Analyzing the Polluter Pays Principle Through Law and Economics Essay Example for Free

Analyzing the Polluter Pays Principle Through Law and Economics Essay The ‘polluter pays principle’ states that whoever is responsible for damage to the environment should bear the costs associated with it. The Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) is one of the internationally recognized principles that in? uence the shaping of environmental policy at both the national and international level. As one of the environmental principles that have developed ‘from political slogans to legal rules,’ it is also increasingly re? ected in national and international law. It is seen and analyzed both as a principle of environmental economics and as a principle of environmental law. In environmental economics, it is discussed as an ef? ciency principle of internalization of environmental costs. As a legal principle, it is usually treated as a principle for the allocation of the cost of pollution prevention, and for liability and compensation for environmental damage. In general, it is regarded as an important and ‘right’ principle in the perspective of environmental protection. It is often mentioned together with other major environmental principles such as the precautionary principle, the principle of prevention and the principle of integration. In general, it is regarded as an important and ‘right’ principle in the perspective of environmental protection. It is often mentioned together with other major environmental principles such as the precautionary principle, the principle of prevention and the principle of integration. The â€Å"polluter pays principle† (PPP or principle) requires the polluter to bear the expense of preventing, controlling, and cleaning up pollution. Its main goals are cost allocation and cost internalization. In 1972, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) articulated the principle explicitly and in 1989 indicated that it should be applied to agriculture. Though the principle originated as an economic principle, since 1990 it has been recognized internationally as a legal principle. The PPP now plays an important role in national and international environmental policy. The European Community (EC) adopted the principle in the 1987 Single European Act, and it has appeared in international agreements, including the Rio Declaration of 1992. The principle is an explicit part of legislation in some nations; in others, it is an implicit subtext for both environmental regulation and liability for pollution. Historical Evolution Of Polluter Pays Principle The polluter pays principle, like the other great towering principles that today influence international environmental law, such as: (1) the sustainable development principle; (2) the prevention principle; (3) the precautionary principle; and (4) the proximity principle, started as a political declaration without legal force. The polluter pays principle has been included in documents with legal status. For instance, many modern constitutions in the European Union explicitly provide for a right to a clean environment and thus environmental policy principles also constitute environmental law. The right to a clean environment implies a duty of the state to protect its citizens, but it is questionable whether these principles or social rights can yet be considered subjective rights, meaning that they can be enforced by citizens in a court. However, some see the right to a clean environment as a human or natural right existing independently of politically decided treaties. Finally, the polluter pays principles is now seen in specific pieces of legislation becoming more (or some might say ‘less’) than a grand constitutional statement of an intractable human right. OECD – the birth of the polluter pays principle Some explanation of the sometimes arbitrary course of the principle of polluter pays can be found in its historical development. The principle first appeared in a legal context in a document prepared by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (â€Å"OECD†) and included the following recommendation: â€Å"The principle to be used for allocating costs of pollution prevention and control measures to encourage rational use of scarce environmental resources and to avoid distortions in international trade and investment is the so-called ‘Polluter Pays principle’. This principle means that the polluter should bear the expenses of carrying out the above mentioned measures decided by public authorities to ensure that the environment is in an acceptable state. In other words, the cost of these measures should be reflected in the costs of goods and services which cause pollution in production and/or consumption. Such measures should not be accompanied by subsidies that would create significant distortions in international trade and investment†. In 2001, the OECD Joint Working Party on Agriculture and Environment, after years of gestation and development by other organisations, stated that a new and expanded form of the polluter pays principle should provide that: the polluter should be held responsible for environmental damage caused and bear the expenses of carrying out pollution prevention measures or paying for damaging the state of the environment where the consumptive or productive activities causing the environmental damage are not covered by property rights. United Nations – the Rio Declaration This proclamation was proved, at least on paper, if not yet by jus cogens, in 1992 when the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development delegates agreed on the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (the â€Å"Rio Declaration†), which has been described as an â€Å"instrument of international jurisprudence [that] articulates policies and prescriptions directed at the achievement of worl dwide sustainable development†. It is of note that Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration provides that: â€Å"[n]ational authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment†. The principle’s appearance in such a seminal statement of the undamental principles of international environmental law