableto develop an enzymatic process within a year and ahalf that was optimized for modifying cephalosporin Einto cephalosporic acid. After another two years ofwork to gain the proper regulatory permissions andmodify the factory, Hoechst found that it had reducedits waste from this process alone from 20 to 2 tons peryear. "Not only that," says Brauer, "but the wasteleft over from this process is nontoxicinstead oftransporting it to another facility we can just burn it."
Brauer says it is difficult to pin down the exact
Making an Industrial Ecology Park Work"We would advise companies that want to form
an industrial park on our model," says Christensen,"to start with a nucleus of two or three companiesthat can trade something." Once the trading systemis worked out among the initial players, other indus-tries can join in. At Kalundborg, the basic units oftrade are water, energy, and waste. Trades need notbe directly reciprocal for the system to work. Forexample, Novo Nordisk delivers nitrogen-richbiomass from its enzyme-fermentation vats forfarmers to use as fertilizer, and its surplus yeastfrom the plant's insulin production process isused as fodder for farm animals. Meanwhile itbuys its steam from the power plant, and itswater from Lake Tisso. Christensen says thebasis for these arrangements has been commer-cially sound agreements that all parties enteredinto voluntarily.
In the U.S., many suggest that current regu-lations on waste make companies hesitant toengage in this kind of exchangethe Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA, Washington,D.C.) may step in and prohibit the reuse ofthese materials in industrial processes. "I haveheard that there are regulatory barriers to thesensible reuse of waste elsewhere," Christensensays. "Luckily, we have been able to talk to authori-ties here and come to reasonable agreements aboutthese things."
According to Ernie Lowe, of IndigoDevelopment (Oakland, CA), whose com-pany is in the process of developing and retrofittingindustrial parks internationally, these types of rea-sonable agreements may be justaround the corner in the U.S.He says the EPA itself has cometo realize that regulationswhich prevent waste reuse arenot always in their best in-terest. "One of the strongcurrents in thinking atthe EPA is the recogni-tion of the limits ofregulation and how theyact to the detriment of environment," he says. As aresult, Lowe says that the EPA Futures Group hascommissioned his group to write a primer on indus-trial ecology. He says this primer will serve as thefoundation for an EPA-funded industrial park that
will put these principles into action. "The EPAdemonstrates its commitment to these principlesthrough projects like these and through a moresystematic approach to regulation," he says. "Thisshould remove the barriers to the implementation ofKalundborg-like parks in the U.S."
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810/TECHNOLOGY VOL. 13 JANUARY 1995 33
A fascinating
possibility is
that biotech
drug makers
will some day
be able to
adapt these
enzymatic
processes to
transform what
are now
chemical waste
streams into
difficult-to-
synthesize
therapeutics.
savings that result from implementing this process."But when we considered the elimination of the costsinvolved in handling hazardous chemicals combinedwith the simplicity of the new factory's design," hesays, "we decided to try and implement the programplantwide."
Brauer has heard that companies like BASF(Ludwigshafen, Germany), Bayer (Leverkusen,Germany), Eli Lilly (Indianapolis, IN), andMonsanto (St. Louis, MO) are all looking intosimilar processes. "This is a general development inthe field prompted not only by law but by internalinterest," he says. According to Brauer, the majorblock to this type of innovation for existing pro-cesses will not be research and development but theregulatory approvals involved. "Since a pharma-ceutical or an agricultural product may requirehundreds of million of dollars to get product ap-proval, if you want to change the process you mustmost often also repeat all the regulatory trialsit isclear that no one will do that."
Brauer believes that a method is needed to gainregulatory approval for an approved product'sbioequivalence so that all the tests do not have to berepeated. He says that, in the European community,the matter is currently under consideration. "Thereview is absolutely necessary if we are going tomodernize our industries with environmentallyfriendly processes such as engineered enzymes andmicroorganisms," says Brauer.
Drugs from WasteA fascinating possibility is that biotech drug mak-
ers will some day be able to adapt these enzymaticprocesses to transform what are now chemical wastestreams into difficult-to-synthesize therapeutics. TomasHudlicky, in the chemistry department of VirginiaPolytechnic Instate and State University (Blacksburg,VA), says he has already demonstrated this by usingbacteria to produce a variety of potential drugs, includ-ing glycosidase inhibitors434 and the precursors oftaxorpotentially potent cancer therapeutics. "We'vealso just finished working out the synthesis of theanticancer alkaloid pancratistatin in 13 steps," saysHudlicky. "The National Cancer Institute (Bethesda,MD) has requested proposals for this because theywould like to do clinical trials in ovarian cancer andleukemia with it but they can't get enough of the drug."Hudlicky says that so far his group has developed 20or so natural compounds and carbohydrates throughthese biocatalytic synthesis methods.
Despite these successes, Hudlicky thinks thatthe U.S. academic community has been less-than-
' receptive to his discoveries. "The U.S. is not exactlythe center of open mindedness when it comes tothese methods," he says. "So far, the National Insti-tutes of Health (NIH, Washington, D.C.) has re-jected 10 grant proposals I've submitted relatingsynthetic chemistry and biology." Hudlicky saysthat while Europeans have caught on to these meth-ods, his NIH study section reviewers don't see it asnew chemistry. "The people who review these grantsact as if they did not want this type of chemistry tobe available," he says. "Traditional synthesis ofthese compounds usually requires 30-plus steps, butour methods get you to the same place in six or seven."
34 BIOTECHNOLOGY VOL. 13 JANUARY 1995
118
Hudlicky feels fortunate that individual review-ers at the National Science Foundation (NSF, Wash-ington, D.C.) are not of the same mind as NIH grantreviewers. The NSF, through a joint program withthe EPA called the "Environmentally Benign Syn-thesis Initiative," is funding his work. But to makeresearch ends meet, he has been forced to findsupport elsewhere. At present, Mallinckrodt (St.Louis, MO), and Genencor International (So. SanFrancisco, CA) are also supporting his research.
Genencor's Gregg Whited is particularly upbeatabout the potential of Hudlicky's waste-stream-de-rived products. "There is tremendous potential there,once the microbiology gets polished up," he says. Asfor funding problems for this type of work, Whited saysGenencor's history of working with enzymatic pro-cesses has taught him that there is an inherent resistancebetween chemists and biologists when it comes tocoming up with the best way to make a compound. "Forsome reason," he says, "the traditional view is that ifyou can't order it from Sigma (St. Louis, MO) it's justnot real."
Whited says he has had the experience of presentingbiocatalytic reactions to chemists and have them leavethe room without a question. But when he shows asimilar group the same reactions without mentioningthey are enzymatically catalyzed, they are fascinated.He says what will eventually turn it around is whenchemists become convinced that the enzymatic reac-tion is the cheaper way of doing things. He thinksHudlicky's work will help move them in that direction.
ConclusionsBy considering industrial ecology, companies plan-
ning to build new facilities may find more cost-effec-tive ways to set up their processing sites that not onlyreduce energy consumption but turn waste streams intoprofit. Researchers looking for new challengeswhether entrepreneurial or scientificmay find a readymarket for translating their drug-development skillsinto environmental applications. New drug manufac-turing strategies may even emerge as byproducts ofindustrial ecology strategies. The greatest short-termbenefit the biotech industry may get from developingnew products from waste streams is widespread publicsupport for an industry that delivers on going "green."
References1. Technology for a Sustainable Future. 1994. Washington, D.C.:
Office of Science and Technology Policy.2. Erkman. S. 1994. Ecologic industrielle, metabolisme industriel, et
societe d'utilisation. In press.3. Frosch. R.. and N. Gallopoulos. 1989. Strategies for manufactur-
ing. Scientific American 261:144-152.4. Hudlicky, 1..1. Rouden. and H. Luna. 1993. Rational design of aza
sugars via biocatalysis: Mannojirimycin and other glycosidaseinhibitors. J. Org. Chem 58:985-987.
5. Hudlicky, T., J. Rouden, H. Luna, and S. Allen. 1994. Microbialoxidation of aromatics in enantiocontrolled synthesis. 2. J. Am.Chem. Soc. 116:5099-5107.
6. Hudlicky, T., H. Olivo. and B. McKibben. 1994. Microbial oxia,-don of aromatics in enantiocontrolled synthesis. 3. J. Am. ChemSoc. 116:5108-5115.
7. Konigsberger, K., and T. Hudlicky. 1993. Microbial oxidation of2-bromostyrene byPseudomonas putida 39/D. Isolation and iden-tification of metabolites. Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 12:2469-2474.
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tter's
ent
ry in
to fo
rce
for
all t
hree
coun
trie
s.' N
AF
TA
affir
ms
the
right
of e
ach
coun
try
to c
hoos
e th
e le
vel o
f pro
tect
ion
ofhu
man
, ani
mal
or
plan
t life
or
heal
th o
r of
env
ironm
enta
l pro
tect
ion
that
it c
onsi
ders
app
ropr
iate
. Mor
eove
r, e
ach
coun
try
may
mai
ntai
n an
dad
opt s
tand
ards
and
phy
to s
anita
ry m
easu
res,
incl
udin
g th
ose
mor
est
ringe
nt th
an in
tern
atio
nal s
tand
ards
, to
secu
re it
s ch
osen
leve
l of
prot
ectio
n.T
here
are
pro
visi
ons
in th
e N
AF
TA
whi
ch e
stab
lish
stan
dard
ssu
bcom
mitt
ees
to w
ork
to m
ake
com
patib
le s
tand
ards
-rel
ated
mea
sure
sin
the
area
s of
, for
exa
mpl
e, v
ehic
le e
mis
sion
s an
d ot
her
mot
or c
arrie
ren
viro
nmen
tal p
ollu
tion
leve
ls. T
he p
artie
s al
so a
gree
to p
rom
ote
mak
-in
g co
mpa
tible
sta
ndar
ds-r
elat
ed m
easu
res
that
are
dev
elop
ed o
r m
ain-
tain
ed b
y st
ate,
pro
vinc
ial a
nd lo
cal a
utho
ritie
s an
d pr
ivat
e se
ctor
orga
niza
tions
;' ho
wev
er, t
here
is n
othi
ng in
the
agre
emen
t whi
ch
2T
hese
agr
eem
ents
wer
e ci
ted
earli
er in
Wei
ntra
ub's
cha
pter
for
this
vol
ume.
3Ib
id.,
Ann
exes
913
A-C
.12
2
296
Ass
essi
ng N
AF
TA
oblig
es c
ount
ries
with
"st
rict
er"
envi
ronm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds to
har
mon
ize
thos
e st
anda
rds
with
the
"mor
ela
x" s
tand
ards
of
othe
r trad
ing
part
ners
.O
n th
e co
ntra
ry, c
ount
ries
are
free
to r
aise
thei
r en
viro
nmen
tal
stan
-da
rds
to w
hate
ver
chos
en le
vel
is d
esir
able
.T
o be
sur
e, d
ispu
tes
may
ari
se o
ver
whe
ther
spe
cifi
c en
viro
nmen
tal
prov
isio
ns a
re m
erel
y di
sgui
sed
trad
e ba
rrie
rs.
In d
ispu
tes
rega
rdin
g a
coun
try'
s st
anda
rds
that
rai
sefa
ctua
l iss
ues
conc
erni
ng th
e en
viro
nmen
t, th
atco
untr
y m
ay c
hoos
e to
hav
e th
edi
sput
e su
bmitt
ed to
the
NA
FTA
disp
ute
settl
emen
t pro
cedu
re r
athe
rth
an to
pro
cedu
res
unde
ran
othe
r tr
ade
agre
emen
t suc
h as
GA
TT
. The
sam
e op
tion
is a
vaila
ble
for di
sput
es c
once
rnin
gira
tle m
easu
res
take
nun
der
spec
ifie
d in
tern
atio
nal
envi
ronm
enta
lag
reem
ents
. The
pan
elhe
arin
g th
e di
sput
e w
illpr
esum
ably
see
k to
det
erm
ine
if th
e ac
tion
take
n is
cre
dibl
e on
env
iron
men
tal
(or
rela
ted)
gro
unds
or
whe
ther
itis
tran
spar
ently
a tr
ade
prot
ectio
nist
mea
sure
. In
disp
ute
settl
emen
t, th
eco
mpl
aini
ng c
ount
ry b
ears
the
burd
en o
fpr
ovin
g th
at a
noth
er N
AFT
Aco
untr
y's
envi
ronm
enta
l or
heal
thm
easu
re is
inco
nsis
tent
with
NA
FTA
.In
wha
t is
argu
ably
a ne
w d
epar
ture
for
an
inte
rnat
iona
ltr
ade
agre
emen
t, th
e N
AFT
A c
onta
ins
gene
ral s
tate
men
ts th
at th
e si
gnat
orie
sw
ill w
ork
join
tly to
enh
ance
the
prot
ectio
n of
hum
an, a
nim
al a
nd p
lant
life
and
heal
th a
nd th
een
viro
nmen
t. T
his
oste
nsib
ly r
efer
s to
ear
lier
com
mitm
ents
on
the
part
of
the
nego
tiato
rs to
carr
y on
par
alle
l dis
cus-
sion
s re
gard
ing
envi
ronm
enta
lin
itiat
ives
. The
Agr
eem
ent a
lso
embo
d-ie
s a
gene
ral s
tate
men
t tha
t no
NA
FTA
cou
ntry
sho
uld
low
er it
she
alth
,sa
fety
or
envi
ronm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds f
or th
epu
rpos
e of
attr
actin
g in
vest
-m
ent.
It is
unc
lear
at t
his
time
how
effe
ctiv
ely
this
latte
r cl
ause
can
be
enfo
rced
giv
en th
atco
mpl
aint
s w
ould
hav
e to
be
hand
led
thro
ugh
adi
sput
e re
solu
tion
proc
edur
e. M
oreo
ver,
itis
unc
lear
wha
t sta
ndar
ds o
fev
iden
ce w
ould
be
requ
ired
to "
prov
e" th
at in
vest
men
tpa
ttern
s w
ere
chan
ged
by c
hang
es in
env
iron
men
tal l
aws
and
stan
dard
s.Fi
nally
, as
part
of
the
para
llel t
rack
nego
tiatio
ns, M
exic
o an
d th
eU
.S. a
gree
d in
the
spri
ng o
f 19
92 to
a c
oope
rativ
e pl
an f
orim
prov
ing
the
envi
ronm
ent a
long
the
bord
er. A
spa
rt o
f th
is p
lan,
the
U.S
. gov
ernm
ent
pled
ged
$379
mill
ion
over
two
year
s fo
rva
riou
s ac
tiviti
es, w
hile
the
Mex
ican
gov
ernm
ent's
sha
re is
$466
mill
ion.
Cri
tics
of th
eco
oper
ativ
epl
an h
ave
focu
sed
on tw
o is
sues
inpa
rtic
ular
: (i)
the
failu
re o
f th
e pl
an
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d tle
Env
ironm
ent
297
to o
utlin
e an
y ne
w r
even
ue-r
aisi
ng m
easu
res
for
bord
er e
nvir
onm
enta
lpr
ogra
ms;
(ii)
the
abse
nce
of a
bin
atio
nal e
nfor
cem
ent g
roup
lega
llyem
pow
ered
to e
nfor
ce p
ollu
tion
law
s on
bot
h si
des
of th
e bo
rder
.'In
sho
rt, t
he N
AFT
A e
mbo
dies
sev
eral
uni
que,
alb
eit g
ener
al c
om-
itmen
ts to
pro
tect
the
envi
ronm
ent a
nd to
ens
ure
that
env
iron
men
tal
amen
ities
are
not
sac
rifi
ced
to a
ttrac
t cap
ital i
nves
tmen
t. T
he la
tter
com
mitm
ent i
s an
obv
ious
obe
isan
ce to
arg
umen
ts r
aise
d by
cri
tics
ofN
AFT
A th
at "
envi
ronm
enta
l dum
ping
" w
ill ta
ke p
lace
, whe
reby
toxi
cfi
rms
relo
cate
to M
exic
o to
eva
de s
tric
ter
enfo
rcem
ent o
f en
viro
nmen
tal
stan
dard
s in
the
Uni
ted
Stal
es a
nd C
anad
a. P
reci
sely
how
and
to w
hat
exte
nt th
ese
com
mitm
ents
will
be
carr
ied
out i
n pr
actic
e is
unc
lear
at t
hepr
esen
t tim
e. I
ndiv
idua
l cou
ntri
es r
etai
n so
vere
ignt
y ov
er th
eir
dom
es-.
tic h
ealth
and
saf
ety
stan
dard
s, a
lthou
gh th
ese
stan
dard
s ca
n be
cha
l-le
nged
as
unw
arra
nted
trad
e re
stri
ctio
ns.
