The environment
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Poll
Question: Corporations cannot be trusted to voluntarily respect the environment.
#1
Strongly disagree
 
#2
Disagree
 
#3
Agree
 
#4
Strongly agree
 
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Partisan results

Total Voters: 56

Author Topic: The environment  (Read 4908 times)
Nym90
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« on: October 21, 2004, 03:23:01 AM »

Agree is liberal, disagree is conservative.
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Aegir
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« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2004, 04:55:46 PM »

Strongly agree
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A18
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« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2004, 05:04:28 PM »

Strongly agree (duh)
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The Duke
JohnD.Ford
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« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2004, 05:33:57 PM »

Agree, obviously.
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tkwrinklefiber
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« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2004, 02:13:52 AM »

Strongly agree.
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John Dibble
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« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2004, 09:08:32 AM »

Agree to an extent - some corporations can, some can't. Somewhat depends on what they produce and who they cater to. If their primary customer base is, say, hippies, they will do their best to maintain an environmentally friendly reputation. Another factor is who is running the company - I'm sure some companies are run by environmentalists.

However, privately run groups can be trusted, especially when their objective is to protect the environment. The Libertarian Party has in interesting article on free-market environmentalism here: http://www.lp.org/lpnews/0411/libertarian-solution.html
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Redefeatbush04
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« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2004, 07:39:40 PM »

Strongly Agree
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Alcon
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« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2004, 08:22:54 PM »

Strongly agree.
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Dr. Cynic
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« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2004, 06:48:20 PM »

Strongly Agree
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Harry
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« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2004, 09:50:56 PM »

s.a.
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Alcon
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« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2004, 10:01:27 PM »

I'd be interesting to hear from the disagreers.
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swarch
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« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2004, 01:52:35 AM »

I'd be interesting to hear from the disagreers.
Disagree because corporations are run by people, and most people act in a reasonable manner. Of course, there are exceptions, which is why there are laws against pollution, just as there are laws against murder.

To strongly agree with this statement sadly reflects on the extent to which government schools and mainstream media have inculcated a  knee-jerk "Corporations are evil" mentality among the sheeple.
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Huckleberry Finn
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« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2004, 05:51:08 PM »

I have to agree, unfortunately.

Businesses don't harm environment intentionally, but environment protection isn't free so they harm it and that's why there should be the environmental legislation.

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exnaderite
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« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2004, 09:36:41 PM »

Do tobacco companies protect the health of consumers with their "light" brands?
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2004, 04:16:31 AM »

Strongly Agree
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Jake
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« Reply #15 on: October 31, 2004, 10:13:51 AM »

who cares...we'll all be dead before it goes down the tube
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Rixtex
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« Reply #16 on: October 31, 2004, 02:50:42 PM »

I find it interesting that even Republicans agree with this. Why, even a Libertarian agrees!

Corporations are there to make money and part of making money is keeping expenses low. Not cleaning up a mess or manufacturing without regard for polluting by-products is a way to keep expenses low.

None of this is to say that all corporations think this way. It is a question of leadership insisting that the right thing be done. And some have led the way in deveolping technologies where they they can actually make money by not polluting. Unfortunately, most are too myopic and unimaginative to figure out how to do it.

A great book on this subject is called "Natural Capitalism" by Hawkins, Lovins and Lovins. Its a great bit of free market environmentalist thinking.

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Gabu
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« Reply #17 on: October 31, 2004, 03:16:21 PM »

who cares...we'll all be dead before it goes down the tube

Interesting perspective, and unfortunately one that is probably responsible for the vast majority of environmental damage that has been done.  You don't care if we make the planet worse for our children and their children?

