Damn socialism was pretty horrible for the environment back when we had it around here, pre-1989. Our capital was blanketed by the exhaust of a huge steelworks plant several sizes too big for our economy, and our friendly neighbors across the river (brothers in socialism of course) regularly gassed one of our cities with chlorine.
You don't say which country this is/was. Since I can't think of any country ever existing that was truly built around socialist principles, I'd guess you were living in a totalitarian regime parading itself as socialist via propaganda.
Regardless, it's not as if capitalism can't produce environmentally disastrous results. Google "Chevron brazil oil spill".
