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The reason that advanced nations are successful due to destructive environmental practices is that these countries invented the entire process of industrialization. When creating new technologies, these technologies will be inefficient, costly, and dirty. Coal fired powerplants from the 1900s are hardly the model of electrical efficiency. In fact, modern nuclear power plants are cleaner environmentally and most cost effective to consumers. Many technologies share this. By having developing nations go green, we encourage them to take advantage of the most recent and most efficient technologies, thus aiding their growth and development.

In many aspects of technology, going green generally means an increase in efficiency and a reduction of harmful by-products. In power generation this means better engineered systems that get more energy from the same amount of pollution, or ideally, new power sources that produce clean power as cost effectively as dirty power. China is currently experiencing the myriad problems associated from rapid expansion with dirty technology. While their economy is soaring, it is coming at the cost of their long term health, the air in Shanghai is so unbreathable, residents are using masks to get to work. Had China used modern, clean technology, they'd be in the same financial situation and quite healthier.

The question of green technology is a question of using the best technology available. There is no question that using this technology will actually help the countries in question, not hurt them. Encouraging them to do something that's in their best interest economically is a favor, not a hardship. In Iraq, the United States is spending millions of dollars ships back-up diesal generators to sections of the country where power is sporadic. While this is addressing a problem adequately, it is doing so at a high environmental and economical cost. Imagine if instead, the US had sent enough solar panels to cover the roofs of 1,000 Iraqi homes, thus reducing the strain on the local power grid and at the same time, providing clean electricity to those who need it. Those panels will never need additional fuel and will last for 30 years. Solutions such as this are both green and economical, and would provide better standards of living to those they are tried with.

Helping under-developed countries to go green is in their best interest. They will inevitably do so eventually, replacing dirty technologies with clean ones. This will cost them much more later and ends up being much less efficient. Having them take the costs up front, with our help, will lead to better long term conditions for them, and for the environment. Such a solution is good for all involved.

Learn more about this author, Bryan Jennings.
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