Causes and Consequences
of
Environmental Degradation
Martin Donohoe
Am I Stoned?
A 1999 Utah anti-drug pamphlet warns:
“Danger signs that your child may
be smoking marijuana include
excessive preoccupation with social
causes, race relations, and
environmental issues”
Our Home
Overpopulation
 World
population - exponential growth
1 billion in 1800
2.5 billion in 1950
6 billion in 2000
7 billion in 2011
Overpopulation


Africa, Asia, and Latin America primarily affected
Causes:
 Poverty
 Women’s rights issues
 impaired access to reproductive health care and
education
 political/legal/economic/social marginalization
Air Pollution
Health Effects of Air Pollution
 Causes
approximately 60,000 - 75,000
premature deaths/yr. in U.S.
 656,000
 Over
in China
2 million worldwide
Health Effects of Air Pollution







MI
CHF
Ventricular arrythmias
Asthma/COPD
PVD
Cerebrovascular disease
Multiple other illnesses
Air Pollution


Indoor combustion of coal and biomass for
cooking, heating and food preservation
 3 billion people worldwide
 2 million deaths/yr
Tobacco smoke
 5.4 million deaths/yr worldwide (1/10 deaths)
Air Pollution: The Good News
 Reductions
in air pollution under
Clean Air Act Account for up to 15%
of overall increase in life expectancy in
major U.S. metropolitan areas
 Saved
160,000 lives in 2010
Effects of Ozone Destruction
 Ozone
hole over Antarctic (2½X size of
Europe)
Shrinking
 Increased cataracts (UV damage)
 Increased lifetime melanoma risk
1/1500 - 1930
1/68 - today
US Energy Consumption by Fuel





Oil – 37% - peak oil production expected 2014
Natural gas – 24%
Coal – 22% - peak coal production 1920
Nuclear – 8.5%
Renewables (mostly hydroelectric and biomass;
small amounts of geothermal, wind, and solar) –
7.3%
Oil and War
 Countries
that export oil are >40 times
more likely to be engaged in civil war
than those that do not
 Gulf Wars I and II
 The Future – Water Wars
Toxins/Pesticides
6 trillion tons of over 85,000 chemicals
produced annually
 More than 90% have never been
screened for toxicity
 5 billion lbs/yr pesticides worldwide
 1.1 billion lbs/yr in U.S.
 About 3 lbs/person/yr in U.S.

Pesticides



EPA: U.S. farm workers suffer up to 300,000
pesticide-related acute illnesses and injuries per
year
 25 million cases/yr worldwide
NAS: Pesticides in food could cause up to 1
million cancers in the current generation of
Americans
WHO: 1,000,000 people killed by pesticides over
the last 6 years
Health Effects of Pesticides








Autism
Parkinson’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease
Diabetes
Obesity (with prenatal exposure)
Depression
ADHD
Endocrine/reproductive effects
Toxic Pollutants
85,000 known or suspected hazardous
waste sites in the U.S.
 Environmental Racism
 Waste dumps/incinerators more
common in lower SES neighborhoods
“Cancer Belt” (Baton Rogue to New
Orleans)

Infamous Industrial Disasters
 Minimata,
 Love
Japan
Canal
 Bhopal,
India
 Chernobyl,
USSR
Infamous Industrial Disasters

Alaska, Exxon Valdez, 1989

2006 BP Alaskan pipeline rupture

2010 BP Gulf disaster

2011 – Yellowstone pipe rupture
Minimata Disease
W Eugene Smith
Deforestation
Tropical forests constitute 7% of land surface
area, contain > 50% of plant and animal species
 Majority of tropical forests destroyed
 One acre of world’s forest cut down every
second
 50% of global wetlands destroyed (54% in U.S.)

