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Even with the most optimistic projections of technological advancement, current growth trends in population and the economy almost certainly cannot be sustained. Still more troubling is that the scale of today’s development already appears to be overextending the ecosystem that sustains us all. “Further growth beyond the present scale,” according to World Bank senior economist Herman Daly, “is overwhelmingly likely to increase costs more rapidly than it increases benefits, thus ushering in a new era of uneconomic growth that impoverishes rather than enriches.” Daly believes that “[t]his is the fundamental wild fact that so far has not found expression in words sufficiently feral to assault successfully the civil stupor of economic discourse.”
As the critical scientific and policy debate about the limits of the ecosystem continues, it is necessary to reconcile the legal relationships between trade agreements and environmental agreements. They cannot remain at odds if we are to achieve sustainable development and long term international economic prosperity. Accordingly, this Article surveys provisions within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and other trade agreements relevant to environmental concerns. It then reviews several international environmental agreements and U.S. laws for possible friction with those trade provisions. The Article concludes by briefly discussing issues and options for reducing or eliminating such friction.