Although the environment consistently ranks in the top 20 issues of many opinion polls, Americans are often uninformed about the hidden agendas and serious repercussions that the environmental agenda inflicts on many developing nations. Paul Driessen, a senior fellow at the free market Atlas Economic Research Foundation, focuses on the negative aspects of heavy-handed environmentalism in his work Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death (Free Enterprise Press, $15).

            Driessen’s argument against the green agenda is eye-opening. He pays close attention to the advocates of “corporate social responsibility,” who argue that business has an obligation to enrich society by improving the economy and environment. Many environmentalist organizations claim to be social “stakeholders” in businesses, which means they believe their concerns should have priority over the interests of mere corporate shareholders. Stakeholders call on corporations to abide by new, costly and more strict environmental and ethical standards even when their added expense causes companies to close down their operations in impoverished areas of the world.

Driessen also explores what Western environmental standards can do to developing nations that are trying to industrialize. Eco-Imperialism describes the hunger and suffering of millions of the world’s poor who are denied the benefits of genetically engineered food and the use of proven pesticides that would reduce crop blight and dread diseases like malaria.

Driessen highlights the many environmental nonprofits that “have become amazingly ingenious in promoting their agendas, by cloaking them in the mantle of ‘public interest’ or ‘social responsibility’.” He calls for non-profit organizations such as Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to abide by the same ethical standards they demand from the corporate sector.

Driessen believes that holding nonprofits to high standards also will help donors evaluate charitable organizations. He urges the IRS to examine non-profits’ “excessive efforts to lobby Congress, instead of engaging in educational activities, as specified by the terms of their special tax status; using false and misleading claims in fund-raising appeals; and urging or training members to engage in high-pressure advocacy tactics or unlawful activities.”

Paul Driessen provides us with a careful assessment of environmentalist policy, organizations, and outcomes. Eco-Imperialism is a must read for anyone seeking an alternative to standard “green” rhetoric.

Lauren Karam is a research assistant for www.greenwatch.org, a project of the Capital Research Center.