Mark Patinkin: Communist East Berlin showed that Trump’s environmental rollback comes with a price – The Providence Journal
Entering East Berlin in 1989, the air was dark and suffused with smog. Unlike the west, the Communist east had no environmental controls not on factories nor on the tinny Trabant cars that put out toxic emissions.
The news of Donald Trump dismantling environmental protections got me remembering that cold day in 1989 when I crossed from free West Berlin to the Communist east.
And saw an unexpected contrast.
The air.
The west was clean and bright, the east darker and suffused with smog.
You wouldnt think it possible for pollution to blanket just half of a city, but that was Berlin.Because of policy.
Unlike the west, the Communist east had no environmental controls not on factories nor on the tinny Trabant cars that put out toxic emissions.
I had rushed to Berlin in November of 1989 when the first reports came of the wall opening a literal crack in the iron curtain of Communism.
It wasn't wide open yet East Germans had been allowed to visit the west a few times, but soldiers with gunspatrolled the top of the wall. And it was an ordeal for westerners to go east.
I finally got papers and transited through four sets of guards at Checkpoint Charlie. It was like going back to 1949, buildingsstill scarred with World War II damage. Signs of Communism's economic failure were everywhere, with long lines at stores and gas stations.
And then there was the polluted air.
Id have thought the west side, with its traffic and skyscrapers, would have been more polluted. But in a democracy, the people have a voice and demand livability.
By contrast, the Communist leaders were totalitarians who tossed aside bothersome environmental standards in a single-minded push for growth.
The impact went beyond smog in East Berlin. Six months after the wall fell, The New York Times reported that Eastern Europe's environment was "ravaged."
"Corrosive soot," theTimes said, "has fouled water and soil, and in blackened industrial cities the air is laced with heavy metals and chemicals. In a world ruled by production targets, there was no pressure to clean up."
Things were similar across much of the Soviet bloc, so bad that it was a big driver of the historic 1989 protests that swept away Communism itself.
I remember that as I planned my trip, I searched for names of the first groups challenging power and one of them was in Bulgaria, and based on the word glasnost, for freedom.The group called itself Eco-Glasnost because what first drove people there to rise up was the ruined environment.
I don't doubt that President Trump thinks his rollback of environmental regulations and carbon standards will help create jobs. And who here doesnt celebrate the way Americas free-market capitalism has been one of historys greatest economic engines?
But one reason for its success is balance.
If pollution had been left uncontrolled in West Germany, would it have been as prosperous?
That day in 1989 showed me clearly that successful economies factor in livability.
And that prosperity comes not just from prioritizing jobs, but theenvironment, too.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
(401) 277-7370
On Twitter: @MarkPatinkin
Follow on Facebook: Mark Patinkin
Go here to read the rest:
Mark Patinkin: Communist East Berlin showed that Trump's environmental rollback comes with a price - The Providence Journal
- Eduard Kuznetsov, Soviet dissident whose death sentence exposed the plight of Jews under communism - Yahoo! Voices - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The International Communist Movement at a critical crossroads: The necessity of revolutionary regroupment - In Defense of Communism - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- 66th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution: Statement by the European Communist Action - In Defense of Communism - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Celebrating the Centenary of Communist Movement in India: Uphold the Banner of Communism in the Struggle against Fascism - Communist Party of India... - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Eduard Kuznetsov, Soviet dissident whose death sentence exposed the plight of Jews under communism - The Telegraph - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Book Review: Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism - Information Technology and Innovation Foundation - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Hoover Acquires Oral Histories on the Fall of Communism - Hoover Institution - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Dusty Johnson believes TikTok ban necessary to fight communism - KOTA - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Communism, Despite Its Defeat in the Cold War, Is Having a Moment in America Right Now - The New York Sun - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- The 22nd Congress of the Portuguese Communist Party concludes successfully - In Defense of Communism - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Russians honor Stalin's 145th birth anniversary - In Defense of Communism - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Names to be added to controversial Victims of Communism memorial next year, says organizer - Ottawa Citizen - December 16th, 2024 [December 16th, 2024]
