Free Trade and the Environment Mexico, Nafta, and Beyond

"Kevin Gallagher makes an outstanding contribution to the trade-environment debate, offering some real breakthroughs in thinking about the relationship between trade expansion and environmental protection. The lessons of Mexico and NAFTA are especially timely and will resonate in many countries throughout the Western hemisphere."-Scott Vaughan, Director of the Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment, Organization of American States "This book provides a new and insightful analysis of the trade and environment relationship. Refuting common claims that liberalization leads to either an environmental Kuznets curve or the creation of pollution havens, Kevin Gallagher demonstrates that NAFTA brought significant environmental consequences in Mexico. His findings are particularly important as more countries move toward greater regional integration around the world."-Konrad von Moltke, Senior Fellow, International Institute for Sustainable Development "Gallagher moves the 'trade and environment' debate forward by bringing empirical evidence to bear on the question of whether expanded trade leads to environmental degradation or improvement. His data on changes in the Mexican environmental situation in the NAFTA context bring new clarity to a critical set of academic questions with important policy impacts."-Daniel C. Esty, Director, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy "Gallagher's study. . . provides ammunition for both defenders and detractors of the North American Free Trade Agreement. "'-Foreign Affairs