Eco
nom
ic I
ncen
tives
and
the
Env
iron
men
tIt
is c
lear
that
the
NA
FTA
,pe
r se
,do
es n
othi
ng d
irec
tly to
wea
ken
envi
ronm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds a
nd th
eir
enfo
rcem
ent i
n th
e m
embe
r co
un-
trie
s. T
hat i
s, c
ount
ries
are
fre
e to
str
engt
hen
thei
r en
viro
nmen
tal l
aws
and
enfo
rcem
ent e
ffor
ts a
s lo
ng a
s "l
egiti
mat
e" e
nvir
onm
enta
l obj
ec-
tives
arc
bei
ng p
ursu
ed. H
ence
, pot
entia
l env
iron
men
tal o
bjec
tions
toN
AFT
A m
ust b
e ba
sed
on th
e ad
vers
e im
pact
s th
at tr
ade
liber
aliz
atio
nha
s, d
irec
tly o
r in
dire
ctly
, on
envi
ronm
enta
l am
eniti
es. I
n th
is s
ectio
n,w
e co
nsid
er th
e po
tent
ial f
or s
uch
impa
cts.
The
rel
atio
nshi
p be
twee
n ec
onom
ic a
ctiv
ity a
nd th
e en
viro
nmen
tca
n be
mad
e m
ore
expl
icit
by n
otin
g th
at a
ll ec
onom
ic a
ctiv
ities
invo
lve
the
tran
sfor
mat
ion
of s
peci
fic
inpu
ts in
to s
peci
fic
outp
uts.
Som
e of
the
inpu
ts u
tiliz
ed w
ill b
e cl
osel
y re
late
d to
env
iron
men
tal a
men
ities
suc
has
cle
an a
ir a
nd c
lean
wat
er. F
or e
xam
ple,
the
activ
ities
in q
uest
ion
mig
ht u
tiliz
e w
ater
as
a di
rect
inpu
t in
the
prod
uctio
n pr
oces
s or
they
4Fo
r a
deta
iled
disc
ussi
on o
f th
e bo
rder
env
iron
men
tal p
lan,
see
Jan
Gilb
reat
h R
ich,
Pla
nnin
g th
e B
orde
r's F
utur
e: T
he M
exic
an-U
.S. I
nteg
rate
dH
orde
,. E
nvir
onm
enta
l Pla
n, A
ustin
: The
Uni
vers
ity o
f T
exas
, I.J
3J S
choo
l of
Publ
ic A
ffai
rs, U
.S.-
Mex
ican
Occ
asio
nal P
aper
No.
1, M
arch
199
2.
_12
312
4
298
Ass
essi
ng N
AF
TA
mig
ht u
se w
ater
indi
rect
ly, e
.g. b
y du
mpi
ng w
aste
byp
rodu
cts
into
near
by w
ater
way
s. I
t is
diff
icul
t to
be p
reci
se in
def
inin
g en
viro
nmen
tal
amen
ities
, sin
ce w
hat i
s in
clud
ed in
the
defi
nitio
n w
ill d
epen
d, in
par
t,up
on th
e ta
stes
and
pre
fere
nces
of
the
indi
vidu
al o
ffer
ing
the
defi
nitio
n.Fo
r ex
ampl
e, s
ome
mig
ht o
pt f
or a
bro
ad d
efin
ition
incl
udin
g cl
ean
air
and
wat
er, t
he p
rese
rvat
ion
of b
iodi
vers
ity, t
he p
rese
rvat
ion
of w
ilder
-ne
ss a
reas
and
so
fort
h. O
ther
s m
ight
opt
for
a n
arro
wer
def
initi
on.
For
purp
oses
of
this
dis
cuss
ion,
we
do n
ot n
eed
to d
efin
e en
viro
n-m
enta
l am
eniti
es p
reci
sely
; how
ever
, it i
s us
eful
to b
e ab
le to
thin
k of
thes
e am
eniti
es a
s be
ing
divi
sibl
e an
d as
bei
ng "
used
up"
by
spec
ific
econ
omic
act
iviti
es to
a g
reat
er o
r le
sser
ext
ent.
In th
is c
onte
xt, t
rade
liber
aliz
atio
n w
ould
dam
age
the
envi
ronm
ent t
o th
e ex
tent
that
itac
cele
rate
d th
e ra
te a
t whi
ch e
nvir
onm
enta
l am
eniti
es a
re u
sed
up. 1
3yth
e sa
me
toke
n, o
ther
eco
nom
ic a
ctiv
ities
can
hav
e th
e ef
fect
of
incr
eas-
ing
avai
labl
e en
viro
nmen
tal i
nput
s, e
.g. w
ater
trea
tmen
t pro
cedu
res
whi
ch r
educ
e ch
emic
al a
nd o
ther
pol
luta
nts
in w
ater
way
s.In
this
con
text
, the
re a
re s
ever
al w
ays
in w
hich
eco
nom
ic a
ctiv
ityca
n af
fect
the
envi
ronm
ent.
Mos
t dir
ectly
, an
incr
ease
in th
e ov
eral
l lev
elof
eco
nom
ic a
ctiv
ity w
ould
pre
sum
ably
lead
to a
n in
crea
se in
the
utili
zatio
n of
env
iron
men
tal i
nput
s. C
hang
es in
the
mix
of
econ
omic
activ
ities
can
lead
eith
er to
incr
ease
s or
dec
reas
es in
the
utili
zatio
n of
envi
ronm
enta
l inp
uts.
For
exa
mpl
e, a
s re
al in
com
es r
ise,
the
dem
and
for
envi
ronm
enta
l am
eniti
es s
houl
d in
crea
se. W
hile
the
incr
ease
inde
man
d m
ay b
e re
lativ
ely
smal
l at l
ow le
vels
of
inco
me,
it c
an b
eex
pect
ed to
incr
ease
at a
fas
ter
rate
as
a na
tion
beco
mes
wea
lthie
r. I
nm
ore
tech
nica
l ter
ms,
the
inco
me
elas
ticity
of
dem
and
for
envi
ronm
en-
tal i
nput
s is
arg
uabl
y po
sitiv
e an
d la
rger
at h
ighe
r le
vels
of
inco
me.
' If
dem
and
turn
s st
ron
gly
in th
e di
rect
ion
of c
onsu
min
g m
ore
envi
ronm
en-
tal a
men
ities
, it i
s qu
ite p
ossi
ble
that
incr
ease
d le
vels
of
econ
omic
activ
ity (
and
resu
lting
incr
ease
s in
inco
me
leve
ls)
may
lead
to o
vera
llde
crea
ses
in th
e ut
iliza
tion
of e
nvir
onm
enta
l inp
uts.
°
5In
com
e el
astic
ity o
f de
man
d is
def
ined
as
the
perc
enta
ge c
hang
e in
the
quan
tity
dem
ande
d of
a s
peci
fic
good
div
ided
by
the
perc
enta
ge c
hang
e in
real
inco
me.
6T
hat i
s to
say
, a s
hift
tow
ards
a m
ix o
f "c
lean
er"
activ
ities
mig
ht o
ffse
t the
125
Tra
de L
ibem
lizat
io a
nd th
e E
nviro
nmen
t29
9
Ord
inar
ily th
ere
will
be
seve
ral
diff
eren
t way
s to
pro
duce
a g
iven
prod
uct.
Put i
n ot
her
wor
ds,
seve
ral e
cono
mic
act
iviti
es m
ay r
esul
t in
the
sam
e or
sim
ilar
prod
ucts
bei
ng p
rodu
ced.
The
act
iviti
es d
iffe
r in
the
sens
e th
at d
iffe
rent
mix
esof
fac
tor
inpu
ts a
re u
sed;
e.g
. som
e us
e m
ore
labo
ur r
elat
ive
to c
apita
l, so
me
use
mor
e ca
pita
lre
lativ
e to
labo
ur a
nd
so f
orth
. In
this
con
text
, som
e ac
tiviti
es m
ay u
seen
viro
nmen
tal r
e-
sour
ces
mor
e in
tens
ivel
yth
an o
ther
s. A
s no
ted
abov
e, a
s in
com
esin
crea
se, m
embe
rs o
f a
soci
ety
in th
eir
role
s as
bot
h co
nsum
ers
and
vote
rs w
ill li
kely
spe
nd a
n in
crea
sing
shar
e of
thei
r in
com
es o
n ac
tiviti
es
whi
ch u
se r
elat
ivel
y sm
all a
mou
nts
ofen
viro
nmen
tal i
nput
s.D
iffe
rent
way
s to
pro
duce
any
giv
en p
rodu
ct m
ay p
ersi
stfo
r pe
ri-
ods
of ti
me,
eve
n if
som
e w
ays
are
clea
rly
less
eff
icie
nt th
an o
ther
s,
beca
use
inef
fici
ent p
rodu
cers
may
be
subs
idiz
ed o
r ot
herw
ise
prot
ecte
d
by th
e go
vern
men
t.In
crea
sed
com
petit
ion
can
be e
xpec
ted
to c
hang
eth
e m
ix o
f ac
tiviti
es in
use
. Spe
cifi
cally
,ac
tiviti
es w
hich
are
hig
h co
st
rela
tive
to o
ther
act
iviti
es p
rodu
cing
sim
ilar
prod
ucts
shou
ld b
e dr
iven
out o
f th
e ec
onom
y. I
n th
is r
espe
ct,t
rade
libe
raliz
atio
n ca
n be
exp
ecte
d
to le
ad to
suc
h a
ratio
nalis
atio
nof
pro
duct
ion
with
in a
pro
tect
ed e
con-
omy,
at l
east
on
the
mar
gin.
One
can
fit
the
"env
iron
men
tal d
umpi
ng"
argu
men
tint
o th
e fr
ame-
wor
k su
gges
ted
in th
e pr
eced
ing
para
grap
h. S
peci
fica
lly,pr
ior
to f
ree
trad
e, it
may
be
chea
per
to p
rodu
ce a
pro
duct
in th
e U
.S. t
han
in M
exic
o,
even
if c
erta
in c
osts
asso
ciat
ed w
ith e
nvir
onm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds m
ust b
e
born
e in
the
U.S
., be
caus
e of
rel
ativ
ely
high
U.S
. tar
iffs
on
Mex
ican
impo
rts.
If
thes
e ta
riff
s ar
eel
imin
ated
, pro
duce
rs m
ay f
ind
that
it is
chea
per
to m
ove
from
the
U.S
. to
Mex
ico
in o
rder
to a
void
cos
ts o
f
com
plyi
ng w
ithen
viro
nmen
tal s
tand
ards
.' In
eff
ect,
a re
duct
ion
in
prot
ectio
n in
the
U.S
. mig
htle
ad to
the
subs
titut
ion
of o
ne s
et o
fac
tiviti
es, i
.e. p
rodu
ctio
n in
Mex
ico,
for
anot
her
set o
f ac
tiviti
es, p
rodu
c-
tion
in th
e U
.S.,
hold
ing
the
prod
uct c
onst
ant.
impa
ct o
f an
incr
ease
inth
e ov
eral
l lev
el o
f ec
onom
ic a
ctiv
ity.
Not
e th
at it
may
not
be
less
cos
tly in
aso
cial
sen
se if
the
cost
s of
envi
ronm
enta
l ext
erna
litie
s ar
e pr
oper
ly a
ttrib
uted
to p
rodu
ctio
nin
Mex
ico.
126
300
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
It s
houl
d be
not
ed th
at a
"re
vers
e du
mpi
ng"
argu
men
t can
als
o be
mad
e. N
amel
y, tr
ade
liber
aliz
atio
n m
ight
itse
lf -
prom
ote.
mar
ket o
ri-
ente
d re
form
s in
dom
estic
eco
nom
ic p
olic
ies
incl
udin
g re
duct
ions
ingo
vern
men
t sub
sidi
es a
nd o
ther
pri
cing
dis
tort
ions
. Suc
h re
form
s, in
turn
, cou
ld r
esul
t in
a su
bstit
utio
n of
less
env
iron
men
tally
dam
agin
gac
tiviti
es f
or m
ore
envi
ronm
enta
lly d
amag
ing
activ
ities
. Pro
babl
y th
em
ost r
elev
ant c
ase
in p
oint
her
e ar
e su
bsid
ies
exte
nded
by
man
y de
vel-
opin
g co
untr
ies
to e
nerg
y in
tens
ive
activ
ities
suc
h as
tran
spor
tatio
n an
dhe
avy
man
ufac
turi
ng.8
If
trad
e lib
eral
izat
ion
agre
emen
ts le
ad to
a r
e-du
ctio
n in
trad
e di
stor
ting
subs
idie
s, a
n im
port
ant b
ypro
duct
mig
ht b
ere
duce
d en
viro
nmen
tal p
ollu
tion,
sin
ce h
eavi
ly p
ollu
ting
activ
ities
,w
hich
are
oft
en th
e fo
cus
of g
over
nmen
t sub
sidi
es in
dev
elop
ing
coun
-tr
ies,
wou
ld b
ecom
e re
lativ
ely
less
pro
fita
ble.
In th
e ne
xt s
ectio
n, w
e co
nsid
er e
mpi
rica
l evi
denc
e be
arin
g up
onth
ese
pote
ntia
l lin
kage
s. T
he f
oreg
oing
dis
cuss
ion
sugg
ests
that
two
pote
ntia
l lin
kage
s ar
e pa
rtic
ular
ly r
elev
ant:
(i)
trad
e lib
eral
izat
ion
lead
sto
hig
her
inco
me
leve
ls w
hich
aff
ect b
oth
the
aggr
egat
e le
vel o
f ov
eral
lec
onom
ic a
ctiv
ity, a
s w
ell a
s th
e m
ix o
f ec
onom
ic a
ctiv
ities
; (ii)
the
pote
ntia
l for
pol
lutio
n in
tens
ive
activ
ities
to m
igra
te to
Mex
ico
as a
resu
lt of
low
er ta
riff
s in
the
Uni
ted
Stat
es a
nd C
anad
a co
unte
rbal
ance
dby
the
pote
ntia
l for
mar
ket r
efor
ms
in M
exic
o to
dis
cour
age
pollu
tion-
inte
nsiv
e ac
tiviti
es e
ither
dir
ectly
, or
indi
rect
ly.
Evi
denc
e on
Lin
kage
s be
twee
nT
rade
and
the
Env
iron
men
tA
s no
ted
abov
e, o
ne p
oten
tially
impo
rtan
t lin
kage
bet
wee
n tr
ade
liber
-al
izat
ion
and
the
envi
ronm
ent o
ccur
s th
roug
h th
e im
pact
of
high
erle
vels
of
econ
omic
act
ivity
. Spe
cifi
cally
, tra
de li
bera
lizat
ion
can
beex
pect
ed to
res
ult i
n a
fast
er e
xpan
sion
of
the
econ
omie
s of
the
free
trad
e
8O
bser
vers
hav
e no
ted
that
in m
any
deve
lopi
ng c
ount
ries
, in
part
icul
ar,
delib
erat
e "u
nder
pric
ing"
of
petr
oleu
m p
rodu
cts,
che
mic
al f
ertil
izer
s an
dth
e lik
e en
cour
ages
the
adop
tion
of e
nvir
onm
enta
lly in
tens
ive
prod
uctio
nte
chni
ques
. See
Kym
And
erso
n an
d R
icha
rd B
lack
hurs
t, "T
rade
, the
Env
iron
men
t and
Pub
lic P
olic
y,"
in K
ym A
nder
son
and
Ric
hard
Bla
ckhu
rst,
eds.
, The
Gre
enin
g of
Wor
ld T
rade
Iss
ues,
New
Yor
k: H
arve
ster
Whe
atsh
eaf,
199
2, p
p. 3
-22.
127
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d th
e E
nvir
onm
ent
301
area
than
wou
ld o
ther
wis
e ta
kepl
ace.