- Sweden: Communism & Revolution the Revolutionary Communist Party has never been stronger! - In Defence of Marxism - December 16th, 2024 [December 16th, 2024]
- The history of communism in Romania will be studied in high school - Romania Journal - December 16th, 2024 [December 16th, 2024]
- Communist Party of Venezuela denounces PSUVs dirty war to criminalize the struggle for constitutional rights - In Defense of Communism - December 16th, 2024 [December 16th, 2024]
- How the Virgin Mary sparked a conflict between communism and Catholicism - MSN - December 16th, 2024 [December 16th, 2024]
- Education bill on communism history moves forward in US Congress - Ukrainian World Congress - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- Arkansas House bill would require teaching of the perils of communism in schools - KNWA - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- Johnson Votes to Educate Students on the Dangers of Communism - Mitchell Now - - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- House GOP Passes Bill to Help Educate High Schoolers on the Evils of Communism - The Maine Wire - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- Kolga: Victims of Communism memorial those who suffered won't be forgotten - Ottawa Citizen - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- House Overwhelmingly Passes Crucial Communism Teaching Act - NTD - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- U.S. House of Representatives Passes Companion Legislation to U.S. Senator John Kennedys Crucial Communism Teaching Act Says, The Bill Would Help... - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- Its a Major Failing That the Horrors of Communism Are Not Taught in Schools: James Bartholomew - NTD - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- Kolga: Victims of Communism memorial those who suffered won't be forgotten - MSN - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- Media Advisory - Inauguration of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism - Canada, a Land of Refuge - Barchart - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- Communist Parties react to the developments in Syria and the fall of al-Assad Government - In Defense of Communism - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- European Communist Action marks one year of activity - In Defense of Communism - December 12th, 2024 [December 12th, 2024]
- What the People Say: Should Schools Teach the Dark History of Communism? - NTD - December 4th, 2024 [December 4th, 2024]
- Expert Discusses Next Steps and the Threat of Communism After South Korea Lifts Martial Law - NTD - December 4th, 2024 [December 4th, 2024]
- Bill Would Add Teaching Dangers of Communism in High Schools - NTD - December 4th, 2024 [December 4th, 2024]
- PCV analyzed political crisis in Venezuela with more than 100 communist and trade union leaders of the world - In Defense of Communism - December 4th, 2024 [December 4th, 2024]
- Rtvri: Victims of communism remind us that sovereignty is our greatest treasure - Budapest Times - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]
- The Bank for Moving On From Communism Questions Rise of Industrial Policy - The Wall Street Journal - November 26th, 2024 [November 26th, 2024]
- Revolution Festival 2024: A landmark for the forces of communism - The Communist - November 24th, 2024 [November 24th, 2024]
- Belgium: the Revolutionary Communist Organisation is here For our generation, communism is no longer taboo - In Defence of Marxism - November 19th, 2024 [November 19th, 2024]
- Communist Party of Ireland: Statement on the Irish General Election 2024 - In Defense of Communism - November 19th, 2024 [November 19th, 2024]
- Czechia celebrates 35 years since the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia - Radio Prague International - November 19th, 2024 [November 19th, 2024]
- Communism, Canada and Cuba: new exhibition showcasing photographer Helena Wilson opens in Prague - Radio Prague International - November 16th, 2024 [November 16th, 2024]
- The truth behind the infamous "Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation" - In Defense of Communism - November 16th, 2024 [November 16th, 2024]
- John Ivison: They came fleeing communism. Now Ottawas expropriating and redistributing their property - National Post - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- Nehru in the age of the RSS-BJP, anti-communism and alignment of chakras - The Leaflet - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- Ahoo Daryaei and the hijab of capitalism - In Defense of Communism - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- KKE's General Secretary D. Koutsoumbas on the result of the US elections and its impact on Greece - In Defense of Communism - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- European Communist Action: Statement on the 107th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution - In Defense of Communism - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Letters: What an uneducated world we live in. MAGA is better than communism. - The Columbus Dispatch - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- Neal