demonstrates its significance in environmental liability regimes around the world. United States The principle has to some extent informed United States’ legislation, but its influence should not be overstated and commentators note that: â€Å"The United States, in contrast to the European nations, does not officially recognize the [polluter pays principle] as a distinct principle or policy mandate, but does, by natural political and economic inc lination, closely follow its precepts in practice†. Certain provisions of the United States’ Clean Air Act 1970 (the â€Å"CAA†) and Clean Water Act 1977 (the â€Å"CWA†) require polluters to satisfy environmental standards at their own expense; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (â€Å"CERCLA†) assigns liability for costs associated with cleaning-up sites contaminated by hazardous wastes. CERCLA is a notable milestone in the development of the polluter pays principle in the United States and commentators have noted that: â€Å"the polluter pays principle is one of the central objectives or goals of CERCLA†. Flaws in the Polluter Pays Principle Few people could disagree with what seems at first glance to be such a straightforward proposition. Indeed, properly construed, this is not only a sound principle for dealing with those who pollute but is an extension of one of the most basic principles of fairness and justice: people should be held responsible for their actions. Those who cause damage or harm to other people should pay for that damage. This appeal to our sense of justice is why the polluter pays principle (PPP) has come to resonate so strongly with both policy makers and the public. As a general rule, sound economic analysis of pollution and environmental problems must also be based on the principle of responsibility. Forcing polluters to bear the costs of their activities is good economics too; it not only advances fairness and justice, but also enhances economic efficiency. In other words, with appropriate policies based on a PPP, we should not have to give up the economic efficiency of a free market system based on private property in order to obtain environmental protection, nor vice versa. But as with most such general principles, the devil is in the details. In this case, the details relate to three basic questions that any application of the PPP must answer. First, how do we define pollution and therefore a polluter? Second, how much should the polluter pay, once he is identified? Third, to whom should the payment be made? The answers to these questions are at the heart of whether any application of the PPP will be either just or economically efficient. A correctly construed polluter pays principle would penalize those who injure other people by harming their persons, or by degrading their property. Too often, however, the PPP is misdefined and misused to suppress private economic activity that benefits the parties directly involved and does no specific damage to other people, but which offends those who oppose human impact on the environment and prefer to leave resources undeveloped. The objective is to restrain the resource use at the expense of the property owners and consumers without cost to those who wish to see the resources remain idle. Under such a misapplication of the PPP, very often a polluter is not someone who is harming others, but is someone who is simply using his own property and resources in a way that is not approved of by government officials or environmentalists. In such cases there is no harm to be measured and no real victims to compensate. Consequently, the amount to be paid is not determined by the extent of any actual damage done. Rather, it is set at a level that curbs the politically disfavored activity to the degree desired by its opponents. And finally, the payment (whether there are real victims or not) typically goes to the government in the form of a tax. In other words, in most cases, the PPP is used as cover to promote a political or ideological agenda rather than to ensure that real polluters pay compensation to real victims of their activities. Constitutional and Legislative Measures Stockholm Declaration of 1972 was perhaps the first major attempt to conserve and protect the human environment at the international level. As a consequence of this Declaration, the States were required to adopt legislative measures to protect and improve the environment. Accordingly, Indian Parliament inserted two Articles, i. e. ,, 48A and 51A in the Constitution of India in 1976, Article 48A of the Constitution rightly directs that the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife of the country. Similarly, clause (g) of Article 51A imposes a duty on every citizen of India, to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, river, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. The cumulative effect of Articles 48A and 51A (g) seems to be that the State as well as the citizens both are now under constitutional obligation to conserve, perceive, protect and improve the environment. Every generation owes a duty to all succeeding generations to develop and conserve the natural resources of the nation in the best possible way. The phrase ‘protect and improve’ appearing in both the Articles 48A and 51A (g) seems to contemplate an affirmative government action to improve the quality of environment and not just to preserve the environment in its degraded form. Apart from the constitutional mandate to protect and improve the environment, there are a plenty of legislations on the subject but more relevant enactments for our purpose are the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977; the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991; the National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995 and the National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997; the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The Water Act provides for the prevention and control of water pollution and the maintaining or resorting of the wholesomeness of water. The Act prohibits any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter from entering into any stream or well. The