Deforestation
 Historical
-Easter Island (Polynesians), Middle East, U.S.
Southwest (Anasazi Indians)
 Contemporary
-Mauritania, Ethiopia, Haiti deforested
-Philippines and Thailand are now net
importers of forest products, looking at Latin
America
Deforestation: Causes
New agricultural settlements (overpopulation,
poverty, unsustainable farming practices)
 Logging
 Oil and gas exploration
 Cattle ranching
 Drug cultivation

Global Warming
Consequences of Global
Warming

160,000 deaths and 5.5 million disabilityadjusted life years lost per year
 WHO, UN Environment Program
 Expected to double by 2020
Consequences of Global
Warming
Polar icecaps/glaciers/Greenland ice
sheet/Himalayas/permafrost melting, sea
levels rising
 ↑ weather extremes/natural
disasters/insurance claims
 ↑ infectious diseases

Greenland’s Ice Cap Melting: 1992
Greenland’s Ice Cap Melting: 2002
Greenland’s Ice Cap Melting: 2005
Global Warming



The top 1/5 of the world’s largest 145 countries
account for 63% of global C02 emissions (lowest
1/5 = 2%)
Countries most affected are those least
responsible
Climate refugees
 Disappearing locales: Tuvalu, Vanuatu,
Kivalina (Alaska), Male (Maldives)
Agriculture
Global per capita cropland down over 50% from
1961 to present
 Soil erosion exceeds soil formation


Decreasing crop diversity/genetic diversity
 Consequences:
vulnerability to disease, huge
crop losses (e.g., Irish potato famine)
Factory Farming
Factory Farming
Factory farms have replaced industrial
factories as the # 1 polluters of American
waterways
 Agriculture accounts for 70% of U.S.
antibiotic use
 CDC: “Antibiotic use in food animals is
the dominant source of antibiotic
resistance among food-borne pathogens.”

Overfishing

Fisheries collapsing

Coral reef destruction

Aquaculture
Species Loss
 Rate
of extinction = 4,000-6,000
species/year
 1,000
- 10,000X background rate of
extinction
Causes of Species Loss
 Habitat
loss (overpopulation, logging, etc.)
 Environmental pollution
 Global warming
 Exotic species invasions
 Overhunting
 Black market in endangered animals
 HUMANS
Maldistribution of Wealth
 500
billionaires worldwide
 top
250 billionaires worth $1 trillion,
the combined income of bottom 2.5
billion people (45% of world’s
population)
Maldistribution of Wealth

U.S: Richest 1% of the population owns 50%
of the country’s wealth
-poorest 90% own 30%
-widest gap of any industrialized nation
 Associated with 880,000 deaths per year
over expected number if gap was same as
in Western European nations
Maldistribution of wealth
 Less
than 4% of the combined wealth of the
225 richest individuals in the world would pay
for ongoing access to basic education, health
care (including reproductive health care),
adequate food, safe water, and adequate
sanitation for all humans (UNDP)
Declaration of Independence
“All men are created equal.”
George Orwell
“Some people are more equal
than others”
Hudson River, 2009
Voltaire
“The comfort of the rich rests
upon an abundance of the poor”
Maldistribution of Wealth/Resources
Threatens National Security and Requires a
Permanent War Economy

“The U.S. has about 50% of the world’s wealth, but
only 6.3% of its population. This situation cannot
fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our
real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern
of relationships which will permit us to maintain this
position of disparity withoug positive detriment to
our national security.”

George Kennan, U.S. State Dept. Policy Planning Study,
1948
Racial Disparities

Economic

Educational

Criminal justice system involvement

Discrimination
Racial Disparities: Health Care
Higher maternal and infant mortality
 Higher death rates for most diseases
 Shorter life expectancies
 Less health insurance
 Fewer diagnostic tests / therapeutic
procedures

Racial Disparities: Health Care

Equalizing the mortality rates of whites
and African-Americans would have averted
686,202 deaths between 1991 and 2000
 Whereas
medical advances averted 176,633
deaths
 AJPH
2004;94:2078-2081
Overconsumption (Affluenza)

U.S. = 6.3% of world’s population
 Own 50% of the world’s wealth

U.S. responsible for:
-25% of world’s energy consumption
-33% of paper use
-72% of hazardous waste production
(1 ton/person/year)
But are we happier?
Workloads increasing, vacation and free
time decreasing
 U.S.: Only OECD country not to
guarantee paid vacation and sick leave
 Erosion of social capital

Economic Stagnation


Inflation-adjusted income of the median U.S.
household
 1989 - $54,600
 1997 - $49,000
 2004 - $44,389
 2009 - $49,777
 2011 - $51,860
Financial Crisis / Recession
Exorbitant CEO Pay


CEO salaries up 500% since 1980
The average CEO makes 300-400X the salary of
the average U.S. worker (1960 - 41X; 1980 42X)
Mexico 45:1
 Britain 25:1
 Germany 11:1
 Japan 10:1

