This is a terrible idea. People have repeatedly shown they are willing to give up very little to address environmental problems. That makes it even more important that when we use limited social capital to address a problem, it's the most important problem that can be addressed.
Re:The United States of Toxins
by mschuster91 on Friday December 15, 2017 @09:00PM
(#15936948)
> when we use limited social capital to address a problem
Let an actual free and fair market solve it. When externalities have to be included in pricings (be it insurance premiums for superfund cleanup, earmarked money in trusts for cleanup, or simply preventing emissions in the first place) instead of having them shouldered by society, the market will by itself weed out companies doing excessive environmental damage.
> Let an actual free and fair market solve it.
Ideally, yes, but that's like saying "we'll just use nuclear fusion to meet our energy needs."
Re:The United States of Toxins
by colordrops on Saturday December 16, 2017 @12:56AM
(#15938020)
That seems like a convoluted definition of "free market". For that to work there needs to be some agreed upon definition of what effects are considered "externalities" and there also needs to be an enforcement mechanism. There's no way that's going to be handled other than central planning.
> the market will by itself weed out companies doing excessive environmental damage
Do you have any data to support this fairytale?
I see the logic in what you are saying but I wonder if it would just lead to a situation where every problem just becomes, "not severe enough to warrant attention". I've sort of seen this with opposition to environmental regulations being opposed on the grounds that it "costs too much money".
Not to mention that much of the stuff that gets released in huge quantities can actually be used as a natural resource. Instead of capturing and using it we're throwing all the stuff away.
Therefore, any way of looking at the environmental issues is good - anything that can be tackled should be tackled.