Environmental Laws and Regulations - Essay Example

Assignment ref: Environmental laws Environmental Laws and Cost Concerns Introduction Al Gore’s campaign for more legislative action for environmental protection has brought the subject to the center stage of discussions around the world. Climate change is now recognized as a real threat to the very survival of mankind, indeed the entire eco-biological system on planet earth. The debate is slowly veering round from, whether the change as is being predicted would materialize or not, to how soon and how severe would that change be, and its implications.

Environmental laws and oppositionWhile the international efforts intensify to push countries for more and more stringent environmental laws under the UN Conferences on Climate Change (Montreal and Kyoto Protocols), there is strident opposition from the powerful industry lobbies, especially in the developed world, to such efforts. Their arguments are mainly based on the reliability of the predictions of the impending drastic global warming on the one hand, the exorbitant costs of meeting the new emission norms, and the impact of such costs on industry competitiveness and profitability.

Polluter pays Competitiveness and profitability are at best comparative measures in a given set of circumstances. It has been proven time and again that compliance to laws is more economical than paying the penalties for an environmental disaster. ‘Polluter pays’ is now an accepted principle. If environmental laws are not fully implemented or are violated, the potential risk of unforeseen liability also has to be counted in the profitability calculations, and this was not being Environmental laws 2factored in the past.

From mega disasters like the Bhopal Gas Tragedy or the Exxon Valdez oil spill, to the individual whose automobile violates emission norms, every one has to pay a price. Survival All calculations of competitiveness and profitability are reduced to nothing, and the very survival of a business is threatened, when it has to pay millions or billions of dollars as penalty for non-compliance. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy (dubbed as ‘Hiroshima of the Chemical Industry’), which killed more than 2000 and injured over 300,000 people, cost Union Carbide $500 millions (Pratima, 1998).

This is a pittance since it occurred in India and would have run into several billions if it occurred in the USA. Exxon Valdez oil spill was of catastrophic proportions on marine life, with hundreds of thousands of birds killed, fish poisoned, and large-scale death of other marine life like seals, sea otters and whales. Exxon spent $ 2.2 billion in clean up operations, while the total cost was of the order of $ 4 billion (Thinkquest). The adverse publicity of such events through the print and electronic media can threaten the very survival of the concerned businesses.

At individual level, consumers are concerned with the quality of their lives. If that quality is endangered due to man-made changes in our natural environment resulting in deterioration of health, then the luxurious life style loses all its meaning.Conclusion The increasing rapidity of changes in our natural environment due to the spread of economic growth is now well understood, with some very dire consequences predicted unless more stringent laws are implemented. While the industry and business circles are worried about the additional costs of compliance, experience shows that the penalty for non-compliance can be more severe.

ReferencesHistory, Exxon Valdez, Thinkquest, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2007 from http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/History/exxon_valdez.htmlPratima, U., 1998, Bhopal Gas Tragedy: An analysis. Retrieved November 10, 2007 from http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:1cLHQrrlK9QJ:www.hu.mtu.edu/hu_dept/tc%40mtu/papers/bhopal.htm+bhopal+gas+tragedy&hl=en&gl=in&ct=clnk&cd=2 UN Conference on Climate Change, Retried November 7, 2007 from http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_11/items/3394.php