Act provides for the formation of Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Board. The new industries are required to obtain prior approval of such Boards before discharging any trade effluent, sewages into water bodies. No person, without the previous consent of the Boards shall bring into use new or altered outlet for the discharge of sewage or trade effluent into a stream or well or sewer or on land. The consent of the Boards shall also be required for continuing an existing discharge of sewage or trade effluent into a stream or well or sewer or land. In the Ganga Water Pollution case, the owners of some tanneries near Kanpur were discharging their effluents from their factories in Ganga without setting up primary treatment plants. The Supreme Court held that the financial capacity of the tanneries should be considered as irrelevant while requiring them to establish primary treatment plants. The Court directed to stop the running of these tanneries and also not to let out trade effluents from the tanneries either directly or indirectly into the river Ganga without subjecting the trade effluents to a permanent process by setting up primary treatment plants as approved by the State Pollution Control Board. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 aims to provide levy and collection of a cess on water consumed by persons carrying certain industries and local authorities to augment the resources of the Central Board and the State Boards constituted for the prevention and control of water pollution. The object is to realise money from those whose activities lead to pollution and who must bear the expenses of the maintaining and running of such Boards. The industries may obtain a rebate as to the extent of 25% if they set up treatment plant of sewage or trade effluent. The Air Act has been designed to prevent, control and abatement of air pollution. The major sources of air pollution are industries, automobiles, domestic fires, etc. The air pollution adversely affects heart and lung and reacts with hemoglobin in the blood. According to Roggar Mustress, the American Scientist, air pollution causes mental tension which leads to increase in crimes in the society. The Air Act defines an air pollutant as any solid, liquid or gaseous substance including noise present in the atmosphere in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to human beings or other living creatures or plants or property or environment. The Act provides that no person shall without the previous consent of the State Board establish or operate any industrial plant in an air-pollution control area. The Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Board constituted under the Water Act shall also perform the power and functions under the Air Act. The main function of the Boards under the Air Act is to improve the quality of air and to prevent, control and abate air pollution in the country. The permission granted by the Board may be conditional one wherein stipulations are made in respect of raising of stack height and to provide various control equipments and monitoring equipments. It is expressly provided that persons carrying on industry shall not allow emission of air pollutant in excess of standards laid down by the Board. In Delhi, the public transport system including buses and taxies are operating on a single fuel CNG mode on the directions given by the Supreme Court. Initially, there was a lot of resistance from bus and taxi operators. But now they themselves realise that the use of CNG is not only environment friendly but also economical. Noise has been taken as air pollutant within the meaning of Air Act. Sound becomes noise when it causes annoyance or irritates. There are many sources of noise pollution like factories, vehicles, reckless use of loudspeakers in marriages, religious ceremonies, religious places, etc. Use of crackers on festivals, winning of teams in the games, and other such occasions causes not only noise pollution but also air pollution. The Air Act prevents and controls both these pollutions. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 was enacted to provide for the protection and improvement of the quality of environment and preventing, controlling and abating environmental pollution. The Act came into existence as a direct consequence of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The term environment’ has been defined to include water, air and land, and the inter-relationship which exists among and between water, air and land and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and property.

media avoidance Essay -- essays research papers

In my everyday life I use all sorts of media, they range from cable television, Internet, radio, and the newspaper. For myself media, is the form and technology I use to receive and communicate information. The different forms of media I was trying to avoid were cable television, the internet and radio. I figured if I could avoid those things I would be doing well in avoiding most obvious forms of mass media. What I realized as I began this whole experience this whole experience is that the mass media is an important if not the most important part of my everyday life. I use it for almost everything I do and it surrounds me. On my first day of avoiding the media, which was on a Saturday, my plan going into was not check my e-mail, not watch television and not listen to the radio. This was not as easy as I thought, that morning when I woke up my first instinct was to check my e-mail. After I couldn’t do that I felt all this anxiety that I was missing out on something. But I went without, and was able to get to work without reading the newspaper or listening to the radio. It was easy for me to avoid media at work because I work at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and all I do there is check people into cars and drive around the city all day. If I don’t turn on the radio when I’m driving cars then I pretty much avoid most media. The only problem I had at work is when I would be talking to some customers and they would be talking about things they heard in the news, sports etc†¦ and I could...

