Is 'x' industry the key driver of 'y' environmental destruction? No, for all values of x and y. The key drivers for each and every 'y' are economics, poverty a

Is 'x' industry the key driver of 'y' environmental destruction? No, for all values of x and y. The key drivers for each and every 'y' are economics, poverty and/or poor regulation, while 'x' is just the current manifestation. People plant soy because that's the best crop available for them. If the soy market collapses, they will resort to some other cash crop. If you drive the people out of the area but leave poor regulation in place, some mega-corp will discover there are profits to be made, and continue the process.