Why we shouldn't discourage developing nations

Check out this paper by Indur Goklany of the U.S. Department of Interior.

A key excerpt:

Specifically, many determinants of human well-being — hunger, malnutrition, mortality rates, life expectancy, the level of education, and spending on health care and on research and development — improve along with the level of economic development, as measured by GDP per capita, a surrogate for both per capita income and wealth (or “affluence”) (see Figure 1; Goklany, 2002a). Improvements in these determinants are associated with increased human capital and should aid technological diffusion.

(click to enlarge)


A related paragraph is here:

Is it only “rich Indians” or China that eco-activists seek to punish with carbon taxes or trade barriers? Sadly, no. British activists are lobbying supermarkets to keep Kenyan fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers off the shelves. To remain fresh, the produce must be flown Kenya to Britain, and air transport of fossil-intensive. That makes this farm practice “unsustainable” in the eyes of eco-activists—even though the $200 million in annual sales Kenyan farmers enjoy in the UK sustains 135,000 jobs in Kenya’s rural villages.