Stephenson's 'Polostan' is a compact epic about communism, science, and the dawn of the atomic age - Reason - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- Documenting Communism: The Hoover Project to Microfilm and Publish the Soviet Archives - Hoover Institution - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- Communist Party of Sweden brings back the sickle and hammer on its logo - In Defense of Communism - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- Imperialism: The Example of the Russian Federation - In Defense of Communism - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism (Guest: Sean McMeekin) - The Heartland Institute - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Echoes of communism: Study finds Germans who lived in the former GDR value free speech less than West Germans - Phys.org - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Echoes of communism: Study finds Germans who lived in the former GDR value free speech less than West Germans - Phys.org - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Meeting of Communist Parties scheduled to be held in Beirut has been postponed until further notice - In Defense of Communism - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Meeting of Communist Parties scheduled to be held in Beirut has been postponed until further notice - In Defense of Communism - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- The time is ripe for Gandhis philosophical alternative to capitalism and communism - Scroll.in - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Communism Yesterday, Today . . . and Tomorrow? - National Review - September 28th, 2024 [September 28th, 2024]
- A history of communism with an eye on the victims: Review of To Overthrow the World by Sean McMeekin - Washington Examiner - September 28th, 2024 [September 28th, 2024]
- World Order at Stake: Moolenaar, Krishnamoorthi Speak at Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's Annual China Forum - Select Committee on the CCP | - September 26th, 2024 [September 26th, 2024]
- Max Boots Reagan Biography Boosts Communism And Trashes America - The Federalist - September 26th, 2024 [September 26th, 2024]
- Communist Party of Israel - Hadash: It is still possible to prevent an all-out war in Lebanon Ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza - In Defense of... - September 26th, 2024 [September 26th, 2024]
- MEDIA ADVISORY: Moolenaar, Krishnamoorthi To Speak at Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's Annual China Forum - Select Committee on the CCP | - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- KKE rejects EU Parliament's despicable resolution on financial and military support to Ukraine - In Defense of Communism - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Fall of Communism opens the world to Schoper - NUjournal - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- I Grew Up With Soviet Communism; Now as a Trustee I See It Embedded in Californias Ethnic Studies - California Globe - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- Red Reviews: Left-Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder - Fight Back! Newspaper - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- Fox networks have falsely linked Harris and Walz to socialism or communism over 450 times since Biden's exit - Media Matters for America - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- Revolution Festival 2024: The school of communism is back! - The Communist - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- The Struggle To Contain Communism in One Book - Washington Free Beacon - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Book Of The Week: David McCullagh on Communism's forgotten radicals - RT News - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Communist Party of Turkey: Mass protest against US warship docked in Izmir port - In Defense of Communism - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- The US right keeps accusing Democrats of communism. What does that even mean? | Jan-Werner Mller - The Guardian - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- A new Reagan film explores the 40th presidents historic struggle against communism - Washington Examiner - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Letter: Fact-checking fear: Setting the record straight on Common sense vs. communism - Albert Lea Tribune - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Communist Party of Greece (KKE): Article on the war in the Middle East, Palestine and Israel - In Defense of Communism - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Transnational Communism Across the Americas offers valuable insights despite its anti-communist tropes - People's World - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- Conservative Who Has Been Complaining About Grocery Prices Says Harris Price-Gouging Ban is Communism - The Hard Times - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- A new Communist Party to be launched in Cyprus - In Defense of Communism - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Isserman Writes about the DNC and Communism - Hamilton - August 14th, 2024 [August 14th, 2024]
- The Reality of Communism - revcom.us - July 22nd, 2024 [July 22nd, 2024]