Corporations’ Impact on the Environment

Mark Hopkins

Writing 1320 2:40 p.m. T TR

2-27-11

Corporations’ Impact on the Environment

               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>.