I personally strongly agree with the poll.  Which is a priority for CEOs: making a profit or protecting the environment?  Protecting the environment unfortunately costs more money than not caring, so many CEOs likely won't care about it.  I'd like to think that CEOs are capable of realizing that they already have more money than they could ever need, but from what I've seen, not many do.  Because of that, I feel that it's necessary for the government to require them to ensure that environmental standards are met since they probably won't do it themselves.
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Dr. Cynic
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« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2004, 04:59:05 PM »

We all know that corporations don't give a damn about the enviornment...
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Beet
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« Reply #19 on: November 05, 2004, 07:11:26 PM »

This is like saying "People cannot be trusted to voluntarily obey the speed limit" with the added caveat that the speed limit is for their own good while pollution controls are for the public's good.
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Redefeatbush04
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« Reply #20 on: November 12, 2004, 10:05:51 PM »

This is like saying "People cannot be trusted to voluntarily obey the speed limit" with the added caveat that the speed limit is for their own good while pollution controls are for the public's good.

Limit? I've always thought of it as a recommended speed lol

Has anyone read a simple little book by Dr. Seuss called The Lorax? I would reccomend you read the bloody thing. Anyway I STRONGLY STRONGLY STRONGLY STRONGLY AGREE!!!!
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Lunar
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« Reply #21 on: November 13, 2004, 01:07:04 AM »

Strongly agree.

Corporations can't be trusted because consumers can't be trusted.  Even if each tissue chopped down a rainforest, you can bet that at least 10% of consumers would buy those tissues if they were  50 cents cheaper.  In addition, the consumer body at large won't react to environmental issues until they've already crossed the line into a crisis.  Government action and environmental regulations are thus needed.

I'm not militant about this, I'm just a skeptic of the free market.  I'm in favor of drilling in ANWR and off all of the US Coastlines, so I think I'm fairly moderate on the environment issue.
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Nym90
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« Reply #22 on: November 13, 2004, 01:36:13 AM »

Strongly agree.

Corporations can't be trusted because consumers can't be trusted.  Even if each tissue chopped down a rainforest, you can bet that at least 10% of consumers would buy those tissues if they were  50 cents cheaper.  In addition, the consumer body at large won't react to environmental issues until they've already crossed the line into a crisis.  Government action and environmental regulations are thus needed.

I'm not militant about this, I'm just a skeptic of the free market.  I'm in favor of drilling in ANWR and off all of the US Coastlines, so I think I'm fairly moderate on the environment issue.

Good point, the failure of the free market is often that there is an inability to look forward to what is good for the long run; in a completely unregulated free market there is much more incentive to look short term than there is to look long term. There's no guarantee that you'll even survive to see the long term, so you have to do what is best for you economically NOW as a corporation in order to survive.
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John Dibble
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« Reply #23 on: November 13, 2004, 10:43:13 AM »

Strongly agree.

Corporations can't be trusted because consumers can't be trusted.  Even if each tissue chopped down a rainforest, you can bet that at least 10% of consumers would buy those tissues if they were  50 cents cheaper.  In addition, the consumer body at large won't react to environmental issues until they've already crossed the line into a crisis.  Government action and environmental regulations are thus needed.

I'm not militant about this, I'm just a skeptic of the free market.  I'm in favor of drilling in ANWR and off all of the US Coastlines, so I think I'm fairly moderate on the environment issue.

That's pretty much consistent with what I said earlier. Some corporations can be trusted with the environment because the customers they pander to are environmentalists. But other than that yes, they'll pollute if it's profitable and legal.
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Brutus
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« Reply #24 on: November 13, 2004, 02:41:27 PM »

Strongly agree.

Corporations can't be trusted because consumers can't be trusted.  Even if each tissue chopped down a rainforest, you can bet that at least 10% of consumers would buy those tissues if they were  50 cents cheaper.  In addition, the consumer body at large won't react to environmental issues until they've already crossed the line into a crisis.  Government action and environmental regulations are thus needed.


I think this sums up the core of the problem.  Corporations aren't evil; they're just amoral (not immoral) collectives answering the demands of consumers:  low prices at any cost.
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