As
a co
nseq
uenc
e, th
ere
will
be
an e
ven
grea
ter
dem
and
for
allf
acto
rs o
f pr
oduc
tion
incl
udin
g en
viro
n-
men
tal a
men
ities
.A
t the
sam
e tim
e, h
ighe
r re
al in
com
ele
vels
sho
uld
enco
urag
e, a
t
som
e po
int,
incr
ease
d pr
ivat
ean
d pu
blic
dem
and
for
grea
ter
envi
ron-
men
tal a
men
ities
, and
the
incr
ease
d w
ealth
asso
ciat
ed w
ith f
aste
r ec
o-
nom
ic g
row
th e
nhan
ces
the
fina
ncia
l cap
aciti
esof
soc
ietie
s to
inve
st in
envi
ronm
enta
l pro
tect
ion
and
rem
edie
s.T
he f
oreg
oing
sug
gest
s th
at th
e re
latio
nshi
pbe
twee
n re
al in
com
e
leve
ls a
nd e
nvir
onm
enta
l pol
lutio
n m
ay n
otbe
line
ar. T
hat i
s, o
ver
an
initi
al r
ange
, the
dom
inat
ing
infl
uenc
e is
the
over
all l
evel
of
econ
omic
activ
ity. B
ut b
eyon
d so
me
poin
t, th
e ch
angi
ngm
ix o
f ac
tiviti
es to
war
ds
less
pol
lutin
g on
es w
ill c
ome
to b
eth
e do
min
atin
g in
flue
nce.
The
"sw
itcho
ver
poin
t" is
ulti
mat
ely
an e
mpi
rica
lis
sue.
Ava
ilabl
e st
udie
s pr
ovid
e su
ppor
t for
the
hypo
thes
isth
at th
e de
-
man
d fo
r a
clea
ner
and
heal
thie
r en
viro
nmen
tis
stro
ngly
and
pos
itive
ly
rela
ted
to h
ighe
r re
al in
com
e le
vels
, at l
east
beyo
nd s
ome
thre
shol
d
inco
me
leve
l. Fo
r ex
ampl
e, G
ross
man
and
Kru
eger
cor
rela
ted
the
leve
l
of s
ulph
ur d
ioxi
de a
nd s
mok
e w
ith p
erca
pita
inco
me
and
foun
d th
at
the
leve
l of
pollu
tion
rise
s un
til in
com
ere
ache
d $5
,000
per
hea
d (i
n 19
88
dolla
rs)
and
then
sta
rts
to f
all.9
By
way
of
back
grou
nd, M
exic
o's
real
inco
me
leve
l per
cap
ita in
199
1, m
easu
red
as g
ross
dom
estic
pro
duct
per
capi
ta in
U.S
. dol
lars
, was
bel
ow th
is th
resh
old
at$2
,365
. Inc
ome
leve
ls
for
Can
ada
and
the
U.S
. wer
e w
ell a
bove
this
thre
shol
d.In
the
abse
nce
of p
reci
se e
stim
ates
of
the
impa
cts
of tr
ade
liber
aliz
a-
tion
on th
e th
ree
coun
trie
s, it
is im
poss
ible
toin
fer
the
net i
mpa
ct o
f th
e
NA
FTA
on
sulp
hur
diox
ide
emis
sion
s; h
owev
er,a
naly
sts
tend
to a
gree
that
the
maj
or e
cono
mic
impa
cts
of a
NA
FTA
will
be
real
ized
by
Mex
ico.
Hen
ce, i
t is
at le
ast p
laus
ible
to a
rgue
that
sul
phur
em
issi
ons
will
incr
ease
as
a re
sult
of th
e N
AFT
A, a
t lea
stin
the
shor
t run
. How
ever
, to
the
exte
nt th
at N
AFT
A a
ccel
erat
es th
e gr
owth
of th
e M
exic
an e
cono
my,
9Se
e G
ene
Gro
ssm
an a
nd A
lan
Kru
eger
, "E
nvir
onm
enta
lIm
pact
s of
a N
orth
Am
eric
an F
ree
Tra
de A
gree
men
t," P
aper
prep
ared
for
a c
onfe
renc
e on
the
U.S
.-M
exic
o Fr
ee T
rade
Agr
eem
ent,
Prin
ceto
nU
nive
rsity
Pre
ss, O
ctob
er
1991
.
128
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d th
e E
nvir
onm
ent
303
302
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
it w
ill le
ad to
less
sul
phur
dio
xide
pol
lutio
n in
the
long
run
, sin
ce it
will
shor
ten
the
time
it ta
kes
Mex
ico
to r
each
the
"cro
ssov
er"
inco
me
leve
l.It
mig
ht b
e no
ted
that
est
imat
es b
y th
e W
orld
Ban
k al
so in
dica
te a
curv
iline
ar r
elat
ions
hip
betw
een
the
aver
age
ambi
ent l
evel
of
sulp
hur
diox
ide
and
real
inco
me
per
capi
ta; h
owev
er, t
heW
orld
Ban
k pl
aces
the
switc
hove
r in
com
e le
vel a
t clo
ser
to $
2,50
0.10
Thi
s es
timat
e w
ould
sug
-ge
st th
at th
e ef
fect
s of
the
NA
FTA
are
like
ly to
be
beni
gnin
bot
h th
esh
ort a
nd lo
ng r
un, s
ince
Mex
ico
will
cros
s th
is in
com
e th
resh
old
in th
ene
ar f
utur
e w
ith o
r w
ithou
t a N
AFT
A in
pla
ce.
Som
e ad
ditio
nal e
vide
nce
on th
e re
latio
nshi
pbe
twee
n in
com
e le
v-el
s an
d en
viro
nmen
tal a
men
ities
is p
rovi
ded
ina
stud
y by
Wal
ter
and
Uge
low
." B
ased
on q
uest
ionn
aire
s se
nt to
nat
iona
l off
icia
ls in
dev
el-
oped
and
dev
elop
ing
coun
trie
s, th
ey f
ound
that
whi
le th
e st
rict
ness
of
envi
ronm
enta
l pol
icie
s va
ried
with
in e
ach
grou
p, th
e le
vel o
f st
rict
ness
was
non
ethe
less
hig
her,
on
aver
age,
in th
e de
velo
ped
coun
trie
s. T
his
find
ing
is a
lso
cons
iste
nt w
ith o
bser
vatio
ns th
atur
ban
sani
tatio
n te
nds
to b
e an
incr
easi
ng f
unct
ion
of in
com
e at
all
inco
me
leve
ls, w
hile
ambi
ent l
evel
s of
par
ticle
s te
nd to
be
a de
crea
sing
fun
ctio
n of
inco
me
over
vir
tual
ly a
ll in
com
e le
vels
." T
his
latte
r ob
serv
atio
n su
gges
ts th
atN
AFT
A w
ill u
nam
bigu
ousl
y re
duce
pol
lutio
n re
late
dto
sew
age
and
ambi
ent p
artic
les
to th
e ex
tent
that
it a
ccel
erat
esin
com
e gr
owth
inM
exic
o an
d, to
a le
sser
ext
ent,
in C
anad
a an
d th
eU
nite
d St
ates
.T
o be
sur
e, s
ome
form
s of
env
iron
men
tal p
ollu
tion
incr
ease
with
high
er n
atio
nal i
ncom
e le
vels
. For
exa
mpl
e, c
arbo
n-di
oxid
eem
issi
ons
tend
to in
crea
se f
airl
y un
ifor
mly
with
hig
her
inco
me
leve
ls, a
s do
es s
olid
was
te."
The
se o
bser
vatio
ns q
ualif
yan
una
mbi
guou
s co
nclu
sion
that
the
inco
me
effe
cts
of a
NA
FTA
will
eith
er b
e be
nign
or f
avou
rabl
e fo
ren
viro
nmen
tal a
men
ities
in N
orth
Am
eric
a. N
ever
thel
ess,
take
n on
bala
nce,
one
mus
t con
clud
e th
at th
e ec
onom
icgr
owth
stim
ulat
ed b
y a
10Se
e "T
he E
nvir
onm
ent:
Who
se W
orld
Is
It, A
nyw
ay?"
.T
he E
cono
mis
t, M
ay30
, 199
2, p
. 8.
IIIn
go W
alte
r an
d J.
Uge
low
, "E
nvir
onm
enta
l Atti
tude
sin
Dev
elop
ing
Cou
ntri
es,"
Res
ourc
es P
olic
y, V
ol. 4
, 197
8,pp
. 200
-209
.
12Se
e T
he E
cono
mis
t, op
. cit.
13T
he E
cono
mis
t, Q
p. c
it. 29
NA
FTA
may
wel
l be
posi
tive,
on
bala
nce,
for
the
envi
ronm
ent i
n te
rms
of r
educ
ing
the
utili
zatio
n of
env
iron
men
tal a
men
ities
. The
mai
nef
fect
here
is th
e in
crea
sed
dem
and
for
a cl
eane
r en
viro
nmen
t whi
ch is
ass
o-ci
ated
with
a s
hift
ing
away
fro
m p
ollu
tion-
inte
nsiv
eac
tiviti
es."
Ano
ther
impo
rtan
t em
piri
cal r
elat
ions
hip
rela
tes
to th
e en
viro
n-m
enta
l dum
ping
issu
e or
the
relo
catio
n of
pol
lutio
n in
tens
ive
activ
ities
to M
exic
o. A
s no
ted
earl
ier,
one
arg
umen
t hol
dsth
at a
red
uctio
n in
Can
adia
n an
d U
.S. t
arif
fs w
ill, o
n th
e m
argi
n, m
ake
it m
ore
attr
activ
efo
r po
llutin
g fi
rms
to r
eloc
ate
to M
exic
o in
ord
er to
ser
veth
e N
orth
Am
eric
an m
arke
t. A
rel
ated
con
cern
is th
at in
crea
sed
com
petit
ion
asso
-ci
ated
with
trad
e lib
eral
izat
ion
will
lead
dom
estic
pro
duce
rs to
"che
at"
with
res
pect
to o
beyi
ng e
nvir
onm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds o
r th
at it
will
lead
toin
crea
sed
and
effe
ctiv
e lo
bbyi
ng e
ffor
ts to
hav
e en
viro
nmen
tal s
tan-
dard
s re
laxe
d."
The
arg
umen
t tha
t fir
ms
faci
ng th
e co
mpe
titiv
e pr
essu
res
offr
ee
trad
e w
ill a
band
on e
nvir
onm
enta
l res
pons
ibili
tyan
d ig
nore
cod
ifie
d (o
r
unco
difi
ed)
stan
dard
s, i.
e. u
se il
lega
l, po
llutio
n-in
tens
ive
prod
uctio
nte
chni
ques
, beg
s th
e qu
estio
n: w
hy w
ould
they
not
als
o ch
eat p
rior
toth
e im
plem
enta
tion
of a
fre
e tr
ade
agre
emen
t if
they
thou
ghtt
hey
coul
ddo
so
with
impu
nity
? Pe
rhap
s th
e ri
sks
of g
ettin
g ca
ught
bec
ome
wor
th
taki
ng w
hen
a fi
rm is
fac
ed w
ith th
e im
min
ent p
rosp
ect o
f ba
nkru
ptcy
;ho
wev
er, w
ides
prea
d in
crea
ses
in r
isks
of
bank
rupt
cy c
anno
tbe
rea
lis-
tical
ly c
onte
mpl
ated
pur
ely
as a
con
sequ
ence
of
NA
FTA
.A
noth
er s
cena
rio
is th
at n
atio
nal g
over
nmen
ts w
ill b
e le
ss in
clin
edto
pas
s an
d en
forc
e en
viro
nmen
tal s
tand
ards
giv
enin
dust
rial
dis
loca
-
tions
and
any
sho
rt-t
erm
incr
ease
s in
une
mpl
oym
ent
asso
ciat
ed w
ithad
just
men
ts to
trad
e lib
eral
izat
ion.
Ind
eed,
gov
ernm
ents
mig
ht r
ely
upon
red
uced
reg
ulat
ion
of b
usin
ess
as a
form
of
"adj
ustm
ent a
ssis
-ta
nce"
for
dom
estic
indu
stri
es. E
quiv
alen
tly, g
over
nmen
tsm
ight
rel
ax
dom
estic
env
iron
men
tal s
tand
ards
in o
rder
to p
erm
it do
mes
ticfi
rms
to
Not
e th
at s
uch
shif
ting
can
refl
ect g
reat
er u
tiliz
atio
n of
pol
lutio
nab
atem
ent
equi
pmen
t or
prac
tices
in a
ctiv
ities
whi
ch h
ither
to w
ere
rela
tivel
ypo
llutio
n
inte
nsiv
e.
15Se
e Pe
ter
Em
erso
n an
d R
aym
ond
Mik
esel
l, N
orth
Am
eric
an F
ree
Tra
de: A
Surv
ey o
f E
nvir
onm
enta
l Con
cern
s, S
an F
ranc
isco
: Pac
ific
Res
earc
h In
stitu
tePo
licy
Bri
efin
g, m
imeo
, Dec
embe
r 19
91.
130
304
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
com
pete
on
a "l
evel
pla
ying
fie
ld"
with
fir
ms
base
d in
cou
ntri
esw
ithw
eake
r en
viro
nmen
tal s
tand
ards
and
/or
enfo
rcem
ent p
ract
ices
.I6
Bot
h th
e en
viro
nmen
tal d
umpi
ng a
nd th
e st
anda
rds
rela
xatio
nar
gum
ents
are
ulti
mat
ely
empi
rica
l iss
ues.
In
both
case
s, e
mpi
rica
lev
iden
ce p
rovi
des
little
sup
port
for
the
argu
men
ts. S
ince
the
bulk
of
the
avai
labl
e ev
iden
ce r
elat
es to
the
envi
ronm
enta
l dum
ping
issu
e,w
e sh
all
revi
ew th
at e
vide
nce
firs
t.O
ne c
ompr
ehen
sive
rev
iew
of
the
envi
ronm
enta
l eco
nom
ics
liter
a-tu
re c
oncl
udes
that
dom
estic
env
iron
men
tal m
easu
res
have
not i
nduc
edin
dust
rial
flig
ht a
nd th
e de
velo
pmen
t of
pollu
tion
have
ns. T
hepr
imar
yre
ason
see
ms
to b
e th
at th
e co
sts
of p
ollu
tion
cont
rol h
ave
not,
in f
act,
loom
ed v
ery
larg
e ev
en in
hea
vily
pol
lutin
g in
dust
ries
(i.e
.on
the
orde
rof
onl
y 1
to 2
.5%
of
tota
l cos
ts in
mos
t pol
lutio
n-in
tens
ive
indu
stri
es).
Such
sm
all i
ncre
men
ts to
cos
ts a
re li
kely
to b
e sw
ampe
d in
thei
rim
pact
on in
tern
atio
nal t
rade
by
othe
r ef
fect
s su
ch a
s di
ffer
entia
ls in
labo
urco
st.° Sp
ecif
ic s
tudi
es c
an b
e ci
ted
to r
einf
orce
this
con
clus
ion.
For
exam
-pl
e, L
eona
rd f
ound
no
evid
ence
in o
vera
ll st
atis
tics
on f
orei
gn in
vest
-m
ents
by
U.S
. com
pani
es a
nd U
.S. i
mpo
rts
of m
anuf
actu
red
good
s th
atke
y hi
gh p
ollu
tion
indu
stri
es h
ave
shif
ted
mor
e pr
oduc
tion
faci
litie
sov
erse
as in
res
pons
e to
env
iron
men
tal r
egul
atio
ns. Y
et in
a f
ew h
igh
pollu
tion,
haz
ardo
us p
rodu
ctio
n in
dust
ries
, env
iron
men
tal r
egul
atio
nsan
d w
orkp
lace
-hea
lth s
tand
ards
hav
e be
com
ea
mor
e pr
omin
ent a
ndpo
ssib
ly d
ecis
ive
fact
or in
indu
stri
al lo
catio
n an
d ha
ve le
d U
.S. f
irm
sto
mov
e pr
oduc
tion
abro
ad. E
xam
ples
of
such
indu
stri
es a
rc th
ose
that
16A
n al
tern
ativ
e ve
rsio
n of
this
arg
umen
t mig
ht h
old
that
sta
ndar
ds in
the
U.S
. and
Can
ada
will
be
"har
mon
ized
dow
nwar
d" to
be
mad
e co
mpa
tible
with
sta
ndar
ds in
Mex
ico.
