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Re:EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas by rtkwe on Monday August 10, 2020 @01:47PM (#24111937)
Because people helped by something not happening don't put huge amounts of money into Republican politics and companies that have to 'properly' [0] dispose of their toxic byproducts have money to spend.

It's a problem with collective action on a lot of climate problems in particular; the benefits are in the future and dilute while the costs are concentrated and immediate. Because of that there's a LOT of money available to push off imposing those costs and no direct money available to push for imposing them.

[0] Giant air quotes here because the approved disposal method is usually a poorly maintained pond that leeches into the water anyways.

Re:EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas by mywittyname on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:07PM (#24113439)
Environmental harm should be one place where the corporate veil should be pierced and people should be held personally liable for their actions and decisions.

If someone dumped tons of deadly chemicals into a river for no reason, and those actions resulted in the long-term deaths of thousands, they'd go to jail. But if that person does the same thing for profit, as an executive of a massive conglomerate, nothing happens to them.

Re:EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas by rtkwe on Monday August 10, 2020 @05:08PM (#24114006)
A big issue with pollution cases is it's hard to definitively prove that some pollution event cause a particular person's disease so there's always long drawn out suits where the corporations hold a majority of the power because they have so much more money.

As for piercing the veil it's rarely super clear that someone high up actually forced the pollution to happen. All the internal policies and emails usually say the right thing but the incentives, pressures and money all put pressure to people down the ladder to skirt the rules the inevitably leads to disaster.