tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081375376975563520.post8302299698125500065..comments2024-03-19T06:18:10.414+05:30Comments on Hari Batti's Green Light Dhaba: Lessons from the Bhopal Verdict: Four Simple Ways to Hold Corporations AccountableHari Battihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14789125444941418973noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081375376975563520.post-85250831463607282432010-12-09T16:05:44.183+05:302010-12-09T16:05:44.183+05:30@Krishnakumars, nice to see you here. I don't...@Krishnakumars, nice to see you here. I don't think anyone is doing much to make companies take into account the long term costs of what they do.Getting the money up front in some kind of a decommissioning fund makes the most sense, you are right. Liability is not the full solution. But the problem with limiting liability is that it tells them right up front: don't worry!Hari Battihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14789125444941418973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081375376975563520.post-78998195147459562212010-12-09T12:48:30.190+05:302010-12-09T12:48:30.190+05:30Followed a link here from the Dec 2 post.
I'm...Followed a link here from the Dec 2 post.<br /><br />I'm not an economist myself and Monbiot's article was very insightful. Way I see it, raising the financial liability won't act as much of a deterrent. They will have to worry about paying the liability only after an exceedingly long judicial process. It may even work in their favour as Monbiot pointed out about Exxon getting its fine of $2.5 bn in 1989 dropped down to $507 mn in 2008. <br /><br />The decommissioning fund sounds like a fine idea. Wouldn't it also be better to refine the cost and operations audits for these industries like oil and gas or mining, to include long-term environmental effects of their operations? Or is this already being done?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081375376975563520.post-62212071307122979072010-06-11T12:04:23.587+05:302010-06-11T12:04:23.587+05:30@ janice--thanks. it seems that the current gover...@ janice--thanks. it seems that the current government cares a great deal about sending corporations like Dow the "right message." It's just too bad that message is so...wrong!Hari Battihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14789125444941418973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081375376975563520.post-66757175241228910332010-06-11T01:40:56.210+05:302010-06-11T01:40:56.210+05:30super lucid piece. this "anything goes" ...super lucid piece. this "anything goes" attitude has honestly gone too far. human life is cheap. so cheap. it's disgusting :(Janice Pariathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02478044054548244153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081375376975563520.post-70856964784966047502010-06-10T23:50:09.543+05:302010-06-10T23:50:09.543+05:30@Bhagwad, you are making sense, as usual. The pric...@Bhagwad, you are making sense, as usual. The price big corporations like BP should pay must be very high indeed in the event of a disaster. Otherwise there is no deterrent and other corporations will continue to take unsafe risks. I also think Monbiot's piece in the Guardian is instructive. Why allow corporations to pay out dividends based on "profits" that don't take into account long term costs they are liable for?<br /><br />The sad thing is that the government is going in the opposite direction even today by further watering down the nuclear liability bill.Hari Battihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14789125444941418973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6081375376975563520.post-46142400889999530632010-06-10T20:03:44.605+05:302010-06-10T20:03:44.605+05:30About point 2, the question is how much financial ...About point 2, the question is how much financial responsibility should be placed. An example now is BP. Even if the financial cost is high - say $10 billion, it's still less than one year of BP's profits!<br /><br />In my opinion, the financial liability should be either 3 years of profits or $10 billion whichever is higher. This way no matter how big the corporation is, it will be hit hard.<br /><br />Another idea is to take the courts at their word. If the corporation is indeed to be treated like a person, they they can be jailed for several years (suspended from operating) or put to death (unmade, broken down, destroyed)!<br /><br />Ideally, they should be fined AND jailed. If not killed. Not so nice to be a person now is it?<br /><br />If these things can't happen then it's not fair to be called a person and face none of the dangers that ordinary people have to deal with.Bhagwad Jal Parkhttp://www.bhagwad.com/blognoreply@blogger.com