Culture and Cultural Norms Essay

Culture can be referred to as a people’s way of life. It can be used to refer to the way we live and all that goes along with our life. That means that for us to have a life we have to be affiliated to a certain culture or to belong to a certain culture. To be in a certain culture, one has to comply will the cultural values, norms and expectations. Cultural values can be used or rather the term can be used to refer to the way we have our things done. Wee can not be able to have statistical averages on cultural norms. There are expected and also accepted practices in our society. Sometimes they may not be in line with the law or our policies. An example is a case where it is understandable and very normal to drive 5 miles above the speed limits. (http://www. changeculture. com/Webpages/Norms/Norms. htm) Norms have varying strength and thus they have very different consequences incase one violates these norms. If one lacks norms, this is referred to as economies and it is mostly associated with social breakdown and mental illness. This means that depending on the offense that one has committed they may be punished by their culture differently. They may be excommunicated by their community or anything that this community may think. (Westing, 1988) However, culture keeps changing and people in that culture move in pace with the change. This is why some people are more civilized than others. Due to this we find that some people have or seem to be more advanced then others. This can be used or is used in reference to some elite activities such as classic music, museum caliber art. There are times that one will move place to or one continent to the next and find that he can not fit in the next. This is because he finds that he really having a different way of life from the other people or the people that he meets. (http://www. changeculture. com/Webpages/Norms/Norms. htm) I once visited South America for one month in Peru. I was expecting a very normal life but I got some things that I least expected. Life was very different and that is when I realized I was in another world with quite a different culture. I was used to a life where we had a simple nuclear family where we have dad, mom and my brother and my two sisters. Down there I found that life is quite different. A simple family I realized consisted of the father, mother, children, uncles, aunties and the grandparents. All these were living in the same house under the same roof. There was a very different way of life here. Then when Sunday comes, I am a Christian and we go to church every Sunday. Here there were no churches and people used to pray under different groups at different places. I have never seen this before. There were sacrifices at the places where they prayed and they would slaughter animals and roast meat. This was very different from what we are used to in Florida. I also understood that there congregations were headed by old men and they spoke in their own native language. I later understood that some they did not understand English no wonder they communicated in their language. (Wolfgang M 2001) These people were little light in skin color more reddish than most of us. Most of them had not gone to school and thus they would not communicate or rather they did not know any other language. This made it very difficult for them to communicate. Most of their children used to go to look after their animals in some forest. I had led this only on papers but I never thought it happens on real life. However, there were those who were civilized for example in the towns. There were more advanced. Majority of them knew how to read and write and they would communicate in even in English. I realized that I was in a different world with quite different civilization. However, the culture of the people was quite different from what I was used to. Also, in this area there were very poor communication systems. Very few people had mobile phones and they were very expensive. I found this very different from what I am used to in our country. This gave an advantage as since people knew that we were foreigners they never concentrated so much on us. I would see that even if we go to a public place we were given a first priority in service. Life was very different here and people had to notice us everywhere we were going. I remember one time we were walking late at night and the police were rounding up all those who were walking around. When they came to us and realized that we were foreigners, they just passed but told us to go to our house while they arrested those who were behind us. In conclusion, it happens that people will have very different cultures in different places and they will have different way of life. If people from a different culture come, they will experience the change and they have an advantage of being foreigners. This makes them to have an advantage of being served or rather being attended to first. This shows that culture is complex and mostly resistant to change. (http://www. changeculture. com/Webpages/changeprocess. htm) Reference Westing H. A(1988)Cultural Norms, War and the Environment. Oxford University Press Wolfgang M (2001)The Subculture of Violence: Towards an Integrated Theory in Violence Routledge Publishers http://www. changeculture. com

Summary Of Zora Neale Hurston - 1210 Words