17Se
e M
aure
en L
. Cro
pper
and
Wal
lace
Oat
es, "
Env
iron
men
tal E
cono
mic
s:A
Sur
vey,
" T
he J
ourn
al o
f E
cono
mic
Lite
ratu
re, V
ol. X
XX
, Jun
e 19
92,
pp.
675-
740.
Ano
ther
mor
e fo
cuse
d lit
erat
ure
revi
ewco
mes
to th
e sa
me
conc
lusi
on, n
amel
y, th
ere
is n
o ev
iden
ce to
sup
port
the
hypo
thes
is th
atm
ore
stri
ngen
t reg
ulat
ions
in o
ne c
ount
ry w
illre
sult
inlo
ss o
fco
mpe
titiv
enes
s, a
nd p
erha
ps in
dust
rial
flig
ht a
nd th
e de
velo
pmen
t of
pollu
tion
have
ns. S
ee J
udith
M. D
ean,
"T
rade
and
the
Env
iron
men
t: A
Surv
ey o
f th
e L
itera
ture
," B
ackg
roun
d Pa
per,
Was
hing
ton,
D.C
.: T
heW
d B
ank,
199
2.
131
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d lit
e E
nvir
onm
ent
305
prod
uce
high
ly to
xic,
dan
gero
us o
r ca
rcin
ogen
ic p
rodu
cts,
suc
h as
copp
er, z
inc
and
lead
. For
thes
e la
tter
indu
stri
es, e
nvir
onm
enta
l reg
u-la
tions
hav
e co
mbi
ned
with
oth
er c
hang
ing
loca
tion
ince
ntiv
es a
ndec
onom
ic p
robl
ems
to s
peed
inte
rnat
iona
l dis
pers
ion
of c
apac
ity.'"
In a
sim
ilar
vein
, Wal
ter
repo
rts
that
cer
tain
cop
per
smel
ters
, pet
ro-
leum
ref
iner
ies,
asb
esto
s pl
ants
and
fer
ro-a
lloy
plan
ts h
ave
repo
rted
lybe
en c
onst
ruct
ed a
broa
d ra
ther
than
in th
e U
.S. f
or e
nvir
onm
enta
lre
ason
s. M
oreo
ver,
som
e re
cent
Jap
anes
e po
llutio
n-in
tens
ive
indu
stri
esha
ve r
epor
tedl
y be
en c
hann
elle
d to
dev
elop
ing
coun
trie
s in
Sou
thea
stA
sia
and
Lat
in A
mer
ica;
how
ever
, the
re is
no
evid
ence
of
a "m
assi
ve"
envi
ronm
ent-
indu
ced
shif
t in
the
loca
tion
of p
rodu
ctio
n ca
paci
ty. M
ore-
over
, a s
igni
fica
nt a
mou
nt o
f th
e ob
serv
edge
ogra
phic
al m
obili
ty o
fpr
oduc
tion
invo
lves
cas
es w
here
maj
or p
roje
cts
wer
e ab
solu
tely
bar
red
for
envi
ronm
enta
l rea
sons
.°R
ubin
and
Gra
ham
con
clud
e th
at d
urin
g th
e de
cade
of
the
1970
s,du
ring
whi
ch c
ompl
ex e
nvir
onm
enta
l reg
ulat
ions
and
hig
h po
llutio
nco
sts
wer
e im
pose
d on
indu
stri
es, t
he o
vera
ll fo
reig
n in
vest
men
tan
dim
port
tren
ds o
f th
e m
iner
al p
roce
ssin
g, c
hem
ical
and
pul
p an
d pa
per
indu
stri
es d
id n
ot d
iffe
r fu
ndam
enta
lly f
rom
thos
e of
U.S
. man
ufac
tur-
ing
indu
stri
es in
gen
eral
. The
for
mer
indu
stri
es a
re a
rgua
bly
amon
gth
ose
that
sho
uld
have
bee
n m
ost a
dver
sely
aff
ecte
d by
env
iron
men
tal
legi
slat
ion
impl
emen
ted
in th
e U
.S. I
n fa
ct, o
nly
slig
ht s
hift
s at
the
mar
gin
coul
d .b
e de
tect
ed in
thes
e in
dust
ries
. Spe
cifi
cally
, onl
y a
few
U.S
. ind
ustr
ies
with
in b
ranc
hes
of th
e ch
emic
al m
anuf
actu
ring
sec
tor
have
incr
ease
d pr
oduc
tion
over
seas
as
a di
rect
or
indi
rect
res
ult o
fen
viro
nmen
tal r
egul
atio
ns."
18Se
e 11
. Jef
frey
Leo
nard
, Are
Env
iron
men
tal R
egul
atio
ns D
rivi
ng U
.S. I
ndus
trie
sO
Ver
seas
? W
ashi
ngto
n, D
.C.:
The
Con
serv
atio
n Fo
unda
tion,
198
4.
19Se
e In
go W
alte
r, "
Inte
rnat
iona
l Eco
nom
ic R
eper
cuss
ions
of
Env
iron
men
tal
Polic
y: A
n E
cono
mis
t's P
ersp
ectiv
e,"
in S
eym
our
Rub
in a
nd T
hom
as R
.G
raha
m, e
ds.,
Env
iron
men
t and
Tra
de, T
otaw
a, N
ew J
erse
y: A
llanh
eld,
Osm
un a
nd C
o., 1
982.
20Se
e Se
ymou
r R
ubin
and
Tho
mas
Gra
ham
, "E
nvir
onm
ent a
nd T
rade
" in
Rub
in a
nd G
raha
m, e
ds.,
Op.
cit.
132
306
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
Staf
ford
exa
min
ed w
heth
er tr
aditi
onal
fact
ors
such
as
acce
ss to
mar
kets
and
dif
fere
nces
inco
sts
of la
bour
and
mat
eria
lsre
mai
ned
pred
omin
ant i
n m
anuf
actu
ring
-loc
atio
nde
cisi
on-m
akin
g, d
espi
te th
ead
ded
dim
ensi
ons
of e
nvir
onm
enta
l reg
ulat
ions
intr
oduc
ed u
nder
the
Nat
iona
l Env
iron
men
tal P
olic
y A
ct.2
1Pe
rson
al in
terv
iew
s an
d m
aile
dqu
estio
nnai
res
wer
e us
ed to
iden
tify
the
mos
t im
port
ant f
acto
rsin
the
loca
tion
of 1
62 n
ew b
ranc
h pl
ants
of U
.S. c
orpo
ratio
ns. F
or m
ost
of th
ede
cisi
ons
inve
stig
ated
, env
iron
men
tal r
egul
atio
ns d
id n
ot r
ank
amon
gth
e m
ost i
mpo
rtan
t fac
tors
con
side
red.
Whe
n su
ch r
egul
atio
nsw
ere
ofso
me
sign
ific
ance
, unc
erta
intie
s ab
out w
hen
the
nece
ssar
y pe
rmits
wou
ld b
e ob
tain
edw
ere
mor
e im
port
ant t
han
spat
ial v
aria
tions
indi
rect
cost
. Sta
ffor
d co
nclu
des
that
env
iron
men
tal
regu
latio
ns h
ave
had
noco
nsis
tent
eff
ect o
n th
e si
ze o
f th
ese
arch
are
a, th
e nu
mbe
r of
site
sco
nsid
ered
, the
siz
es o
f th
e fa
cilit
ies
built
, or
the
deci
sion
to e
xpan
dex
istin
g pl
ants
ver
sus
build
ing
new
pla
nts.
Bar
tik u
sed
a da
taba
se o
f new
man
ufac
turi
ng b
ranc
h pl
ants
ope
ned
by F
ortu
ne 5
00 c
ompa
nies
bet
wee
n19
72 a
nd 1
978
to d
eter
min
e if
busi
ness
loca
tion
deci
sion
sar
e af
fect
ed s
ubst
antia
lly b
y st
ate
envi
ron-
men
tal r
egul
atio
ns. T
wo
mea
sure
s of
sta
te w
ater
pol
lutio
n re
gula
tions
and
four
mea
sure
s of
sta
teai
r po
llutio
n re
gula
tions
wer
e us
ed a
sva
riab
les.
The
stu
dy d
id n
ot f
ind
any
stat
istic
ally
sig
nifi
cant
eff
ect o
fst
ate
envi
ronm
enta
l reg
ulat
ions
on th
e lo
catio
n of
new
bra
nch
plan
ts.
Eve
n si
zeab
le in
crea
ses
in th
e st
ring
ency
of s
tate
env
iron
men
tal r
egul
a-tio
ns w
ere
foun
d un
likel
y to
hav
ea
larg
e ef
fect
on
loca
tion
deci
sion
s fo
rth
e av
erag
e in
dust
ry; h
owev
er, f
orso
me
high
ly p
ollu
ting
indu
stri
es, t
here
sults
can
not r
ule
out t
he p
ossi
bilit
yof
eff
ects
of
envi
ronm
enta
lre
gu-
latio
n on
pla
nt lo
catio
n.22
Fina
lly, M
cCon
nell
and
Schw
abes
timat
ed a
sta
tistic
al m
odel
toin
vest
igat
e th
e im
pact
of
a va
riet
y of
cou
ntry
cha
ract
eris
tics
on th
elo
catio
ns o
f 50
new
bra
nch
plan
ts in
the
mot
or v
ehic
le in
dust
ry d
urin
gth
e pe
riod
197
3-19
82,
a pe
riod
whe
n th
ere
wer
e w
ide
vari
atio
nsin
21H
owar
d A
. Sta
ffor
d, "
Env
iron
men
tal
Prot
ectio
n an
d In
dust
rial
Loc
atio
n,"
Ann
als
of th
e A
ssoc
iatio
nof
Geo
grap
hers
, Vol
. 75,
198
5,pp
. 227
-240
.22
Tim
othy
Bar
tik, "
The
Eff
ects
of
Env
iron
men
tal
Reg
ulat
ion
on B
usin
ess
Loc
atio
n in
the
Uni
ted
Stat
es,"
Gro
wth
and
Cha
nge,
Vol
. 19,
198
8,pp
. 22-
44.
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d th
e E
nviro
nmen
t30
7
envi
ronm
enta
l reg
ulat
ions
am
ong
regi
ons.
Mos
t of
the
resu
lts in
dica
teth
at e
nvir
onm
enta
l reg
ulat
ions
do
not e
xert
an
impo
rtan
t inf
luen
ce o
nlo
catio
n de
cisi
ons.
At t
he m
argi
n, h
owev
er, t
here
is s
ome
evid
ence
that
firm
s m
ay b
e de
terr
ed f
rom
loca
ting
whe
re th
e oz
one
prob
lem
is s
ever
ean
d em
issi
on c
ontr
ols
are
corr
espo
ndin
gly
stri
ngen
t.23
In s
umm
ary,
the
evid
ence
is q
uite
per
suas
ive
that
geo
grap
hic
dif-
fere
nces
in e
nvir
onm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds a
nd e
nfor
cem
ent h
ave
a re
lativ
ely
smal
l im
pact
on
the
loca
tion
deci
sion
s of
fir
ms.
Ind
eed,
any
sig
nifi
cant
impa
cts
appe
ar to
be
conc
entr
ated
in r
esou
rce-
base
d se
ctor
s th
at a
rear
guab
ly r
eloc
atin
g fr
om th
e U
nite
d St
ates
for
oth
er r
easo
ns a
nyw
ay.
Mor
eove
r, th
ere
are
othe
r lo
catio
ns to
whi
ch th
ese
activ
ities
can
pot
en-
tially
rel
ocat
e w
ith e
nvir
onm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds a
nd e
nfor
cem
ent t
hat a
resu
bsta
ntia
lly w
eake
r th
an in
the
case
of
Mex
ico.
To
be s
ure,
cri
tics
mig
ht a
rgue
that
dif
fere
nces
in e
nvir
onm
enta
len
forc
emen
t bet
wee
n M
exic
o an
d th
e U
nite
d St
ates
are
muc
h m
ore
subs
tant
ial t
han
thos
e be
twee
n di
ffer
ent s
tate
s w
ithin
the
Uni
ted
Stat
esor
, for
that
mat
ter,
bet
wee
n di
ffer
ent d
evel
oped
cou
ntri
es. I
n th
is r
e-ga
rd, i
t sho
uld
be n
oted
that
a n
umbe
r of
the
stud
ies
cite
d ab
ove
cons
ider
pot
entia
l rel
ocat
ion
to o
ther
dev
elop
ing
coun
trie
s. M
oreo
ver,
a st
udy
by th
e U
.S. T
rade
Rep
rese
ntat
ive'
s O
ffic
e co
nclu
des
that
the
smal
l sha
re o
f co
sts
ascr
ibab
le to
pol
lutio
n ab
atem
ent a
nd th
e al
read
ylo
w le
vels
of
U.S
. tar
iffs
in in
dust
ries
fac
ing
high
pol
lutio
n ab
atem
ent
cost
s ar
gue
agai
nst M
exic
o be
ing
a di
ffer
ent c
ase
The
re is
less
dir
ect e
mpi
rica
l evi
denc
e to
app
eal t
o re
gard
ing
the
pote
ntia
l for
env
iron
men
tal s
tand
ards
or
the
enfo
rcem
ent o
f th
ese
stan
-da
rds
to b
e re
laxe
d in
the
deve
lope
d ec
onom
ies
as a
res
ult e
ither
of
incr
ease
d im
port
s fr
om o
ther
cou
ntri
es o
r of
for
mal
eff
orts
to h
arm
oniz
est
anda
rds.
It i
s ce
rtai
nly
rele
vant
to n
ote
that
incr
ease
d im
port
s fr
omde
velo
ping
cou
ntri
es in
Asi
a w
ith m
uch
wea
ker
envi
ronm
enta
l reg
ula-
23V
irgi
nia
McC
onne
ll an
d R
ober
t Sch
wab
, "T
he I
mpa
ct o
f E
nvir
onm
enta
lR
egul
atio
n on
Ind
ustr
y L
ocat
ion
Dec
isio
ns: T
he M
otor
Veh
icle
Ind
ustr
y,"
Lan
d E
cono
mic
s, V
ol. 6
6,19
90, p
p. 6
7-81
.
24O
ffic
e of
the
Uni
ted
Stat
es T
rade
Rep
rese
ntat
ive,
Rev
iew
of U
.S.-
Mex
ico
Env
ironm
enta
l Iss
ues,
Was
hing
ton,
D.C
.: M
imeo
, Oct
ober
199
1.
134
308
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
Lio
ns th
an th
ose
in N
orth
Am
eric
a ha
ve n
ot p
rovo
ked
reve
rsal
s of
envi
ronm
enta
l leg
isla
tion
in th
e U
nite
d St
ates
to d
ate.
"T
he e
xper
ienc
e of
the
Eur
opea
n C
omm
unity
(E
C)
sugg
ests
that
whe
n en
viro
nmen
tal s
tand
ards
dif
fer
acro
ss c
ount
ries
, con
verg
ence
of
stan
dard
s w
ill u
ltim
atel
y ta
ke p
lace
in th
e di
rect
ion
of th
e m
ore
rest
ric-
tive
set o
f st
anda
rds.
By
mid
-199
1, th
e,E
C h
ad a
dopt
ed n
earl
y 30
0 ne
wdi
rect
ives
and
reg
ulat
ions
dea
ling
with
env
iron
men
tal m
atte
rs a
long
with
new
mea
sure
s ap
plyi
ng s
tric
t lia
bilit
y st
anda
rds
in c
ases
invo
lvin
gpo
llutio
n. W
hile
man
y m
embe
r co
untr
ies
argu
ably
hav
e no
t bee
n ag
-gr
essi
ve in
enf
orci
ng th
e E
C e
nvir
onm
enta
l rul
es, p
ress
ure
from
thos
eco
untr
ies
enfo
rcin
g th
e ru
les
and
adop
ting
(hei
r ow
n to
ughe
r an
tipol
-lu
tion
law
s is
app
aren
tly b
ring
ing
abou
t com
plia
nce
by a
ll m
embe
rs."
