The impact of Romania’s industrialization during the ’70s and ’80s on the environment Cover Image

Impactul industrializării României în anii ’70 şi ’80 asupra mediului înconjurător
The impact of Romania’s industrialization during the ’70s and ’80s on the environment

Author(s): Ilarion Ţiu
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Fundaţia »Societatea Civilă« (FSC)
Keywords: Economic growth; Romanian communist economy; Sustainability; Pollution; Energy crisis

Summary/Abstract: In December 1972, the Romanian Government signed the agreement of accession to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In the following years, Romania received investment credits and, consequently, overcame the growth rate of several capitalist states. Nevertheless, the Communist regime in Bucharest chose to expand the economic sectors highly energy intensive and heavily polluting. As the ’70s oil crisis led to a worldwide energy crisis, the Romanian industry faced difficult times in terms of effectiveness, competitiveness and external costs of environmental pollution. It had been built coal-electrical and great siderurgical & chemical plants, and both caused extremely air pollution. At the end of the ’80s, Romania recorded high pollution indicators of soil, subsoil, water and within the atmosphere down to the evacuation of residual waste and lack of investments in filtering of industrial stack. In the end, the phenomenon damaged the inhabitants’ health status of the polluted areas, causing high rates of different forms of cancer and respiratory illnesses.

  • Issue Year: XXII/2014
  • Issue No: 180-181
  • Page Range: 209-216
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Romanian