Safeguarding Polluting Industries
The Protection of Private Enterprise Over Public Health and the Environment
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Governments and businesses are attempting to shore-up unequal economies by safeguarding polluting industries and private enterprise at the expense of the environment and public health.
The picture seemed different in the early days of Covid lockdown, when we saw canals in Venice transformed into crystal clarity and a return of dolphins to southern Italian coasts. Photos were shared widely on social media—from the scenes of animals taking over urban spaces such as the goats in Llandudno and the reintroduction of grazing livestock Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway. The UK saw steep decreases in air pollution in London and other major cities, with toxic fumes falling to their lowest levels since the 1950s.
But these examples were isolated and short-lived, with lockdown emboldening other forms of pollution such as the illegal logging in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. As we head into a second wave of virus transmission and mitigation, we must…