People need to become more aware of the impact their individual actions and choices have on the environment and on other people. Indeed, we are facing many challenges how to respond to globalization, how to move politicians and technocrats beyond their tired and destructive adherence to the philosophy of economic growth at any price. It s time our government leaders realize that environmental pollution is like an incurable disease and that our only hope is to prevent it. Even as we speak, toxic pollution continues to do damage to our health and our environment. Mounting evidence is linking chlorine-based chemicals, in particular, with reproductive and immune system disorders such as endometriosis, declining sperm counts, and various cancers.
People have a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm.
If one has a reasonable suspicion that something bad is going to happen, one has an obligation to try and stop it. Before using a new technology, process or chemical, or starting a new activity, people have an obligation to examine a full range of alternatives including the alternative of doing nothing. This in essence is the spirit of the precautionary principle that whenever there is suspicion that an action or substance is harmful to the environment, the burden of proof is on the proponent to prove it is harmless, rather than on victims to demonstrate its harm. We have learned many lessons in our campaign against incineration in the Philippines. One such lesson is that democracy and pollution are related.