Monday, January 20, 2014
Obama’s Secret International Trade Treaty Caving on Environmental Protections
This article is about a free trade agreement the U.S. is involved in. The issue brought up is that in the agreement, it is possible some environmental standards may be broken. This is an ethical issue that the U.S. must decide on. Many environmentalists do not agree with the current agreements. Ethical issues like this one are brought up in business every day and is something the government and businesses struggle with on a daily basis.
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6 comments:
Like you said this is a battle that is constantly going on between governments and business firms. While no firm is perfect there are ways to cut a deal and be environmentally friendly. Simple things like regulating pollution and watching where your waste is dumped are two easy suggestions. It is also good for these multinational companies to give back to the countries, cities and communities they are working in. This helps a business to build a good reputation with the locals and serves as an opportunity to give back to the overall cleanliness and stability of these environments.
I found your ethical interpretation of this article very enlightening. When I read about this story the first topic I thought of was growth. More specifically, how much economic growth are we willing to sacrifice to be more enviormentally friendly? Do we even have to sacrifice any growth? There seems to be a major friction in our country on this issue.
I found your ethical interpretation of this article very enlightening. When I read about this story the first topic I thought of was growth. More specifically, how much economic growth are we willing to sacrifice to be more enviormentally friendly? Do we even have to sacrifice any growth? There seems to be a major friction in our country on this issue.
If our government keeps ignoring the environment then how are people suppose to live in a healthy environment?
In these meetings maybe they are discussing ways to get around international codes like how the U.S. deals with dumping waste in India and marking it wrong so that they do not get in trouble. If that keeps happening then India's land and people will be affected where money cannot help.
Multinational Corporations (MNCs) make up a big part of pollution which can be decreased by doing cap and trades. But they are not involved in these discussions thus will they be affected by what the TPP decides?
It is a good idea to encourage sanctions to countries who are polluting, but if they are violating international law then they should get punished by more than just companies who they trade with.
It seems like all TPP cares about is economic growth and is willing to ignore our precious environment.
I agree there are certain ethical issues that arise with maximizing profits and at the same time adhering to environmental standards. With that said, if I was a CEO of a firm, my goal is to use to creative measures that are clearly stated in the mission/vision statements and in the end, maximize shareholder wealth. The triple bottom line framework acknowledges three P's: the people, the planet, and profits. I believe in taking care of our economic concerns first because if the firm is not making profit, it will not be in the industry very long. After the economic concerns are met, then you can start to focus on the social and the planet.
I'm glad everyone took interest in this article like I did. The ethics here are clearly in question and I don't know what the "right" solution is here in a business world of survival of the fittest but also feeling morally good about yourself and decisions you make. It would be very tough to be a CEO in this spot.
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