Different Shades of Green; Environmental Degradation Under Communism and the Road to Recovery

When the Iron Curtain finally collapsed in late 1989, many Eastern Europeans welcomed democratic governance with open arms. With redefined policies, a redistribution of power(s), and a shift to hard currency (which would afford Eastern Europe a greater standing on the international market), democracy seemed like a blissful dream; the kind which could afford its people the luxuries which their western counterparts enjoyed. The people, with newly infused power and legitimacy were now free to collectively dictate how their given countries would be run via the power of the ballot-box. With…