Polluter Pays Principle

What is it?

   Pollution is when harmful chemicals or hazardous waste has been introduced into the land, water, or air.  The polluter pays principle basically states that those who inflict the pollution must pay to prevent and fix the issue.  This was put into place to prevent people from mindlessly polluting the environment.  The money that is forced to be paid makes the individual or business think twice about polluting.  This is a way to ensure that the environment is left better that it was found and to set good habits for the future generations.  Although this sounds like a great idea, there are many issues that have come up when attempting to implement this principle. 

Issues When Implementing Polluter Pays Principle 

   Although this principle may seem to work and be a great idea for prevention, there are many reasons why this is something that is hard to target and implement.  One of the main issues of this principle is the fact that the source of pollution may not be easy to track.  The big business or company that is doing the polluting may have been hiding the fact that they are the ones polluting.    This leads to another issue of who is going to go around tracking down all the damages.  The time and money put into tracking down the source may not be worth the damage.  Another issue could be that the damages inflicted are too much for the company to afford, which would send them out of business.  This could cause a domino affect and plenty of businesses could lose their funding.  Overall, this principle changes the way that many businesses function, and people don't like change.  This is something that could cause many more issues in the future, although it is only trying to preserve the environment.  

   Environmental pollution may not be something that is commonly talk about now, but for the future this is a growing issue. The growing population only leads to more possibilities for pollution in the future.  Overall, this is an issue that needs to be addressed before the damage is too much to handle.  People need to be aware of the surroundings and want to make their environment a better place for the future.  

Sources:

Economic Help

   http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/6955/economics/polluter-pays-principle-ppp/

The Guardian 

   http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/02/polluter-pays-climate-change

The Encyclopedia of Earth 

   http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/155292/