The “Global Economy”
 53
of the world’s 100 largest economies
are private corporations; 47 are
countries
 Wal-Mart is larger than Israel and
Greece
 AT&T is larger than Malaysia and
Ireland
Corporations
 Almost
 500
6 million corporations
companies control 70% of world
trade
Corporations

Internalize profits

Externalize health and environmental costs

Confidential legal settlements keep important
public health and safety information secret
 May delay governmental intervention, cause
unnecessary morbidity and mortality
Corporate Taxation
Corporations shouldered over 30% of the
nation’s tax burden in 1950 vs. 6.5% today
(“real rate” = 2.8% per U.S. Treasury
Department)
 Corporate taxes are at their lowest level
since WW II

Reasons for Inadequate Corporate
Taxation
Tax breaks, corporate welfare, corporationfriendly tax laws, loopholes, transferring
assets overseas
 Cheating and under-payment common
 Offshore tax havens shelter capital

Ugland House, Cayman Islands
18,000 Corporations Registered Here
The Stock Market

20% of Americans own stock

90% of stocks, bonds, and mutual fund
assets owned by 10%

51% of all stocks, bonds, and mutual fund
assets owned by 1%
Consequences of Differential Stock
Ownership
Corporations are answerable to their
shareholders
 Governments are answerable (at least in
theory) to their citizens (either through
elections or revolutions)

Economic Injustices





The Third World Debt Crisis
 Africa/Latin America/Asia - $300 billion
Unfair economic organizations and trade agreements
 WTO, IMF, GATT, NAFTA, others
Child labor
↓ Unionization
Unsafe working conditions
Foreign Aid
 In
total dollars: U.S. #1
 As
a % of GDP, U.S. #21
 U.S.
Aid: Over 1/3 military, 1/4
economic, 1/3 for food and
development
Foreign Aid

0.9% of the total federal budget

On average, Americans think that 24% of
the federal budget goes toward foreign aid
U.S. Charitable Giving

Approximately $250 billion/year
 2.5%
of income
 2.9%
at height of Great Depression
2009 Federal Budget
$2.65 trillion
World Military Spending (2008)
The Military and Pollution
World’s single largest polluter
 6-10% of global air pollution
 2-11% of world raw material use
 97% of all high level and 78% of all low level
nuclear waste
 Military exempt from most environmental
regulations

The Military: Diversion of Resources
Away from Health Care
3 hours world arms spending = annual WHO
budget
 1/2 day of world arms spending = full
childhood immunizations for all world’s
children
 3 days of U.S. military spending = amt. spent
on health, education, and welfare for U.S.
children in 1 year

The Military: Diversion of Resources
Away from Health Care and Other
Scientific Projects


3 weeks of world arms spending/yr. =
primary health care for all in poor countries,
incl. safe water and full immunizations
25% of the world’s 2.5 million research
scientists and engineers work entirely on
military R and D
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a
theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and not clothed.”
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Poverty and Hunger
US: 14% of residents and 20% of children live in
poverty
 Rates of poverty in Blacks and Hispanics =
almost 3X Whites
 17% (52 million people) lack health insurance
(2011)
 Poverty associated with worse physical and
mental health

Poverty
1.1 billion people lack access to safe, clean
drinking water
-1.8 million child deaths/year
 2 billion have no electricity
 2.6 billion do not have adequate sanitation
services
 Lack of clean water and sanitation cause 4 billion
cases of diarrhea and 1.6 million deaths per year

Famine
Famine
 1.5
billion malnourished
 Hunger kills 18,000 people per day, most
under age 5
 Hunger-related causes kill as many people
in 8 days as the atomic bomb killed at
Hiroshima
Poverty and Priorities

Amount of money needed each year (in addition
to current expenditures) to provide water and
sanitation for all people in developing nations =
$9 billion

Amount of money spent annually on cosmetics
in the U.S. = $8 billion
Poverty and Priorities

Amount of money needed each year ( in
addition to current expenditures) to provide
reproductive health care for all women in
developing countries = $12 billion

Amount of money spent annually on perfumes
in Europe and the U.S. = $12 billion
Medical Care
50% of global health care budget spent in
the U.S.
 Per capita expenditure on health care:
 U.S. = $8,160
 Typical poor African/Asian country =
$5-10