The
like
lihoo
d of
NA
FTA
trig
geri
ng a
rel
axat
ion
of e
nvir
onm
enta
lst
anda
rds
in th
e U
nite
d St
ates
and
Can
ada
is r
educ
ed b
y th
e fa
cts
that
Mex
ican
impo
rts
are
a re
lativ
ely
smal
l par
t of
tota
l im
port
s an
d, f
urth
er,
that
env
iron
men
tal c
osts
are
a s
mal
l sha
re o
f al
l cos
ts in
vir
tual
ly a
llin
dust
ries
. Fur
ther
mor
e, c
urre
nt p
ress
ures
in th
e U
nite
d St
ates
to r
educ
eth
e bu
rden
of
envi
ronm
enta
l reg
ulat
ions
on
com
pani
es is
cle
arly
dri
ven
by b
road
er m
acro
econ
omic
wea
knes
ses
in th
e U
.S. e
cono
my
rath
er th
anby
impo
rt p
ress
ures
in s
peci
fic
indu
stri
es o
r fr
om s
peci
fic
coun
trie
s.
Ove
rall
Ass
essm
ent o
f N
AFT
A a
ndth
e E
nvir
onm
ent
The
pre
cedi
ng s
ectio
ns s
ugge
st th
at e
xist
ing
argu
men
ts a
bout
NA
FTA
nece
ssar
ily c
ontr
ibut
ing
dire
ctly
or
indi
rect
ly to
a f
urth
er d
egra
datio
nof
env
iron
men
tal a
men
ities
are
bot
h si
mpl
istic
and
arg
uabl
y in
corr
ect.
25A
theo
retic
al m
odel
dev
elop
ed b
y R
ausc
her
conc
lude
s th
at th
e im
plic
atio
nsof
a c
omm
on m
arke
t for
env
iron
men
tal p
olic
y ar
e un
cert
ain.
Whi
le th
ere
will
like
ly b
e a
relo
catio
n of
em
issi
ons
from
one
cou
ntry
to th
e ot
her,
tota
lem
issi
ons
may
be
high
er o
r lo
wer
than
in th
e in
itial
sta
te, i
.e. p
rior
topr
oduc
tion
fact
ors
bein
g m
obile
. See
Mic
hael
Rau
sche
r, "
Nat
iona
lE
nvir
onm
enta
l Pol
icie
s an
d th
e E
ffec
ts o
f E
cono
mic
Int
egra
tion,
" E
urop
ean
Jour
nal o
f Po
litic
al E
cono
my,
Vol
. 7,1
991,
pp.
313
-329
.
26Se
e R
udy
Port
ari,
"Tou
ghen
ed E
nvir
onm
enta
l Reg
ulat
ion
Loo
ms
in th
eE
C,"
Nat
iona
l Und
erw
rite
r, V
ol. 9
5, 1
991,
pp.
52-
53.
135
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d th
e E
nvir
onm
ent
309
Incr
ease
d po
llutio
n al
ong
the
bord
er b
etw
een
Mex
ico
and
the
Uni
ted
Stat
es is
fre
quen
tly p
oint
ed to
as
a ne
cess
ary
cons
eque
nce
of in
crea
sed
cros
s-bo
rder
com
mer
ce!'
How
ever
, it c
anbe
arg
ued
in th
is r
egar
d th
at
ihe
econ
omic
act
ivity
gen
erat
ed b
y N
AFT
Aw
ill a
ctua
lly e
ncou
rage
less
pollu
tion
alon
g th
e bo
rder
. Thi
s is
bec
ause
the
ince
ntiv
es th
at m
aqui
la
plan
ts n
ow h
ave
to c
ongr
egat
eal
ong
the
bord
er w
ill b
e bl
unte
d by
a
NA
FTA
whi
ch w
ill m
ake
all M
exic
anex
port
s, a
nd n
ot ju
st th
ose
from
maq
uila
pla
nts,
elig
ible
for
tari
ffre
lief
on th
eir
Nor
th A
mer
ican
con
tent
.
Und
oubt
edly
, the
hig
h de
gree
of
cong
estio
nal
ong
the
bord
er h
as
exac
erba
ted
pollu
tion
prob
lem
s(g
iven
lim
itatio
ns o
n th
e ab
ility
of
the
natu
ral e
nvir
onm
ent t
o ab
sorb
pol
lutio
n),w
hile
lim
ited
enfo
rcem
ent o
f
pollu
tion
stan
dard
s, p
artic
ular
ly b
yM
exic
o, h
as c
ontr
ibut
ed to
bor
der-
area
pro
blem
shi
ghlig
hted
by
NA
FTA
cri
tics.
How
ever
,th
e re
leva
nt
issu
e is
whe
ther
NA
FTA
will
exac
erba
te o
r m
itiga
te e
xist
ing
envi
ron-
men
tal d
egra
datio
n.A
s no
ted
abov
e, th
e N
AFT
Ash
ould
miti
gate
env
iron
men
tal c
on-
gest
ion
prob
lem
s at
the
bord
er b
yen
cour
agin
g th
e di
sper
sal o
f ec
o-
nom
ic a
ctiv
ity a
way
fro
m th
e bo
rder
regi
on. A
lso,
tari
ffs
on p
ollu
tion
abat
emen
t equ
ipm
ent w
ill b
e el
imin
ated
ove
rtim
e m
akin
g th
is e
quip
-
men
t sub
stan
tially
che
aper
inM
exic
o. A
s a
resu
lt, it
will
be
chea
perf
or
Mex
ican
fir
ms
to m
eet e
nvir
onm
enta
lsta
ndar
ds, a
lthou
gh w
heth
er th
ey
choo
se to
buy
and
inst
all m
ore
equi
pmen
tw
ill d
epen
d, in
par
t, on
the
effo
rts
of th
e M
exic
an a
utho
ritie
s to
enfo
rce
exis
ting
stan
dard
s. T
he f
reer
mov
emen
t of
prof
essi
onal
s in
the
envi
ronm
enta
l eng
inee
ring
are
aun
der
the
NA
FTA
sho
uld
assi
st th
eM
exic
an g
over
nmen
t in
its e
nfor
ce-
men
t eff
orts
giv
en s
hort
ages
of s
uch
expe
rtis
e in
Mex
ico.
"
Fina
lly, p
rovi
sion
s in
the
NA
FTA
liber
aliz
ing
cros
s-bo
rder
truc
king
rest
rict
ions
mig
ht in
dire
ctly
enc
oura
ge a
redu
ctio
n in
veh
icle
pol
lutio
n
at m
ajor
bor
der
cros
sing
sta
tions
.Fo
r ex
ampl
e, v
ehic
les
regi
ster
ed in
27T
here
are
num
erou
s di
scus
sion
s in
the
med
ia d
ocum
entin
g he
alth
and
wor
ker
safe
typr
oble
ms
asso
ciat
edpr
imar
ilyw
ithM
aqui
lado
ra
prod
uctio
n al
ong
the
Mex
ico-
U.S
. bor
der.
See,
for
exa
mpl
e, J
oel S
imon
,
"Will
Tiju
ana
be a
fre
e tr
ade
tinde
rbox
?"T
he G
lobe
and
Mai
l, D
ecem
ber
19,
1992
, D3.
28T
he N
AFT
A in
clud
es p
rovi
sion
s ex
pedi
ting
the
visa
pro
cess
for
man
ager
s
and
man
y pr
ofes
sion
als
incl
udin
g en
gine
ers. 13
6
310
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
mos
t sta
tes
curr
ently
fac
e tig
hter
em
issi
ons
cont
rol p
roce
dure
sfo
rlic
ensi
ng th
an d
o th
ose
regi
ster
ed in
Mex
ico.
Hen
ce,
to th
e ex
tent
that
U.S
.-ow
ned
vehi
cles
dis
plac
e M
exic
an v
ehic
les
in h
aulin
gtr
affi
c w
ithin
the
Mex
ican
bor
der,
em
issi
on s
tand
ards
in M
exic
o w
illin
dire
ctly
ris
e.O
n th
e ot
her
hand
, Mex
ican
veh
icle
s en
teri
ng th
e U
.S. w
ill p
resu
mab
lyha
ve to
mee
t the
sam
e em
issi
on s
tand
ards
fac
ing
U.S
.-re
gist
ered
vehi
-cl
es. T
he o
ppor
tuni
ty to
car
ry m
ore
traf
fic
with
in th
e U
nite
dSt
ates
mig
ht th
eref
ore
enco
urag
e M
exic
an f
leet
owne
rs to
red
uce
pollu
tion
from
thei
r ve
hicl
es.
The
se la
tter
cons
ider
atio
ns a
dd f
urth
er w
eigh
t to
an a
rgum
ent t
hat
NA
FTA
will
lead
to im
prov
emen
ts in
env
iron
men
tal a
men
ities
rath
erth
an f
urth
er d
eter
iora
tion,
eve
n if
the
rele
vant
sta
ndar
ds s
ubco
mm
ittee
sfa
il to
har
mon
ize
emis
sion
and
oth
er e
nvir
onm
enta
l pol
lutio
n le
vels
.N
ever
thel
ess,
it m
ight
be
argu
ed th
at N
AFT
A is
a pr
omis
ing
vehi
cle
for
"lev
erag
ing"
gre
ater
eff
orts
fro
m M
exic
o to
dea
l with
dom
estic
pollu
-tio
n pr
oble
ms,
as
wel
l as
grea
ter
effo
rts
on th
e pa
rt o
f al
l thr
eeco
untr
ies
to d
eal w
ith tr
ans-
bord
er p
ollu
tion
prob
lem
s. h
i eff
ect,
one
mig
ht a
rgue
that
trila
tera
l tra
de li
bera
lizat
ion
nego
tiatio
ns s
houl
d be
use
dto
dir
ectly
stre
ngth
en e
xist
ing
legi
slat
ion
and
enfo
rcem
ent o
f en
viro
nmen
tal s
tan-
dard
s on
a N
orth
Am
eric
an-w
ide
basi
s.O
ne a
rgum
ent f
or d
irec
tly li
nkin
g tr
ade
liber
atila
tion
to e
nvir
on-
men
tal p
rote
ctio
n m
easu
res
is p
rem
ised
on
the
view
that
thre
ats
oftr
ade
reta
liatio
n on
the
part
of
trad
ing
part
ners
eff
ectiv
ely
mot
ivat
ea
coun
try
to m
eet t
he e
nvir
onm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds d
eman
ded
by th
ose
trad
ing
part
-ne
rs?"
In
this
reg
ard,
som
e ob
serv
ers
argu
e th
at r
ecen
t inc
reas
es in
Mex
ican
bud
gets
for
env
iron
men
tal i
nfra
stru
ctur
e an
d en
forc
emen
t of
envi
ronm
enta
l law
s an
d re
gula
tions
wou
ld p
roba
bly
not h
ave
com
eab
out i
f N
AFT
A n
egot
iatio
ns h
ad n
ot p
rovi
ded
the
impe
tus.
"A
noth
er a
rgum
ent f
or a
n ex
plic
it an
d co
mpr
ehen
sive
link
age
is th
atgo
vern
men
ts in
hig
h en
forc
emen
t cou
ntri
es c
an a
nd w
ill in
voke
trad
ere
med
y la
ws,
par
ticul
arly
cou
nter
vaili
ng d
utie
s, a
gain
stex
port
ers
inw
eak
enfo
rcem
ent c
ount
ries
. In
this
cas
e, it
mig
ht b
em
ore
effe
ctiv
e to
29E
quiv
alen
tly, o
ne c
an ta
lk a
bout
the
use
of th
e "c
arro
t" o
f tr
ade
liber
aliz
atio
n as
the
mot
ivat
ing
infl
uenc
e.
30T
his
poin
t is
mad
e by
Wei
ntra
ub in
his
cha
pter
for
this
vol
ume.
137
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d fl
it E
nvir
onm
ent
:311
.
have
exp
licit
agre
emen
ts s
truc
k th
an to
tole
rate
sig
nifi
cant
ly h
ighe
rri
sks
of tr
ade
war
s tie
d to
esc
alat
ing
reta
liatio
n fo
r sp
ecif
ic e
nvir
onm
en-
tal p
ract
ices
?'A
cou
nter
-arg
umen
t aga
inst
dir
ectly
link
ing
trad
e an
d en
viro
nmen
-ta
l mea
sure
s is
that
it is
unl
ikel
y to
be
wel
fare
max
imiz
ing
for
all
coun
trie
s to
ado
pt id
entic
al e
nvir
onm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds o
r en
viro
nmen
tal
cost
con
trol
s gi
ven
that
the
poin
t at w
hich
the
mar
gina
l soc
ial
bene
fit o
fab
atem
ent e
qual
s th
e m
argi
nal s
ocia
l cos
t of
abat
emen
t will
var
y fr
omco
untr
y to
cou
ntry
dep
endi
ng u
pon
fact
ors
such
as
topo
grap
hy,
cli-
mat
e, d
emog
raph
y an
d so
for
th.3
2 A
noth
er is
that
it is
rare
ly w
elfa
reim
prov
ing
for
coun
trie
s to
impo
se tr
ade
rest
rict
ions
in r
espo
nse
to th
eir
bein
g "p
ollu
ted
upon
" by
ano
ther
cou
ntry
's p
rodu
cers
(or
con
sum
-er
s).3
3 N
ever
thel
ess,
a th
eore
tical
cas
e ca
n be
mad
e fo
rth
e "v
ictim
"co
untr
y to
use
tari
ffs
agai
nst t
he p
ollu
ting
coun
try
as a
seco
nd b
est
polic
y pr
ovid
ing
the
impo
rtin
g co
untr
y is
larg
e in
wor
ldm
arke
ts;
how
ever
, the
fir
st b
est a
ppro
ach
is th
e im
posi
tion
of a
coo
rdin
ated
"glo
bally
opt
imal
" ta
x on
tran
s-bo
rder
pol
lutio
n.T
he la
tter
obse
rvat
ion,
com
bine
d w
ith th
e re
cogn
ition
that
lobb
ygr
oups
will
use
env
iron
men
tal i
ssue
s to
ext
ract
prot
ectio
n ag
ains
t im
-po
rts
sugg
ests
the
wis
dom
, on
bala
nce,
of
sepa
ratin
g th
e tr
eatm
ento
f
envi
ronm
enta
l pro
blem
s fr
om th
e tr
eatm
ent o
f tr
ade
issu
es. T
he e
xis-
31T
hat t
his
conc
ern
is b
ecom
ing
incr
easi
ngly
rel
evan
t is
sugg
este
d by
a r
epor
tth
at S
enat
or M
ax B
aucu
s he
ld h
eari
ngs
in D
ecem
ber
1991
to d
iscu
sspo
ssib
le tr
ade
legi
slat
ion
requ
irin
g co
unte
rvai
ling
dutie
s on
impo
rts
from
coun
trie
s w
ith le
ss s
tric
t pol
lutio
n ru
les
than
the
U.S
. to
prev
ent
envi
ronm
enta
l dum
ping
. See
Pet
er F
uhrm
an, "
Stra
nge
Bed
fel
low
s,"
Forb
es,
Dec
embe
r 9,
1991
. Con
cern
abo
ut th
is p
ossi
bilit
y is
als
oexp
ress
ed in
GA
TT
,Pr
ess
Rel
ease
: Exp
andi
ng T
rade
Can
I le
lp S
olve
Env
iron
men
tal P
robl
ems,
Gen
eva:
Mim
eo, F
ebru
ary
3, 1
992.
32Fo
r a
deta
iled
disc
ussi
on o
f th
ese
fact
ors,
see
Cha
rles
S. P
ears
on,
"Env
iron
men
tal S
tand
ards
, Ind
ustr
ial L
ocat
ion
and
Pollu
tion
Hav
ens,
" in
C.S
. Pea
rson
, ed.
, Mul
tinat
iona
l Cor
pora
tions
, Env
iron
men
t and
the
Thi
rdW
orld
: Bus
ines
s M
atte
rs, D
urha
m: D
uke
Uni
vers
ity P
ress
, 198
7, p
p. 1
13-1
28.
33Fo
r a
full
disc
ussi
on o
f th
is p
oint
, see
Pet
er J
. Llo
yd, "
The
Pro
blem
of
Opt
imal
Env
iron
men
tal C
hoic
e,"
in K
ym A
nder
son
and
Ric
hard
Bla
ckhu
rst,
eds.
