Environmental Roundtable and Kaleidoscope Television Program, Santa Monica, January 27, 1998

Peter Kreitler: Can humanity and the planet survive the current trends toward corporate globalization of economy?

Robert Benson: Current economic approaches have produced the recent large losses in the value of Asian stocks and currencies, which are causing suffering to many people. But I see some big benefits to the environment. The economic downturn will mean less of the temperate rainforests in British Columbia will be cut. California farmers will plant 10-20% less cotton, reducing use of water and dangerous pesticides. The demand for crude oil will drop, producing less global warming from CO2, and perhaps encourage the transition to alternative fuels.

The U.S. stock market rise and growth in GNP have obscured the fact that the current economic model is failing, especially when you consider the real cost to the environment and to the average person. The crisis in the Asian economies shows the economic model has failed worldwide, but unfortunately the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is pushing more of the old failed model, more free markets, more global trade, etc. The December defeat of fast track trade authority legislation shows some politicians have begun to question the old economic model.

Kreitler: Who is to blame for the perpetuation of the old model?

Benson: I believe that the key people are the economic professors. The economist Herman Daly blames his colleagues for doing "ideological brainwashing." When I met with Congressman Howard Berman, he said, "My economic professors brainwashed me to believe that a global economy benefits everybody."

Kreitler: Are the IMF and the World Bank working for the common good?

Robert Benson: No. Herman Daly was an economist at the World Bank, but he resigned, saying the World Bank "needed a hearing aid and a laxative." The IMF is holding the Asian countries hostage to the old economic medicine of "Open your markets, lay off your workers, reduce social spending." The problem is this medicine will mainly benefit the investors and speculators.

Kreitler: Is the global economy inevitable? Can we still reverse course?

Benson: Maybe it is too late now to turn the ship around, but we can see it is not inevitable. For example, 70-80% of US economy is not dependent on global trade. We can still switch to the model of a sustainable society and economy. It is up to us.

Kreitler: The Greek word for home is eco, which is the root of both words, ecology and economics. What we are looking for is ecological economics to preserve our home.

Benson: There is an Association of Ecological Economists. They say to rely less on global trade, let finance be national, and emphasize the sectors of education, health, recreation and leisure that do not hurt the ecological balance.

Kreitler: Conner Everts is the program director for the National Marketplace for the Environment, which features companies that focus on sustainable approaches.

Conner Everts: It appears our society is increasing corporate welfare to the detriment of the environment, where we subsidize wealthy corporations to move in and destroy Ballona, one of the last remaining wetlands in L.A. County.

Benson: The killing of species that used to live in our wetlands has global impact. Yet we see our politicians handing millions of dollars to the wealthy developers. This has been called socialism for the rich, or "lobster salad" socialism. We also are bailing out the large banks with big exposure from their risky foreign loans that have helped countries to do environmental damage. This is a waste of taxpayer money as well as the irreversibly destroying the environment.

With the help of organizations like the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and the Green Scissors, corporate welfare is becoming more exposed. Now both conservative and progressive thinktanks condemn it. Take a look at the book, The Corporations Are Going to Get Your Mama, by Kevin Danner of Global Exchange.

Janet Bernson: What are the similarities between the companies that produce pesticides and pharmaceuticals?

Robert Benson: Both produce dangerous toxic exposure. These types of companies have escaped government regulation by operating globally. They have no responsibility to any nation. Although the UNOCAL headquarters is in LA, it no longer considers itself a US corporation. So it feels free to operate in Burma, contrary to American public interests. We need re-regulation of the corporations. It was needed in the start of this century, during the Depression and urgently now. We should replace the IMF by a UN organization or reform it into a meaningful regulatory body.

Kreitler: Corporations are not basically evil.

Benson: No, the corporations are part of the solution. For example, the green corporations, the alternative energy corporations , those at the National Marketplace for the Environment, are essential for the next millennium. Paul Hawken's book lays this out.

One option is to petition the State of California to revoke the corporate charters of some of the most damaging corporations. This will awaken social responsibility in the others.

Kreitler: We want the L.A. basin to be sustainable. We are looking for applicants for the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Sustainable Quality Award. This award encourages all companies to take an inventory to ask, "Am I living an ecologically sustainable life on behalf of future generations?"