(July 28, 2011 at 2:10 am)Minimalist Wrote:Quote:Should the people be able to demonstrate that this pollution has killed people or deformed pregnancies etc they should even be able to imprison the company executives for negligent manslaughter.
LOL. Ah, Void.... sometimes you can be so engagingly naive!
Oh what, do you want to throw any business executives in prison as soon as someone accuses them of polluting to the extent that kills people? Individuals who are the victims of the actions of any other individual or organisation should be free to pursue damages in court but they have to make their case as the accuser, beyond a reasonable doubt, especially when the sentences proposed are for significant prison sentences. - Regulatory bodies often do not permit this kind of class action, they usurp the functions that would otherwise be used by the public to pursue compensation and by all accounts they let way too much slide.
Take for instance the situation of someone who is an enormous polluter like the Koch brothers who you despise so much. Given that AGW is largely considered to be scientific fact and given that the Koch brothers are excessively polluting and emitting greenhouse gasses which in turn causes damage to peoples and property, it should be easy to demonstrate a connection between the Koch Brothers activities and damages to life and property - What actions have your regulatory bodies realistically taken to prevent their ongoing pollution, huh? Not much. And can the Koch brothers be sued by thousands of complainants when the regulators won't do shit and if found guilty be heavily penalised? No, because as long as Koch is within the regulatory guidelines and the public can't sue for damages they can legitimately claim to be following regulations, meaning they have done nothing illegal and can't be sued!
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