, The
Gre
enin
g of
Wor
ld T
rade
Iss
ues,
New
Yor
k: H
arve
ster
Whe
atsh
eaf,
199
2, p
p. 4
9-92
.13
8
312
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
tenc
e of
dis
pute
res
olut
ion
pane
ls in
the
NA
FTA
pro
mis
esto
miti
gate
som
e of
the
mor
e gr
ievo
us a
buse
s of
env
iron
men
tal s
tand
ards
to b
lock
-ad
e im
port
s; h
owev
er, t
his
does
not
gai
nsay
a ge
nera
l arg
umen
t tha
t the
mor
e th
e tr
ade
liber
aliz
atio
n pr
oces
s is
mad
e co
ntin
gent
upon
sat
isfy
ing
impl
icit
or e
xplic
it en
viro
nmen
tal c
ondi
tions
, the
mor
e lik
ely
is tr
ade
prot
ectio
nism
.In
the
last
ana
lysi
s, th
e le
vel o
f in
ter-
gove
rnm
enta
l coo
pera
tion
toad
dres
s bo
rder
pol
lutio
n pr
oble
ms
is th
e si
ngle
mos
t im
port
ant f
acto
raf
fect
ing
envi
ronm
enta
l con
ditio
ns in
the
mem
ber
coun
trie
s.34
It is
usef
ul to
rep
eat i
n th
is r
egar
d th
at e
limin
atin
g ex
plic
itan
d im
plic
itgo
vern
men
t sub
sidi
es, p
artic
ular
ly to
ene
rgy
use,
wou
ld a
lso
mak
e a
sign
ific
ant c
ontr
ibut
ion
to r
educ
ing
cert
ain
emis
sion
s.In
deed
, mar
ket
proc
esse
s ca
n as
sist
in r
atio
naliz
ing
the
harm
oniz
atio
n of
env
iron
men
-ta
l sta
ndar
ds. A
cas
e in
poi
nt is
the
infa
mou
s A
mer
ican
dolp
hin-
prot
ec-
tion
law
s w
hich
hig
hlig
hted
the
issu
e of
trad
e re
talia
tion
onen
viro
nmen
tal g
roun
ds a
t the
GA
TT
leve
l. In
one
part
of
the
east
ern
Paci
fic,
her
ds o
f do
lphi
n on
the
sea'
s su
rfac
e si
gnal
the
pres
ence
of
scho
ols
of tu
na f
arth
er d
own.
Enc
ircl
ing
the
dolp
hins
with
purs
e-se
ine
nets
is o
ne w
ay o
f ca
tchi
ng th
e de
eper
tuna
, but
at
a hi
gh c
ost i
n do
lphi
nde
aths
.T
he m
ost r
ecen
t ver
sion
of
Am
eric
a's
Mar
ine
Mam
mal
Prot
ectio
nA
ct p
reve
nts
Am
eric
an f
leet
s fr
om u
sing
this
met
hod
oftu
na f
ishi
ng.
Sint
e 19
90 th
e la
w h
as in
sist
ed th
at im
port
ed tu
nam
ust n
ot b
e fi
shed
by m
etho
ds th
at in
volv
e ki
lling
mor
e th
an o
ne-q
uart
er m
ore
dolp
hin
than
are
kill
ed b
y th
e A
mer
ican
fis
hing
fle
et. M
exic
o is
one
of th
ree
coun
trie
s th
at f
aile
d to
mee
t thi
s ta
rget
. A p
rote
st a
gain
stan
Am
eric
anba
n on
impo
rts
of tu
na f
rom
Mex
ico
led
toa
GA
TT
rul
ing
agai
nst t
heba
n 3s
34Se
e O
ffic
e of
the
Uni
ted
Stat
es T
rade
Rep
rese
ntat
ive,
op. c
it. A
num
ber
ofst
udie
s co
nclu
de th
at th
e us
e of
trad
e re
late
dm
easu
res
will
hav
e at
bes
t am
odes
t im
pact
on
natu
ral r
esou
rce
activ
ity w
hich
isa
maj
or s
ourc
e of
envi
ronm
enta
l pro
blem
s. S
ee P
eter
A.G
. van
Ber
geijk
, "In
tern
atio
nal T
rade
and
the
Env
iron
men
tal C
halle
nge,
" Jo
urna
l of
Wor
ld T
rade
, Vol
. 6, 1
991,
pp.
105-
115.
35"G
AT
Ter
y v.
Gre
ener
y,"
The
Eco
nom
ist,
May
30-
June
5, 1
992,
pp. 1
2-15
.
Tra
de L
iber
aliz
atio
n an
d th
e E
nvir
onm
ent
313
The
GA
TT
dec
isio
n th
row
s in
to d
oubt
env
iron
men
tal l
aws
that
impo
se r
estr
ictio
ns o
r pe
nalti
es o
n fo
reig
n co
untr
ies
whi
ch m
ay c
on-
stra
in in
a s
ubst
antia
l way
the
trea
tmen
t of
sim
ilar
prot
ests
bro
ught
for
disp
ute
reso
lutio
n un
der
the
NA
FTA
. A p
oint
whi
ch m
ight
be
mad
e is
that
with
suf
fici
ent i
nfor
mat
ion,
Am
eric
an c
onsu
mer
s m
ight
hav
e en
-co
urag
ed a
red
uctio
n in
the
dolp
hin
kill.
Spe
cifi
cally
, con
sum
ers
coul
dex
erci
se th
eir
envi
ronm
enta
l pre
fere
nces
by
buyi
ng m
ore
"Am
eric
an"
tuna
and
less
"M
exic
an"
tuna
. If
cons
umer
s fe
lt st
rong
lyen
ough
abo
utth
is is
sue,
it w
ould
pay
Am
eric
an p
rodu
cers
to a
dver
tise
thei
r "d
olph
insa
fe"
met
hods
of
fish
ing.
Cer
tain
ly th
ere
are
an in
crea
sing
num
ber
ofbu
sine
sses
that
trad
e on
a r
eput
atio
n of
bei
ng "
envi
ronm
enta
lly r
espo
n-si
ble"
ent
ities
. Whe
re in
divi
dual
con
sum
ptio
n or
pro
duct
ion
deci
sion
sim
pose
no
subs
tant
ial t
hird
-par
ty e
xter
nalit
ies,
ther
e is
no
com
pelli
ngef
fici
ency
arg
umen
t for
gov
ernm
ent i
nter
vent
ion,
par
ticul
arly
giv
en th
eri
sk th
at s
uch
inte
rven
tion
will
be
mot
ivat
ed b
y de
sire
s of
dom
estic
prod
ucer
s fo
r pr
otec
tion
and
will
like
ly le
ad to
ret
alia
tion
by o
ther
coun
trie
s.A
con
tent
ious
inte
rnat
iona
l tra
de e
nvir
onm
ent i
s un
likel
y to
pro
-m
ote
an a
tmos
pher
e of
coo
pera
tion
for
inte
r-go
vern
men
tal a
gree
men
tsto
add
ress
cro
ss-b
orde
r po
llutio
n in
clud
ing
the
harm
oniz
atio
nof
sta
n-
dard
s an
d th
e im
plem
enta
tion
of "
glob
ally
-bas
ed, m
arke
t-ty
pe"
mec
h-an
ism
s to
add
ress
pol
lutio
n ex
tern
aliti
es.3
6 Fu
rthe
rmor
e, th
e ex
pert
ise
need
ed to
add
ress
trad
e is
sues
doe
s no
t nec
essa
rily
ove
rlap
the
expe
rtis
ene
eded
to n
egot
iate
inte
rnat
iona
l env
iron
men
tal a
gree
men
ts.
In s
umm
ary,
it s
eem
s w
ise
to s
epar
ate
trad
e lib
eral
izat
ion
trea
ties
from
neg
otia
tions
to c
reat
e in
tern
atio
nal e
nvir
onm
enta
l agr
eem
ents
whi
ch w
as e
ssen
tially
the
proc
edur
e ad
opte
d by
NA
FTA
neg
otia
tors
.In
a s
imila
r ve
in, i
t wou
ld a
rgua
bly
be a
mis
take
to m
ake
trad
e lib
eral
-iz
atio
n co
ntin
gent
upo
n th
e tr
adin
g pa
rtne
rs r
esol
ving
'all
maj
or c
ross
-bo
rder
env
iron
men
tal p
robl
ems.
The
NA
FTA
as
it cu
rren
tly s
tand
sad
opts
bas
ic G
AT
T p
rovi
sion
s al
low
ing
coun
trie
s to
exe
rcis
e so
ver-
eign
ty in
cho
osin
g en
viro
nmen
tal,
heal
th a
nd s
afet
y st
anda
rds
aslo
ng
as n
atio
nal t
reat
men
t is
exte
nded
to f
orei
gnpr
oduc
ers,
and
the
stan
-
36va
n B
erge
ijk, o
p. c
it. b
rief
ly d
iscu
sses
the
use
of in
tern
atio
nally
trad
eabl
eem
issi
on p
erm
its.
140
139
314
Ass
essi
ng N
AFT
A
dard
s ar
e no
t def
ined
and
impl
emen
ted
ina
way
that
is tr
ansp
aren
tlypr
otec
tioni
stic
. In
this
res
pect
, the
NA
FTA
rec
ogni
zes
the
likel
ihoo
d th
at"o
ptim
al"
envi
ronm
enta
l sta
ndar
ds w
ill d
iffe
r fr
omco
untr
y to
cou
ntry
,w
hile
at t
he s
ame
time
reco
gniz
ing
that
lim
its m
ust b
epl
aced
on
the
arbi
trar
y us
e of
dom
estic
env
iron
men
tal l
egis
latio
nto
dis
adva
ntag
efo
reig
n pr
oduc
ers.
In s
hort
, one
can
con
clud
e th
at th
e N
AFT
A a
dopt
sa
rela
tivel
yef
fect
ive
posi
tion
on e
nvir
onm
enta
l mat
ters
and
that
effo
rts
to"s
tren
gthe
n" th
e en
viro
nmen
tal p
rovi
sion
s w
ill im
pose
soc
ial c
osts
that
likel
y ou
twei
gh a
ny a
ssoc
iate
d so
cial
ben
efits
.37
Of c
ours
e, th
is is
not
tosa
y th
at in
ter-
gove
rnm
enta
l neg
otia
tions
to r
esol
ve tr
ans-
bord
er e
nvi-
ronm
enta
l iss
ues
shou
ld b
e di
scon
tinue
d,or
that
eff
orts
to h
arm
oniz
est
anda
rds
whi
ch a
re im
pact
ing
trad
e re
latio
nshi
ps s
houl
dno
t be
enth
u-si
astic
ally
pur
sued
. On
the
cont
rary
, the
suc
cess
ful i
mpl
emen
tatio
nof
the
NA
FTA
will
arg
uabl
y fa
cilit
ate
succ
essf
Ul n
egot
iatio
nsin
the
envi
-ro
nmen
tal a
rea
in a
set
ting
whe
re th
e so
vere
ignt
y of
the
indi
vidu
alm
embe
r co
untr
ies
has
been
for
mal
ly a
ckno
wle
dged
.
37T
his
cave
at a
lso
appl
ies
to th
e pr
ovis
ion
in th
e N
AFT
A w
hich
pros
crib
es a
wea
keni
ng o
f en
viro
nmen
tal s
tand
ards
to a
ttrac
t new
inve
stm
ent.
Whi
le it
is u
ncle
ar h
ow th
is p
rovi
sion
will
be
impl
emen
ted,
ther
e is
a gr
ave
risk
of
mis
chie
vous
inte
rven
tions
on
the
part
of
gove
rnm
ents
that
are
driv
ing
away
inve
stm
ent t
hrou
gh p
olic
ies
that
wea
ken
the
effi
cien
cy o
f m
arke
ts.
The
re is
als
o a
risk
that
gov
ernm
ents
may
not
be
able
to r
esci
nden
viro
nmen
tal l
aws
that
are
inef
fici
ent o
r ev
en in
effe
ctiv
e.
I.1
Helvarg, David. 1996. The big green spin machine. The Amicus Journal 18,2 (Summer): 13-21.Reprinted with the permission of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The big green spin machine
Corporations and environmental PR
by David Helvarg
We turn to corporations to trans-form our thoughts into goods andservices. In this sense, corporationsare the agents of our desires. How docorporations respond to the environ-mental concerns of consumers andregulators? One way to respond is tocreate "green advertising."
Journal of Advertising, 1995
young girl runs her handover a row. of Douglas firseedlings. "When I'm agrandmother, there'll still belots of trees," she smiles,"because people like my
dad, who loves trees, will alwaysplant them?'
al! -la
111111=1V/
-...1111111(
Below a photograph of a nuclearpower plant on the edge of a forest-ed river, a cut line dedares in boldtype: "Trees aren't the only plantsthat are good for the atmosphere."
A young woman in cap and gownis graduating from college, her proudparents looking on. Dissolve to a lab-oratory. The woman, now wearing awhite lab coat, is checking a. glassbeaker. "When I was growing up,Mom and Dad taught me that we'veonly got one planet and we'd bettertake care of it," she says in voiceover."Now I'm about to join a companythat's committed itself to helpingpeople preserve our wildlife ... andto protect the earth?'
If you have never seen these ad-vertisements for International Paper,the U.S. Council for Energy Aware-
aka
ness, or Dow Chemical, you haveprobably seen similar "image ads" forPhillips Petroleum, GM, Mobil, Wey-erhaeuser, Georgia-Pacific, Chrysler,Mitsubishi, the Cattlemen's Associa-tion, Freeport Minerals, and others.
And if those ads have not con-vinced you of corporate America'scommitment to a clean and healthyenvironment, there are hundreds ofindustry-backed "third-party advo-cacy" institutes, research centers,think tanks, professional organizersof "Astroturf" (synthetic grass-roots), and public relations cam-
David Helvarg, author of The WarAgainst the Greens (Sierra ClubBooks, 1994), writes frequently forThe Nation.
paigners who are eager to try. Thismassive advertising and publicity ef-fort, whose costs to industry havebeen estimated at about a billiondollars a year, has been labeled"greenwashing" by its detractors.
"I see greenwashing as part of anoverall strategy by corporations todefeat and marginalize environmen-tal activism, and to a large degree it'ssucceeding," says John Stauber, pub-lisher of PR Watchand co-author of arecent book on thepublic relations in-dustry, Toxic Sludgeis Good for You.The strategy be-hind greenwashing,Stauber argues, is agood cop/bad copapproach to the en-vironment. A cor-poration or tradeassociation can lob-by in Congress togut environmentallaws and support"Wise Use" groups,on the one hand,and, on the other,earn environmentalpoints with thepublic through corporate, ad cam-paigns and high-profile "partner-ships" with environmental groups.
Public relations executives counterthat industry is simply trying to getcredit where credit is due. "When yousee corporate America doing greenadvertising, it's because they get hitso hard so often by the environmen-tal community. So you have to let thepublic know what good you're do-ing," argues Hal Dash, president ofCerrell Associates, a Los Angeles-based.PR firm that numbers oil andauto interests among its clients.
"The auto industry is doing morethan anyone to promote cleaner air,"adds Kathleen Ashby, until recentlyhead of Cerrell's environmental divi-sion. "California air is 96 percentcleaner than ten years ago because ofthe auto industry. Environmentaliststell you that's because of pressure, butI don't agree. I think industry under-stands it has an obligation to its cus-
VL
S.
14 The Amicus Journal
tomers and is making these changesbecause it's the right thing to do."
Yet Cerrell Associates recentlyhelped the auto industry to kill a Cal-ifornia mandate requiring that, by1998, a certain percentage of all carssold in the state have zero tailpipeemissions. That fact is one reasonwhy Stauber and others share thesense that in the era of the 104thCongresswhen legislators are try-
)
cided to camouflage it by painting theexposed earth green.
Another early example of green-washing came in the wake of the firstEarth Day. In 1971, a group calledKeep America Beautiful (KAB) beganrunning public service ads featuring aNative American actor, Iron EyesCody, with a tear running down hischeek at the sight of roadside litterand garbage in waterways. These cel-
ebrated ads, whichwere co-produced
C.
k
ing to roll back the basic environ-mental laws of the nationmuchgreen advertising has a pointed polit-ical agenda: to persuade the publicthat strict environmental laws are nolonger needed, because America's en-vironmental problems have beensolved and the only thing left to fear isregulation itself.
