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Democrats and Republicans often state that environmental issues should be left to the state. Here's another example of why that is absolute nonsense. Hell, the only reason we have evironmental issues is because of the state. And we expect them to fix problems they created. lols.
The market did this. Not the government. Another example of capitalism cleaning up socialist environmental disasters. You're welcome government. I'm sure you'll figure a way to take credit. lols.
"19-Year-Old Boyan Slat has unveiled plans to create an Ocean Cleanup Array that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans. The device consists of an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms that could be dispatched to garbage patches around the world. Instead of moving through the ocean, the array would span the radius of a garbage patch, acting as a giant funnel. The angle of the booms would force plastic in the direction of the platforms, where it would be separated from plankton, filtered and stored for recycling."
He will sell the plastic to recycling centers and expects to turn a profit of $500 million a year. And statists tell us profit is bad and doesn’t help society. lols.
And when there is no profit motive to clean up the environment, industry doesn't lift a finger. Pennsylvania has 186,000 acres of serious abandoned mine-related problems, including gob piles, highwalls, mine shaft openings, abandoned infrastructure, spoil banks, etc., most dating back to pre-1977 (when Congress passed the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act requiring restoration). Add onto the land based problems 4,000 miles of streams impaired from abandoned mine drainage that has spewed toxic chemicals for decades without anyone in the private sector spending a dollar to solve the problems.
And when there is no profit motive to clean up the environment, industry doesn't lift a finger. Pennsylvania has 186,000 acres of serious abandoned mine-related problems, including gob piles, highwalls, mine shaft openings, abandoned infrastructure, spoil banks, etc., most dating back to pre-1977 (when Congress passed the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act requiring restoration). Add onto the land based problems 4,000 miles of streams impaired from abandoned mine drainage that has spewed toxic chemicals for decades without anyone in the private sector spending a dollar to solve the problems.
You're the one who claimed that "the only reason we have evironmental issues is because of the state" and blamed environmental disasters on "socialists."
The reality is that you're full of crap and your position is completely nonsensical.
This one thing might get cleaned up if there's a profit motive to do so. Meanwhile, we'll still have huge swaths of land that are completely trashed, rivers that are polluted, and air that isn't really safe to breathe because companies don't have a profit motive to take care of the environment.
Not only is this thing not ready for action, it isn't even known if it's feasible and the argument that plankton won't get caught is, by the guy's own admission, a hypothesis that needs to be tested. If this works, great. It is actually manages to turn a profit, even better. But let's not pretend that just because that might work in this one very specific case, we should abolish all environmental regulation and let private industry regulate itself and clean up after itself. We already tried that and it was a complete disaster that we're still cleaning up. Even with regulations, private industry still tries to pollute because it's cheaper than properly handling waste.
Government can't leave all the responsibility for clean-up of environmental problems to industry, nor can it allow industry to self-regulate.
Examples like you gave in the OP are great. They show people can apply innovation and free-market solutions to addressing a specific environmental problem, and can be a valuable piece of the puzzle. However, they are not a substitute for government oversight.
Democrats and Republicans often state that environmental issues should be left to the state. Here's another example of why that is absolute nonsense. Hell, the only reason we have evironmental issues is because of the state. And we expect them to fix problems they created. lols.
The market did this. Not the government. Another example of capitalism cleaning up socialist environmental disasters. You're welcome government. I'm sure you'll figure a way to take credit. lols.
"19-Year-Old Boyan Slat has unveiled plans to create an Ocean Cleanup Array that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans. The device consists of an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms that could be dispatched to garbage patches around the world. Instead of moving through the ocean, the array would span the radius of a garbage patch, acting as a giant funnel. The angle of the booms would force plastic in the direction of the platforms, where it would be separated from plankton, filtered and stored for recycling."
He will sell the plastic to recycling centers and expects to turn a profit of $500 million a year. And statists tell us profit is bad and doesn’t help society. lols.
Democrats and Republicans often state that environmental issues should be left to the state. Here's another example of why that is absolute nonsense. Hell, the only reason we have evironmental issues is because of the state. And we expect them to fix problems they created. lols.
The market did this. Not the government. Another example of capitalism cleaning up socialist environmental disasters. You're welcome government. I'm sure you'll figure a way to take credit. lols.
"19-Year-Old Boyan Slat has unveiled plans to create an Ocean Cleanup Array that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans. The device consists of an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms that could be dispatched to garbage patches around the world. Instead of moving through the ocean, the array would span the radius of a garbage patch, acting as a giant funnel. The angle of the booms would force plastic in the direction of the platforms, where it would be separated from plankton, filtered and stored for recycling."
He will sell the plastic to recycling centers and expects to turn a profit of $500 million a year. And statists tell us profit is bad and doesn’t help society. lols.
His point is business, frequently confused with Capitalism, will solve any problem if there is a profit possible. Reselling the waste plastic from the ocean would create a profit so business wants to be involved. Cleaning up the mining messes is not likely to yield anything worth selling so business that created the problems at great profit to themselves simply irresponsibly ignore it.
You're the one who claimed that "the only reason we have evironmental issues is because of the state" and blamed environmental disasters on "socialists."
The reality is that you're full of crap and your position is completely nonsensical.
This one thing might get cleaned up if there's a profit motive to do so. Meanwhile, we'll still have huge swaths of land that are completely trashed, rivers that are polluted, and air that isn't really safe to breathe because companies don't have a profit motive to take care of the environment.
If government enforced property rights like they are charged with doing then companies have economic incentive to not pollute.
You ever notice pollution is almost always on public property, not private? The state encourages pollution. Private ownership of property discourages it. Or cleans it up right away.
You ever notice how when a private citizen does sue a company for environmental damage it is tied up in public courts for years and costs millions of dollars. The state has made it impossible for the common citizen to right a wrong.
For example, rivers get polluted because they are public. If they were privately owned companies would not dump in them. The cost would be too high cutting into profits. They would find a cheaper and safer disposal method.
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