Ebonee Laws African American Literature K. Sanders: MWF 9:00 Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Alabama. She is known to be one of the most influential novelist of the twentieth century in African America literature. Hurston is described to be a very opinionated woman that stood for what she believed in; which reflected in some of her works. In addition to her many titles such as, being an anthropologist and short story writer, she was closely related and heavily focused on the Harlem Renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston and her political opinions placed her at odds with important figures during that time which I wholeheartedly believe played a part in the undeniable attraction that most people have towards her works. Being that Hurston was such a unique writer, to understand the ethics and themes of her and how she contributed to African American literature comes with an understanding of the background and childhood she had. In some of Hurston’s works she acknowledges Eatonville, which was the first all-black community in America that she moved to when she was only three years old (Kimmons, 3). Hurston viewed Eatonville as a place where blacks could ultimately be themselves without having to conform to the norms of a white society (Kimmons, 1). Hurston was protected from the realisms of judgement and disgust towards African Americans; since Eatonville was described to be somewhat safe from lynchings and other violence related to racism. AfterShow MoreRelatedSummary report of Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston1597 Words   |  7 PagesSummary Report: Sweat Vital Statistics Author: Zora Neale Hurston Title: Sweat Published date: 1926 Main Characters Delia: A hard working, washerwoman and wife that is abused by her husband. She is portrayed as the protagonist. Sykes: A lazy, stay-at-home husband who is abusive to his wife and has a mistress name Bertha. He is portrayed as the antagonist. Point of View The story is written in a third person omniscient point of view. Setting of Action The story took place in aRead More The Conveyance of Emotion in the Writing of Zora Neale Hurston1668 Words   |  7 PagesWriting of Zora Neale Hurston Sharpening Her Oyster Knife: I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all. I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all hurt about it....No, I do not weep at the world -- I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife. ___Zora Neale HurstonRead MoreHow It Feels To Be Colored Me By Zora Neale Hurston825 Words   |  4 PagesHow It Feels to Be Colored Me Author Background Information: Zora Neale Hurston was an African-American folklorist, novelist and anthropologist. She was born in 1891 and lived in the first all-black town in the United States, Eatonville, Florida. Her 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God and played a vital role in the literacy movement the Harlem Renaissance is what she is best known for. Zora Neale Hurston depicts racism in her writings and has contributed greatly to African-American literatureRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God1019 Words   |  4 PagesZora Neale Hurston’s novel highly praised novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was once denounced by many critics because it was categorized as a feminist novel. However, through further analyzation, the novel is now viewed simply as a protagonist developing a feminist conscience throughout her marriages. Zora Neale Hurston was born in Natasulga, Alabama on January 7, 1891. Mrs. Hurston was the fifth of eight children to John Hurston, a carpenter and Baptist preacher, and Lucy Potts Hurston, aRead MoreCritique of Oprah Winfreys Film Version of Their Eyes Were Watching God1771 Words   |  8 PagesOprah Winfrey lied on the opposite end of Zora Neale Hurston’s spectrum when she produced her atrocious rendition of Hurston’s stellar novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. She modified characters and symbols, altered the theme and relationships, and utterly desolated the significance of the title, making it almost unrecognizable to someone who has read the book. Winfrey totally eviscerated Hurston’s unsurpassed novel, extrapolating what she thought important without going in depth in to the trueRead MoreThe Ethics Of Living Jim Crow1508 Words   |  7 Pagescolors, they are races with their own rules and regulations. People of color have been inferior to the white race for centuries. In their own way Zora Neale Hurston shows this concept in her story â€Å"How it feels to be Colored Me† as does Richard Wright in his autobiographical sketch â€Å"The Ethics of Living Jim Crow†. At the beginning of the essay Hurston opens up with the statement that she is colored and that she offers no extenuating circumstances to the fact except that she is the only Negro in theRead MoreMetaphor, Metonymy and Vioce895 Words   |  4 PagesBarbara Johnson’s critique focuses on the metaphoric, metonymic and voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. It focuses on the major character, Janie Crawford’s inner and outer change towards her various relationships. She focuses on the strengths, both vocally and physically, gained after her first slap down by her second husband, Joe Starks. Barbara Johnson focuses on the metaphoric meaning of this transformation which was defined as the substitution based on the resemblanceRead MoreAnalysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston1482 Words   |  6 PagesStatement of Value â€Å"Sweat† written by Zora Neale Hurston published in 1926 and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman publish 1892 are both short stories. The depths of both stories is about the main characters whom are both females having a situation of their own in their marriages and at the end coming on top of it. What makes these short stories so captivating is Hurston and Gilman’s characters who give the underlying feminist principle vibe. In the long run, they both haveRead MoreAnalysis of the Article Who Shall I Be?1631 Words   |  7 PagesArticles Analysis- Summary and Personal Response Who Shall I Be? An essay by Jennifer Crichton (1996) revolves around the idea that one cannot change although hiding what they were in the past or hiding what they dont like about themselves works. A student remains in a transition mode going through various good or bad experiences looking for that attractive clean slate. The life of high school is difficult as students tend to label other students and these labels may not represent the truthRead MoreJanies Three Marriages in Hurstons There Eyes Were Watching God 1075 Words   |  5 PagesThe book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford and her quest for self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages, one she escapes from, and the other two end tragically. And throughout her journey, she learns a lot about love, and herself. Janie’s three marriages were all different, each one brought her in for a different reason, and each one had something different to teach her, sh e was forced into marrying Logan Killicks and hated it.