Medical Care
U.S. - 52 million uninsured
 Ranks 24th worldwide in overall population
health (as judged by disability-adjusted life
expectancy)
 Ranks 42nd in global life expectancy

Headline from The Onion
Uninsured Man Hopes His
Symptoms Diagnosed This Week
On House
Would You Sign a Petition to Ban
Dihydrogen Monoxide?
1. It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
2. It is a major component in acid rain
3. It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
4. It can kill you if accidentally inhaled
5. It contributes to erosion
6. It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
7. It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer
patients
Geographic Ignorance

Percent of US teens unable to locate the
following on a map:
 United States – 11%
 Pacific Ocean – 29%
 United Kingdom – 68%
Ignorance/Pseudoscientific
Beliefs
Half of US citizens do not believe in
evolution and do believe that humans and
dinosaurs coexisted (2007)
 22% of Americans don’t know whether an
atomic bomb has ever been dropped
(2000)
 25% believe in UFOs (2007)

The Obfuscation of Science
Advertising
 US spends $290 billion/yr on advertising
(almost $1,000/person/yr in the U.S.
 Lobbying
 Campaign Contributions (Citizens United)
 Greenwash
 Astroturfing

The Obfuscation of Science
Corporate Front Groups
 Sponsored Environmental Educational
Materials
 Media consolidation, corporate control
 5 corporations control majority of US
media, down from 50 in 1983

Global Warming: Controversial?


Of 928 articles in peer-reviewed scientific
journals, 0% were in doubt as to the existence or
cause of global warming
Of 636 articles in the popular press (NY Times,
Washington Post, LA Times, WSJ), 53%
expressed doubt as to the existence (and primary
cause) of global warming
Science 2004;306:1686-7
(Study covers 1993-2003)
Lobbying

Over 15,000 full-time lobbyists

Estimates of return on lobbying range
from $28 to $100 for every $1 spent
Lobbying

Lobbying groups spent 3.5 billion in 2010
(federal lobbying, a record)


All single issue ideological groups combined
(e.g., pro-choice, anti-abortion, feminist and
consumer organizations, senior citizens, etc.) =
$76 million
SCOTUS’ Citizens United decision has opened
the floodgates for unlimited corporate
contributions
The Decline of Democracy
True democracy demands an informed
citizenry (education), freedom of the press
(media), and involvement (will, time,
money)
 Democracy is critical to the success of
public health

Corporations and International
Agreements

Corporations attempt to influence writing
and acceptance/rejection of international
agreements
 Through misinformation, lobbyists,
revolving door between industry and
government
 Large behind the scenes role
International NonCooperation/Isolationism

Failure to sign or approve:
 Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change
 International Covenant on Economic, Social,
and Cultural Rights
 Convention on the Prohibition of AntiPersonnel Land Mines
International NonCooperation/Isolationism

Failure to sign or approve:
 Treaty to ban cluster bombs Convention on
the Rights of the Child
 Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women
International NonCooperation/Isolationism

Failure to sign or approve:
 WHO Code of Conduct for Marketing Breast
Milk Substitutes
 Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in
Persons
 The Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants
Primo Levi
“A country is considered the more
civilized the more the wisdom and
efficiency of its laws hinder a weak
man from becoming too weak or a
powerful one too powerful.”
Solutions
Stronger environmental laws
 Restructure tax system
 Renewable energy
 More equitable distribution of medical
research funds and health care dollars
 Single payer health care (PHM/PHC)

Solutions
Improve status of women / access to
reproductive health care
 Living wage laws

 E.g.,
NY, LA, Chicago, and Philadelphia
Create maximum wage
 Reform education

Solutions
Publicly financed campaigns and campaign
finance reform
 Proportional representation
 Instant runoff voting/cumulative
voting/range (rating) voting

Solutions: Vote



US voter turnout low (139/172 worldwide)
 Wealthy vote at almost twice rate of poor
 Whites > Blacks > Hispanics
 Old > Young
 Property owners > Renters
Activism / Protesting / Whistleblowing
Work in Groups (PSR)
Günter Grass
“The first job of a citizen is to
keep your mouth open.”
Anita Roddick
"If you think you are too small
to have an impact, try going to
bed with a mosquito in your
tent"
Public Health and Social Justice Website
http://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
http://www.phsj.org
martindonohoe@phsj.org