Pollution is today, probably, the greatest problem that faces mankind. There is a saying that it is an ill bird that fouls its own nest. And human beings are, collectively speaking, fouling their nest at an increasing rate. It is an alarming picture. We are polluting the air which we need to breathe, the earth from which we derive all our food, and the waters from which we derive the water we need to live, to drink, and for other purposes. So all the elements that surround us – there are three elements: earth, air and water – are being increasingly polluted by the activities of man, by industrial activities for the most part. And pollution knows no frontiers. One country that pollutes, will export its pollution to others. The radioactivity, for example, that was generated by the catastrophe at Chernobyl was carried in clouds across Europe, and some of these radioactive clouds actually produced rain which fell on parts of Europe and Wales. And we had a problem with the cattle, which are fed on the grass which had been rained on by this polluted water, so we had a problem in a small way even in England as a result of the Chernobyl disaster.
But Chernobyl is only one instant among many. It's a dramatic and alarming symptom of what is going on in all societies, all advanced industrial societies – not just in one. It's common to all and, in a sense, it takes us beyond all our ideologies. We must, in fact, look at this in a totally neutral, totally objective way, not for the blaming of one – one economic system or another. It's something which is frowning both ends. It's really a function of technologically advanced countries and, basically, the result of the Industrialization which began in England in the 18th century and, above all, it's a result of the increasing use of and dependence upon fossil fuels – primarily coal and oil for both industry and transport.
