Lm. Benton, THE GREENING OF FREE-TRADE - THE DEBATE ABOUT THE NORTH-AMERICAN FREE-TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA) AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Environment & planning A, 28(12), 1996, pp. 2155-2177
The study of human-nature relationships has long been central to geogr
aphic inquiry. Recent attempts to reconcile the growing demands of the
international economy with the equally important concerns about envir
onmental protection can be seen as one challenge to the dominant const
ruction of human-nature relationships. Attempts to 'green trade' are w
ell illustrated in the debate about the North American Free Trade Agre
ement (NAFTA) and the environment. This paper presents three arguments
. First, the growing influence of the environmental movement in the US
A during the past twenty-five years has embedded concern for the envir
onment in political culture. This 'politics of the environment' is exe
mplified in NAFTA's explicit goal of promoting sustainable development
. Including sustainable development as a specified goal thus provided
environmentalists a legitimate entry into the NAFTA debate over free t
rade, development, and environmental protection. Second, it is argued
that the NAFTA debate highlights several trade-environment dilemmas, d
ilemmas which must be addressed in order to reconcile economics and th
e environment. Particular attention will be paid to the debate about N
AFTA and environmental sovereignty. Third, the NAFTA debate brought to
gether two distinct communities: free traders and environmentalists. F
ar from being two exclusive communities, in this paper I assert that e
conomics and the environment must be seen as interdependent forces whi
ch will increasingly interact with each other. In the case of NAFTA, t
hese two communities not only interacted with each other, they created
a common ground which made supporting NAFTA acceptable to both intere
st groups. The creation of a common ground took place through negotiat
ion, debate, and compromise, and thus is a fundamental engagement with
human-nature constructions. I conclude that we can expect the environ
mental community to participate in future trade and development issues
because environmentalists now see these areas as critical to reconcil
ing economic-environment and human-nature relationships.