Greenwashing has a longand illustrious history inthe United States. One ofthe earliest and most lit-
eral examples, according to TomAthanasiou, author of Divided PlanetThe Ecology of Rich and Poor, goesback to 1969, when the Pacific Gas &Electric Company built a nuclearpower plant at Diablo Canyon on thecoast of central California. As a pris-tine hillside was scraped away for theconstruction site, the raw gash in themarine terrace became visible topassing boats and planes. PG&E de-
1 4 4
3
by the Ad Council,moved a generationto stop throwinggarbage out car win-dows. But they alsosent the messagethat individual con-sumers are the onesmost responsiblefor pollutionanidea consistent withthe self-interest ofthe many membersof the bottle and canindustry on KAB'sboard. The ads toldthe public to "putlitter in its place";yet KAB has repeat-edly taken positions
against mandatory recycling and bot-tle deposit laws.
In recent years, green advertisinghas seen an upsurge. "One of thethings that spurred it was Bhopal [siteof a 1984 Union Carbide gas leak thatkilled 3,000] and the Exxon Valdez,"admits Hal Dash. Contemporarywith those disasters came the rapidgrowth of an environmental ethicamong the American public, whichreached a crescendo when millionsparticipated in rallies, protests, andcelebrations for the twentieth an-niversary of Earth Day in April 1990.
Some responded to these develop-ments with vitriol. The National Re-view, Pat Buchanan's newsletter, andothers on the political right attackedenvironmentalism: "If Marxism hasa successor," wrote one contributor toa Heritage Foundation symposium,"it is the new ideology of the Greens!"But others saw opportunity in thenew climate. Fortune magazine as-
sured readers that in the future, envi-ronmentalism would be "more coop-erative than confrontationalandwith business at the center."O'Dwyer's PR Services Report, a re-spected trade publication, observedthat leading business and PR execu-tives saw the environment as "the life-and-death PR battle of the 1990s."
"There was an explosion of inter-est among PR firms to set up greendivisions," recalls O'Dwyer's editorKevin McCauley. "Spending. wentthrough the roof" Today all the majorPR firmsBurson-Marsteller, RuderFinn, Hill & Knowlton, Shandwick,Edelman, and dozens of others---,-.maintain "environmental specialty"divisions for their corporate clients.In 1994, these divisions generatedmore than $86 million in fees.
No PR firm would be likely toagree with John Stauber that itswork serves to defeat or marginalizeenvironmental activism. Many in-sist publicly on their environmentalcommitment. But in case after case,corporate public relations cam-paigns have served to deflect atten-tion from deeper environmentalproblemsor to thwart environ-mental initiatives altogether.
Every.poll you see says the publicis more willing to trust environmen-tal groups than corporations, whichis ironic since the most importantenvironmental actions are done bycorporations.
David Meeker, 1995 Chair,Environmental Section, Public
Relations Society of America
As an animated dove fliesfrom factory smokestackto factory smokestack,each stack emits a puffy
white loud into a sky of robin's-eggblue. "When one chemical compa-ny starts cleaning up its act, that'sgood. When two chemical compa-nies do it that's better," says the nar-rator, over the sound of chirpingbirds and a jazz combo. "And when200 companies get together, theycan make a real difference."
Some corporate lobbying groups "try tofudge about their goals," says a PR exec."They want a patina of good - gayness."
The ad, by the trade consortiumknown as the Chemical Manufactur-ers Association (CMA), is one of a se-ries extolling the recycling ofpollutants and conversion of "toxicchemical waste" into energy. Theyrun under the logo of ResponsibleCare, CMA's voluntary standardsprogram, in which each companyevaluates its own environmental per-formance. The program was recom-mended to CMA by its PublicPerception Committee following theBhopal disaster and a leak at UnionCarbide's Institute, West Virginia,plant the following year. AlthoughCMA can in theory revoke the mem-bership of a company that fails tomeet its Responsible Care environ-mental standards, to date it never has."We're not the government," explainsa lobbyist for a CMA member group.Asked whether member companiesare complying, he smiles and says,"Look, if your dad didn't tell you tocome home by midnight, would youcome home by midnight?"
While promoting ResponsibleCare as an example of its commit-ment to "sustainable development,"CMA is hard at work on Capitol Hill,doing what is considered by manyenvironmentalists to be some of themost egregiously anti-environmentallobbying in the 104th Congress.
CMA is fighting to throw out theCommunity Right-to-Know Act, alow-cost law that requires its mem-bers to tell the public what they areup to. It has backed legislation, and issuing the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA), to reduce or eliminatethe Toxic Release Inventory that is thekeystone of that lawa public data-base of companies' reports on whichand how much of 650 toxic chemi-cals they are releasing into surround-ing communities. CMA has alsobacked the so-called "regulatory re-form" legislation that would imposean impossibly complicated, twenty-six-step cost-benefit analysis on al-most all environmental and safety
145
standards; a "Superfund Reform" billthat would exempt companies fromretroactive liability for toxic sites; anda Clean Water Act rewrite so damag-ing that President Clinton calls it the"Dirty Water Act."
Moreover, according to the Asso-ciated Press, an arm of CMA calledthe Chlorine Chemistry Council hasbeen lobbying for changes to the SafeDrinking Water Act that would pre-vent EPA from imposing new rulesaimed at reducing carcinogenic com-pounds in drinking water. As part ofits "public education" campaign, theChlorine Council did a mailing tomunicipal water managers after ob-taining an unauthorized copy of theAmerican Water Works Associationmailing list. It also ran a phone-bankoperation, targeting AIDS groups, tospread the claim that the new ruleswould put their lives at risk
"The effect of the ads is grosslymisleading," says Greg Wetstone,NRDC legislative director. "CMAruns green acts, but at the same timeit is one of the most aggressive pro-ponents for rolling back environ-mental protections in Congress." Likeother environmental advocates inD.C., Wetstone has been rudely sur-prised by the degree to which evencorporations that have invested inpollution reduction have bought intothe anti-green backlash of the 104thCongress. "Throughout 1995, notone of the Fortune 500 raised its headto say no to these rollbacks," he says."It's become a case of greed conquersall, no matter how much they've in-vested in a green image."
Greenwashing is really a so-phisticated form of denial,telling us there's no prob-lem because they're taking
care of itwhich they aren't," saysenvironmental stalwart David Brow-er. He recalls a meeting he participat-ed in at Stanford University severalyears ago entitled "Making a Differ-ence." At one point Joan Martin
Summer 1996.15
Brown, representing the UN Envi-.ronment Program, turned to KenDerr, CEO of Chevron, and said, "I'llbe glad when Chevron moves its con-cern for the environment from PublicRelations to Operations."
Sometimes, the distance betweenoperations and public relationsbetween reality and greenWashedappearancecan be substantial.
"You have to tell the truth and re-spect the intelligence of people,"claims David Soblin of the J. WalterThompson agency. His beautifullyshot TV spots show Chevron em-ployees protecting natural habitat forfoxes, grizzly bears, egrets, and othercreatures (while the narrator rumi-nates, "Do people keep an eye on lit-tle things so we don't lose sight of thebig picture? People Do! "). "You can'tuse corporate-speak or platitudes tobe effective," Soblin says. "You mere-ly show examples of what you're do-ing:' Polls testify to his, effectiveness:
Chevron is considered far and awaythe most environmentally sound oilcompany in the areas where the adsare run, he says.
Yet at least one of those ads, orig-inally filmed in the mid-1980s, ismisleading at best. It showed an en-dangered San Joaquin kit fox escap-ing a coyote by ducking into anartificial den of buried pipe, built bypeople "because they care." Howev-er, says Linda Spiegel, a CaliforniaEnergy Commission biologist whohas studied the kit fox for years, "Ingeneral, artificial dens don't do muchfor foxes. If a coyote chases them,they're more likely to run to wheretheir old den was." The cost of con-structing an artificial den is less than$3,000; though Chevron declines todivulge figures, the Earth Island Jour-nal has estimated the cost of the"People Do" campaign that year at$5-6 million.
Moreover, Chevron did not un-
t a meeting: of the Puhlie Relations Society of Arnerica a fewyears ago, Writes environmental activist Bill Walker, a PR:::manager for a company called ChemLawn complained that
people in, their headqUarters town hated the company. The problem:::was -she uses, yOu know, chemicals. But what" can, you dor..
Thinge the name:" replied her colleagues, in unison:::Ina backhanded compliment to the popularity of environmental-7'.
isin.(and the foresight of George Orwell), many anti-green groupshave adopted green-:sciunding names. Certainly it would be hard for:.someone Unfainiliar With activist groups to distinguish the. Natural .
Reionrces Defense COUncil, say, from the Alliance for Environment,:and fiesourCei; the National Wetlands Coalition, Citizens for the En-vironinent, or the Abundant Wildlife Society. These groups Support,
clearcutting in National Forests; wetlands development;, eliminating federal environmental laws; and continued trapping andshootirig of Coyotes, mountain lions, and otherpredators.,:4:::-.
1.0reenWashing has recent years extended to name changes for shipsand COrporationl. After the Exxon Valdez oil Spill,the tanker was sent toa San. Diego shipyard; where it was repaired, repainted, and rechristenedthe Exxon Mediterranean. Following a series of financial and environsmental scandals,the nation's largest solid waste company, Waste Man-agement, Inc.; gave itself a higher-tech image with a name change toWMX. Nuclear: Engineering, Inc., became US Ecology And the Nation-..al AgricultUral chemiCals Association has renamed itself the AmericanCrop"Protection Association and foimded its own pro-pesticideadvoca-cy group, RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment).
Why the sensitivity. to semantics? Said one PR executive, quoted inThe New York Times, "People try to fudge a little bit about what theirgoals are. They want to create a patina of good-guyness."
16 The Amicus Journal 146
dertake the project merely because it"cared:' Den construction (whetherit benefits the foxes or not) is a stan-dard practice for oil companies oper-ating in the kit fox area. Like otherprojects featured in Chevron's habi-tat protection ads, it is the kind ofmeasure any industry has to committo before it will be permitted to op-erate in endangered-species habitat.
Nor do Chevron's ads mentionthat, through its membership in theAmerican Petroleum Institute, it issupporting an active lobbying effortin Congress to gut some of the verylaws that require such projects. "Theads celebrate something theirlawyers fight tooth and nail to pre-vent. It creates the illusion they cando it themselves and don't needregulationthat they thought thisup on their own," charges HerbChao Gunther, president Of thePublic Media Center, a non-profitPR firm that produces ad copy forpublic interest groups. "Those adsare a vile form of propaganda."
People think PR agencies areturning out news releases. I've writ-ten two releases in three years. Wedo campaigns to educate the public,we have a lobbying effort, we puttogether grassroots groups.
Jeff Raleigh, Hill & Knowlton
Give them the money. You stopdefending yourselves, let them do it,and you get the hell out of the way.Because citizens' groups have credi-bility and industries don't.
"Wise Use" leader RonArnold, explaining the need to
create pro-industry "grassroots"in a speech to Canadian timber
company MacMillan Bloedel
arly in 1995, the trade pub-lication PR News ran acover story promoting theloose anti-green network
calling itself "Wise Use," under the ti-tle, "New Environmental Grass RootsSprouting." It suggested, delicately,that Wise Use "presents an opportu-nity for PR executives at corporations
and firms to play the advo-cate role not for environ-mental activist groups orcorporate environmental-ism, but for a view that callsfor consideration of eco-nomic impacts and proper-ty rights in environmentaldebates."
But PR News was yearsbehind the curve. PR firmsranging from giants likeHill & Knowlton, Burson-Marsteller, and Edelman tolesser-known operationslike the Jefferson Group("Greenspeak. We're flu-ent.") have long been pro-moting groups and ac-tivities in the Wise Usevein. Last summer's annu-al Alliance for America"Fly-In For Freedom," forexample, brought 300to 400 loggers, miners,small-town developers, andindustry employees toWashington, D.C., to lobbyagainst the EndangeredSpecies Act. Publicity andsecurity for the Fly-In werehandled by Edelman. Twoof Edelman's clients, theCalifornia Forestry Associationand the Western States Coalition, alsosponsored the event.
And when no grassroots coalitionis at hand, many agencies will happi-ly create one. The term now currentfor this practice, "Astroturf lobbying,"was coined by former Senator andTreasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen. Bynow, PR firms offer a wide range offaux grassroots products.
nuclear power? I justdon't get it."
I ask him if Hill &Knowlton helped orga-nize the Wise Usepro-logging rallies andcounter-demonstrationsI covered during thetense Redwood Sum-mer of 1990, when envi-ronmentalist protestersand industry supportersfaced off. Although hiscompany representedPacific Lumber and waspart of the CaliforniaForestry Association,Raleigh tells me, it wasthe Association that or-chestrated events. Yet, atthe time, Hill & Knowl-ton was passing, outphotocopies of a sup-posed Earth First! fliercalling for violence. Itwas later shown that theflier was a fake. An in-ternal memo later re-leased as part of alawsuit revealed thatsome Pacific Lumberexecutives, at least, wereaware at the time the
flier was distributed to themedia that it was very likely notfrom Earth First! at all. (Raleigh sayshe has no specific recollection of theincident.)
Like Dr. Frankenstein's monster,Astroturf can sometimes get out ofcontrol. During Redwood Summer,hundreds of riot police had to becalled out to separate the two sides.A more recent example is the threatsof violence being directed againstfederal land managers by "countymovement" activists who want localcontrol over federal lands. On at leasttwo occasions, threats have escalatedinto armed confrontation.
Such incidents raise the questionof whether resource industries shouldshoulder some of the moral responsi-bility for the violent extremism thathas come to be associated with manyWise Use causes. For more than eightyears, representatives of the timber,mining, cattle, and many other
on Arnold and Alan Gott-lieb's anti-enviro tome,Trashing the Economy, sitson Jeff Raleigh's bookshelf
in the comfortably utilitarian SanFrancisco offices of Hill & Knowlton."I talk to Ron Arnold about once aquarter, just to say hello, because ofour involvement in mining issues,"Raleigh says. "We work with miners,and of course the mining industryuses the Wise Use movement. BobReveles was head of public relations
forHome-
stake [a miningcompany and one of Hill & Knowl-ton's clients], and now works for Peo-ple for the West [an industry-fundedWise Use group established to defendthe 1872 mining law]."
A big, bluff, friendly man,Raleigh has a number of corporateclients, and some interesting thingsto say about them. About PacificLumber, he comments, "Clearcut-ting is the most environmentallysensitive way to take down a tree."On Pacific Bell, which has been crit-icized for using British Columbianrainforest pulp in its phone books:"Old growth is whoever defineswhat old growth is." On US Ecology,a company that wants to open a nu-clear waste dump in California'sWard Valley: "Can you explain tome why environmentalists oppose
Summer 1996.17
147
industries have shared Wise Use plat-forms, conferences, and strategieswith strident anti-environmentalists,as well as John Birchers, Moonies,anti-Indian activists, county activists,and followers of Lyndon LaRouche.However limited their intentions,however sincerely they believe theyare controlling the agenda, industriesthat promote Wise Use in effect lendcredibility to extremism.
hile corporations wereworking with the politi-cal hard right to createWise Use, specialized
"grassroots" lobbying contractorswere sprouting up inside the Wash-ington beltway. Among the betterknown is Jack Bonner & Associates,which uses phone banks, direct mail,and computer-assisted tracking of cit-izen "white hats" to generate letters,faxes, and phone calls to legislatorson issues of concernof concern,that is, to GM, Exxon, U.S. Tobacco,and other Bonner clients. Along with"grassroots," Jack Bonner also goesafter "grasstops." According to theNational Journal, B&A charges $350to $500 for each letter or call gener-ated from a community leader. Actu-al meetings between communityleaders and legislators run Bonner'sclients between $5,000 and $9,000.
In Who Will Tell the People: TheBetrayal of American Democracy,William Greider writes that Bonner'sbiggest success to date was the mobi-lization of authentic grassrootsgroups, including the Georgia Bap-tist Convention, Easter Seal Society ofSouth Dakota, and Delaware Para-lyzed Veterans Association, on behalfof the auto industry's fight againsttougher fuel efficiency standards.B&A did mass mailings to farmers,seniors, organizations of the handi-capped, and others, without beingclear about whom they represented.The mailings warned that if the stan-dards passed, Detroit would be forcedto stop producing vans, church buses,and farm trucks. B&A is said to havereceived between $500,000 and $1million for its "organizing" effort.
