Expert: Max Kimball Date: 6/18/2008 Subject: India and China
Question I wanted to get an experts advice, "Do the countries of India and china have a right to pollute the environment until they catch up with more industrialized countries?
Answer Hi Michelle,
I'll be glad to offer my opinion.
I believe that countries do have the right to industrialize however they see fit, without the interference of the rest of the world. However, if it can be conclusively proven that greenhouse emissions must be drastically curtailed in order to save the planet, then I think that the rights of humanity outweigh the rights of individual countries.
At the moment, there is not universal agreement, it's fair to say, about humanity's impact on global warming. In that case, China and India's right to industrialize in their own manner probably should not be abridged.
