Many corporations have been criticized for damaging the environment. Recently many corporations have been encouraged to preserve the environment and be more responsible and accountable. However, corporations are only responsible for their shareholders. The government is directly responsible for issues involving their citizens and their environment. Corporations and their shareholders are mainly concerned about profit. That profit motive can have a devastating effect on the environment. Many of the world’s largest and wealthiest corporations are in the oil and car manufacturing fields. Their financial wealth allows them to support certain political policies that are advantageous to them and not to everyday people. Generally corporations push the government to reduce environmental regulations and when there are environmental regulations corporations stop at nothing to find ways around them. Most corporations are unwilling to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, noise pollution, and production of toxic wastes. If corporations are unhappy with the environmental restrictions in the U.S. most of them will reallocate to third world countries with less stringent environmental laws. Many corporations work under the laws of several different countries which makes legal restrictions very difficult. Corporations are not harming the environment intentionally. Greed and laziness are their motives and they will do anything for profit. For corporations the destruction of the environment is an indirect and unwanted effect due to their greed and laziness. The thing is many corporations think that their greed and laziness outweigh the damaging effects that it has on the environment because they are making so much money. Many corporations have poured millions of dollars into promoting themselves as being environmentally friendly but these are often just an attempt to better their public relations. However, some corporations are starting to realize their damaging effects on the environment and moral obligation to save it all from becoming a wasteland.
Works Cited
Ahmed, Shaik. Air-Pollution Systems. 2009. Accessed 27 Feb. 2011. < http://irfangreenworld.blogspot.com/>
Kraft, Michael E. Business and Environmental Policy. 2011. 27 February 2011 <http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11180>.
Shah, Anup. Corporations and the Environment. 25 May 2002. 27 February 2011 <http://www.globalissues.org/article/55/corporations-and-the-environment>.
Dear Mark,
ReplyDeleteOver the course of the past year a lot of my classes have talked about corporations, and one thing that seems apparent to me is that they pretty much do what they want. Unfortunately, like you said earlier, cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions isn't usually want of the things they want to do.
I really see corporations moving to other countries with less strict laws a big problem. We tell them they can't pollute, so they move somewhere that we can't boss them around.
Thank you for writing, Mark. Manufacturing can really cause a lot of pollution, I'm glad you wrote about the damages corporations are putting on our environment.