Of course, Washington politiciansunderstand that much of the anti-environmental "citizen input" theyreceive is greenwash. But for politi-cians about to vote 'against broadlypopular environmental protections,it is easier to say they are respondingto their constituents than to majorcontributors in the timber or chem-ical industries. "You target Senatorsinclined to go your way but whoneed some additional cover. Theyneed to be able to say they've heardfrom people back home on this
a :case stu
51911; an organization called ICE was formed.to''"rePOSjtiOirtlebal warming as a theory (nOtiafaa)f.s.F threepages_of internal ICE docur
...ments,-suPPlied by an anonyniOus source, shine aparnal Hint revealing light on the making of a green =:
washmg cainPaign.Run by.the D.C.'-;bised PR firm Bracy Williams & -
Co.;ICE,iPiat financed by the coal mining and utilitYl-companiei ihat Make up the $400 million WesternFuels Association. The PR advantage of ICE as anacronyinfor a gronpoppoSing global warming legis-- .
. agreed on at the start of the campaign. Butit took; extensive ocusrgroup testing and poking to .decide which of four:7potential program names" ICEwould stand for. The firit step was a survey of 1,500citizens, which shoWed that "technical (scientific)sources receive the highest overall credibility ratings,followed closely by (citizen) activist sources:' Indus-
issue," is Bonner's explanation, asquoted in Greider's book.
Political greenwashing has focusedon state and local as well as nationalissues. In 1994, the Western States Pe-troleum Association (WSPA) wantedto oppose a California plan to let util-ities invest in infrastructure for ser-vicing electric cars. Rather than workopenly against the bill, WSPA's PRfirm, Woodward & McDowell, orga-nized "Californians Against UtilityCompany Abuse." They formed acoalition with a utility customers'group and sent hundreds of thou-sands of letters to taxpayers attackingthe "profit-making ventures" of theutilitieswithout identifying WSPAas the source of their funding. (In thewake of the numerous campaignsthat oil and auto companies havewaged in the past few years againstCalifornia's move toward electric cars,the federal Justice Department hasopened an investigation into possible"anti-competitive conduct" againstthe electric car industry.)
In November 1995, WashingtonState residents voted overwhelm-ingly to reject Initiative 640, a bal-lot measure that would have bannedthe use of commercial gillnets in or-der, its backers claimed, to reduceoverfishing and "save our sealife."The public turned against the
sources received ',lower credibility ra.",iigs.on tlese findings; ICE's PR strategists decided to
iChooshig theifitleInforinatiOn;COunCil-on',...F..nVii:Onnient' over InformedCiti#nsfOr the',
since the first name `1Sperceivedat'echniCal source while [the second]- carries both'te"6:11:aiad activist connOtations:'..ICE's goal was to move people; from advOca
"extreme positions on global *aniline!. (that is, leislation) to "less 'extreme positions" (that is, further.StidY). Realizing that "members of the public` feel:more' comfortable expressing Opinions on others'.motivations and tactics than they do expressingopinions on scientific issueS; ICE decided to atta"the motivation and vested interests" of thoSe.re-.porting on the danger. . _
''''.if`Some members of the media seare'the public :-about. global warming to increase their audience andtheir influence: People who respond most favorablyto such statements are older, less-educated males ...who are not typically active information-seekers,"
18 The Amicus Journal 148BEST COPY AVAILABLE
When no grassroots coalition is at handto lobby against environmental legislation,many agencies will happily create one."green" initiative when they learnedthat its main supporters were hy-droelectric, aluminum, and timbercompanies on the Columbia River.Its backers hoped 640 would cripplethe state's salmon fishing industry,which, in alliance with local enviros,has become an nutspoken opponentof dams, clearcutting, and otherthreats to upstream salmon habitat.Undeterred by their defeat on 640,the companies went on to found"Northwesterners for More Fish."This $2.6 million operation advo-cated continued barging of fisharound dams, a technique that has-failed to halt the salmon's spiral to-wards extinction in the region.
Another tactic some cor-porate image specialistsrecommend is formingpartnerships with envi-
ronmental groups. According to abook by E. Bruce Harrison, a pio-neer of greenwashing, "It's smart ontwo levels: It avoids some legalproblems, and it widens your op-tions." In the 1993 book, GoingGreen: How to Communicate Your
Company's Environmental Commit-ment, Harrison recommends thatcompanies meet with citizens whocriticize them, listen but reveal littleinformation, and research their op-ponents, even to the point of hiringprivate detectives. (A number ofpublic interest groups have had vis-its and requests for informationfrom peciple they later had reason tobelieve were employed by Mon-goven, Biscoe & Duchin, Burson-Marsteller, or other PR firms.Wackenhut, a security firm, hasbeen investigated more than oncefor spying on environmentalists andgovernment officials.)
One of the best-known corporate-environmental partnerships was the1992 waste reduction program Mc-Donald's worked out with the Envi-ronmental Defense Fund (EDF). "Inthe late 1980s, the company slippedinto its worst sales slump everandthe anti-McDonald's drive of [anti -toxics] green activists was at leastpartly blamed," Harrison writes. Butthe plan EDF designed to reduce thecompany's packaging waste stream"established a landmark precedent
eu nficterc reported. "They are good targetsreportedAnother possible target seg-
hundreds greenwash experiments, lastedproduct m three cites. u
that may alter the way environmen-tal protection is achieved, movingaway from regulation and command-and-control toward partnering?'
Many environmentalists defendthe concrete benefits that can comefrom helping large polluting corpo-rations to reduce the environmen-tal damage they do. But someobservers are not convinced thatsuch partnerships benefit both sidesequally. "The ads these corporationsrun linking themselves with theseorganizations can make them lookgreener than they are. The publicperception becomes, 'Oh, they mustbe responsible,'" says Mark Dowie,author of Losing Ground: AmericanEnvironmentalism at the Close of theTwentieth Century. "If these dealsare supposed to counterbalance[rather than correct] other mistakesand abuses, then they're a form ofgreenwashing."
In some cases, the partnershipstake the form of contributions to-ward an environmental group orone of its projects. "Companiesneed the environmental movement,and environmental groups take a lotof money from companies," saysHal Dash. "What they want is ac-cess, cooperation, and why not? It'slike if a company moves into a townand wants to pay for a school, [to]
ts for r4- inYesteB-t the group, only one
E d $525,000 to "test-matke
dio advertisements**women, papers among
received better input, weser lowerm9Pme
7eT:theYissarwarththeIlk g, and to think the Prth-'
Ivan Brandon, the Bracy executiveIihca°t-ed-
opths. Had we recei
believe the. -
they are also likely to soften"The issu. Wias
continuemerifis Y94ng likely to be 'green consumers, just six innational campaign;uld haVe looked at a
Williams,themeirissuiper1;°oils7yf' ollaigfecieveraier",.1gisygtipThn
afterese whoearm:garnee7,,a?nvearthseaas were a little too simp e,
toom
sledgehammer than a Subtle effect."Since dumping ICE, the Western Fuels AsSocia-
tion has gone on to, fund World Climate Report, aweekly science-oriented publication that attacks:
oimatiOn on Obi.' Nyariningood targets for magazine adv m
he illustratetd magazine ads for ICE included:SOrne entitled "Who told you the earth waswarming .. Chicken Little?"; "Some say the mainstream theOries on global warming. Western
arch Warming. Some also said the earth was flat"; Fuels alio funded a $250,000 video, "The Greening ofand "If the earth. is getting warmer, why is Min- Planet Earth," which was distributed by the Globalneapolis getting-colder?" (The Minneapolis line
:Would seem to contradict climate data that showed1990 to be Minneapolis's fourth warmest year and1991 also above average. "It certainly did not showcooling," said a state climatologist quoted in the in-ternal documents.)
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
ClimatO Coalition to over 1,000 U.S. journalists, theWhite House, and various oil states in the MiddleEast. The video argues that. because industrial Carbondioxide buildup in the atmosphere acts as a kind ofairborne nutrient, global warming could be the solu-tion to world hunger.
149 Summer 1996 19
buy the support of the community,both sides have a lot to gain."
Following McDonald's lead,Anheuser-Busch and GM have runa series of ads touting their contri-butions to the Nature Conservancy;Canon is advertising its $1.2 millioncontribution to the National ParkFoundation; and Exxon has con-tributed $5 million to captive zoobreeding programs and other effortsto "help save endangered tigers?'
Once again, however, manycompanies that advertise their con-tributions to environmental groupsand their dedication to environ-mental causes also fund and sup-port Wise Use groups. Honda andother manufacturers of Sports Util-ity Vehicles (SUVs), for instance,have joined forces in a project called"Tread Lightly," which is advertisedas an environmental conservationprogram. SUVs are now the fastest-growing sector of the auto industry(a phenomenon not unrelated tothe fact that industry lobbyists havesucceeded in keeping these vehiclesexempt from fuel-efficiency stan-dards that apply to other cars).Tread Lightly sponsors rallies andwarns off-road vehicle users thatmillions of acres of public land are
being closed to their 4x4s becauseof "potential and real damage"from their failure to "Drive respon-sibly." Yet Honda has also fundedthe Blue Ribbon Coalition, a WiseUse group fighting to open up morepublic lands to off-road vehicles,logging, and mining.
Burson-Marsteller's effort to defeatthe Btu tax on behalf of the Ameri-can Energy Alliance was credited[sic] by former Treasury SecretaryLloyd Bentsen.
0'Dwyer's PR Services Report
. Bruce Harrison, the PRveteran who wrote GoingGreen, made his reputa-tion coordinating indus-
try's attacks on Rachel Carson afterthe publication of Silent Spring in1962. Harrison and colleagues fromMonsanto, Dow, and other chemi-cal companies created the templatefor today's greenwashing cam-paigns. They established frontgroups and a media outreach pro-gram. They conducted hostile mail-ings and public forums for
"third-party ex-perts," includingdoctors and sci-entists willing toattack Carson'spersonal and pro-fessional credi-bility while de-fending the use ofDDT and othertoxic compounds.
Attempts weremade to intimi-date Carson's pub-lisher into notprinting the book.When that failed,John Stauber ofPR Watch haswritten, the Na-tional AgriculturalChemical Associa-tion doubled itsPR budget and be-gan distributing its
20 The Amicus Journal
I
130
own attack reviews. Monsanto pub-lished 5,000 copies of a parody calledThe Desolate Year, in which a plagueof insects (unchecked by pesticides)devastates the United States. Thecampaign had some initial mediasuccess when The New York Timesquestioned Carson's credibility.
As with Silent Spring, some issuesare so big that industry is willing topull out all the stops. Today, thechemical industry is conducting amajor campaign against Our StolenFuture, a book linking syntheticchemicals to reproductive problemsin humans and wildlife.
Months before its publication, acopy of the book's galleys cameinto the possession of the Ameri-can Council on Science and Health(ACSH), a food, drug, and chemi-cal industry-funded group thatportrays itself as an objectivesource for scientific informationon food, drugs, and agro-chemicals. With its unauthorizedcopy of the manuscript, ACSH wasable to prepare a report attackingStolen Future before it hit thebookstores. Simultaneously, theCompetitive Enterprise Institute(CEI), a conservative Washingtonthink tank, published two reportsattacking. "the hypothetical risksto human health" reported on inthe book. Consumer Alert, a"free-market" organization, putout a press release on the sameday labeling the book "a scare-mongering tract."
The following day, the Advance-ment of Sound Science Coalition(TASSC) called a press conferencewith ten scientists, five of themfrom the board of ACSH, who at-tacked the book as "science fic-tion." (TASSC is a recently createdgroup run out of the offices ofAPCO Associates, a PR firm thatspecializes in environmental lob-bying. Its supporters include exec-utives of GM, Chevron, Dow, W.R.Grace, and others.) This apparent-ly well-coordinated campaign maybe having some initial success, asthe first New York Times reviewquestioned the credibility of theauthors' work.
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Another issue that is consistently amajor greenwashing target is globalwarming. At an October 1995 panelon greenwashing at the Society ofEnvironmental Journalists' annualconference, writer Bill McKibbenpointed to the increasing scientificcertainty on global warming. AskingE. Bruce Harrison, who was on thepanel, to assume he was representingthe coal industry, McKibben said,"What's a good fallback position forthem, once you're past the point ofbeing able to say climate change isnot a problem?"
"The climate change debate hasto do with science, economics, ter-ribly complicated," Harrison re-sponded, going into automatic spincontrol. "What we are advising ourclients .... is to keep the debateopen, keep it honest, draw out sci-entific experts, talk about the eco-nomics, talk about the impacts, andlet's see where this all comes out."
Actually, Harrison does indeedrepresent the coal industry,through one of his clients, theGlobal Climate Coalition (GCC).Founded in 1989 by forty-six ener-gy corporations and associations,GCC is dedicated to countering the"myth of global warming." Andjust as Harrison advises, so far theefforts of GCC and the many otherPR firms working on climatechange have served to obfuscate theissues enough to help kill nationaland international efforts for strongglobal warming policies.
For instance, GCC and otherssuccessfully lobbied to weaken boththe 1992 UN Earth Summit treatyon climate change and a House en-ergy bill that would have requiredindustry cuts in carbon dioxideemissions. Another effort helpedshoot down the Clinton Adminis-tration's 1993 proposal for a deficit-cutting energy tax (to be levied perBTU, or British Thermal Unit, of en-ergy consumed). The BTU tax wasdefeated in part by computer-driven"grassroots" letter and phone-incampaigns run by the National As-sociation of Manufacturers and byBurson-Marsteller, the world'slargest public relations firm.
While environmentalgroups large and smalldebate the relativemerits of working with
or against corporations, and tryto imagine the right balance ofregulation, enforcement, and mar-ket incentives that could ensureenvironmental quality of life andopportunity in the future, manyleaders of industry and their spindoctors insist we have already ac-complished most of what needs tobe done.
"The environmental movementhelped us clean up and think abouthow we use resources," says Hill &Knowlton's Jeff Raleigh. "I make theanalogy to the labor movementin the twenties and thirties. Weneeded unions back then. They
healthy environment, green PR mayhelp to strengthen environmental val-ues among the public The 1971 KeepAmerica Beautiful ads, for instance,have proven unforgettable to many inthe generation that has since put en-vironmental issues on the national
. political agenda.But by investing in advertising
and lobbying designed to createthe illusion that environmentallydestructive practices are environ-mentally beneficial, greenwashingcompanies are also disseminatingapathy. They are undermining thecore of informed citizenry that isthe cornerstone of democraticdecision-making. And when theymove beyond that to the creationof Astroturf groups, protestdemonstrations, and social move-
"Regulations have done their job andought to be let out to pastureor put outif they won't go'peaceably."
achieved most of their objectives,and then became.self-perpetuatingorganizations and now fight fornonsensical things. The environ-mental movement has done thesame thing."
E. Bruce Harrison concurs, writ-ing, "To many, its dear that ... reg-ulation[s] have done their job andought to be let out to pastureorput out if they won't go peaceably."
Too many U.S. companies evi-dently agree. Those that choose togreenwash their images rather thangreen their basic operations ignorethe advice proffired recently in an ed-itorial in O'Dwyer's PR Services Re-port. "It has been shown thatcorporations with good environmen-tal track records enjoy healthier bot-tom lines than those viewed aspolluters." Moreover, companies .that do greenwashing without mak-ing real environmental improve-ments may be making it still moredifficult for themselves in thefuturebecause greenwashing canbe a sword that cuts both ways. Bydisseminating persuasive images andsentiments about the need for a
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ments for hire, they cross a criticalthreshold of respect for. the basicdemocratic institutions on whichour society is supposed to bebased: Even once they are exposedto the light of day, campaigns likethese are poiSonous to the publicdebate. They engender profoundpublic cynicism about the politicalprocess; they reduce citizens' will-ingness to participate in a politicalsystem that is apparently hopeless-ly compromised.by corporate spe-cial interests. .
And more than anything, green-washing disseminates ignorance.The Public Media Center's HerbChao Gunther recalls, "I'll neverforget my mother calling me onEarth. Day because she saw a bigpicture of the earth run by. theChemical Manufacturers Associa-tion with the line, 'We're in this to-gether.' She asked me, 'Why areyou nasty to those people? Theylike it too'
"When my mother calls andwonders why I bash CMA because .they do nice ads, I know greenwash-ing is working." .
Summer 1996 21
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