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A comment on Longest-running oil spill in history releasing more than 4,500 gallons per day. Parent comment

Re:Longest-running oil spill in history releasing more than ... by nradov on Tuesday June 25, 2019 @01:09AM (#20271358)
The usual solution in other industries is to require all companies in the industry to pay a percentage of revenues into a common insurance fund. Then there would be a pool of money to pay for cleanup even after bankruptcy.
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Re:Longest-running oil spill in history releasing more than ... by nojvek on Tuesday June 25, 2019 @01:22PM (#20276547)
Insurance is a pretty dirty word right now. Especially when they are for-profit insurance companies.

US healthcare is a great example of insurance companies causing so much complexity that people willingly chose death over going bankrupt.

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Re:Longest-running oil spill in history releasing more than ... by dTal on Tuesday June 25, 2019 @07:28PM (#20280330)
If the (sunk-cost) common insurance pool pays for it, where's the incentive not to pollute? We're right back where we started with a tragedy of the commons.

For the proper incentive structure, you have to treat the money the way we treat all proceeds of crime - it's forfeit. If you buy a stolen bike, you don't get to keep it when the police come knocking. Ignorance of the crime doesn't earn you the item - it simply means you don't go to jail.

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