ldlife Fund official said, The ruling reveals the profound bias of the WTO against environmental policies, and in favor of free trade at any cost (Lester).In the beginning, free trade was favored by those disappointed with the current mercantile trading system due to its high tariffs. Those who favored liberal trading believed that it would promote the growth of the global economy because of the specialization of products. This specialization would ultimately lead to an increase in the amount of goods and services for consumers along with a higher quality product. Many believed this plan was too good to be true and did not realize what consequences would follow along with it.The current free trade agreements were created and promoted by businesses for whom environmental regulations are nothing more than costs that interfere with profits. Therefore these businesses feel as though environmental restrictions should be minimized. Currently, when dealing with trade agreements, the environmental issue is avoided whenever possible. In fact, the word environment is never mentioned in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)! (Goldsmith, 90)Countries which have cheap cash crops import things that will increase their gross national product. Yet they usually end up depleting their environment and costing more in the long run. An example of this involves Brazil, their rainforests, and their attempts to raise cattle. Brazil currently has the highest rate of deforestation in the world. Their forests are being cut down so that resources yielding more money can be grown. The woodlands are destroyed so grazing land can be made available for the raising of cattle. Brazilians wish to raise cattle instead of the natural resources already present in the rainforests because the cows will bring in more moneymeeting the goal of making their economy bigger and better.This is devastating to the environment because rainforests are the most di...
