ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses environmental protection in some countries of Asia. By the late 1970s the word ‘quality’ had given way to the notion of ‘control’, or protection. This concept is relevant only in wealthy countries, while the rest aim at best for a ‘safe’ environment, one that does not absolutely endanger the life and health of the population. Environmental pollution and destruction caused by the production, transportation, and combustion of additional billions of tons of oil and coal would create an impact that the atmosphere, the oceans, and the planet itself could never absorb. This argument is commonly countered by the objection that water can be repurified and recycled. The most sophisticated technologies could not close the water cycle fully, as happens in nature, the source of energy must be external, and energy production always means ecological destruction. Industrial development turns out to be a destabilizing factor that endangers the Western civilization founded on economic prosperity and political freedom.
