Inequality as a Cause of Environmental Degradation

This paper advances two hypotheses. First, the extent of an environmentally degrading economic activity is a function of the balance of power between the winners, who derive net benefits from the activity, and the losers, who bear net costs. Second, greater inequalities of power and wealth lead, all else equal, to more environmental degradation. “We can't see how the authorities can say they defend the ecological system, while at the same time deploying police to protect those who are destroying the forest.” Brazilian rubber tappers union leader Chico Mendes (1989, p. 60), shortly before his assassination.