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Eco-imperialismEco-imperialism describes the negative outcomes of the acts of environmentalists. Eco-imperialism is said to occur when environmentalists place the well-being of the environment over the well-being of humans, especially humans in the third world. Examples of eco-imperialism include the banning of genetically modified foods in a starving nation, barring the use of DDT in countries dying of malaria or introducing pollution regulations that destroy many jobs in a developing economy. The term was popularized by Paul Driessen in his book Eco-Imperialism - Green Power, Black Death. Like the European imperialism of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Driessen claims eco-imperialists use the governments of developed countries to keep developing countries destitute for their own benefits. Through the precautionary principle, corporate social responsiblity and sustainable development, environmental groups legitimize their demands on government but often engender poverty and death in the process. Driessen asserts that sometimes their demands can even cause environmental degradation. In Eco-Imperialism, Driessen points out that wind power kills birds (400 turbines killed over 7,000 birds in Spain in one year) and requires destroying hundreds of times more acres of land than a single nuclear power plant. 73,000 acres are required to generate 20% of the eneregy for the US needs with nuclear power. According to the American Wind Energy Asscoiation, to make that 20% with wind energy, 23 million acres must be converted--roughly the size of the state of Virginia.
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