ALL MANKIND SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE ALARMING INCREASE IN TOXIC WASTE AND THE RISKS INVOLVED IN ITS SHIPMENT TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. IN THE MAJORITY OF CASES, THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES RECEIVING SUCH WASTE DO NOT POSSESS ADEQUATE MEANS TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH OR TO TREAT SUCH WASTE. BRITISH COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS, INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY, MUST TAKE STEPS TO PREVENT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FROM BEING TURNED INTO TOXIC WASTELANDS.
The 20th anniversary of the 1978 Love Canal (NY) incident prompts an analysis of Andrew Szasz's (1994) text that addresses media representations of hazardous environmental events. Szasz's text is applauded for (1) employing a multitheoretical approach to hazardous waste, (2) illustrating legislative processes, (3) discussing the creation of environmental movements & the media's role in such creative processes, & (4) investigating the connection between media, social justice organizations, & lawmaking. After examining issues that encouraged Congress to pass preventive legislation, Szasz asserts that the media coverage of the Love Canal incident perpetuated the emergence of hazardous waste on a national level. Noting that ecopopulists demands for additional environmental regulations resulted in increased disposal costs, Szasz interprets the resultant change in corporations' behavior to reduce disposal costs as a victory for democracy. Although Szasz is criticized for failing to recognize the political incentives behind media coverage of hazardous waste, his text is deemed important for demonstrating the potential for alternative approaches to improving environmental conditions to succeed. J. W. Parker
