Comments on: For Once, A World Bank Dam Environmentalists Won’t Hate (Much) http://www.sfsmith.com/blog/2007/04/09/for-once-a-world-bank-dam-environmentalists-wont-hate-much/ The dynamic new way to bore you with stories about what I watched on TV last night. Or stuff about Macs, libertarianism, prog rock, cockatiels, mountains, travel, science fiction, the Web, and what a totally awesome guy I would be if I were anything like I would like to think I am. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:41:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: lunchstealer http://www.sfsmith.com/blog/2007/04/09/for-once-a-world-bank-dam-environmentalists-wont-hate-much/#comment-1021 lunchstealer Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:38:05 +0000 http://www.sfsmith.com/blog/?p=484#comment-1021 Of course, the problem with government pollution is that government is also the watchdog. So a lot of the single-worst pollution disasters have been government related (Chernobyl, the Aral Sea) specifically because of the conflict of interest when government. You don't let the guard dog into the henhouse - He has to keep the fox away from outside, not inside. Of course, the problem with government pollution is that government is also the watchdog. So a lot of the single-worst pollution disasters have been government related (Chernobyl, the Aral Sea) specifically because of the conflict of interest when government.

You don’t let the guard dog into the henhouse - He has to keep the fox away from outside, not inside.

]]> By: Sandy http://www.sfsmith.com/blog/2007/04/09/for-once-a-world-bank-dam-environmentalists-wont-hate-much/#comment-1020 Sandy Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:56:08 +0000 http://www.sfsmith.com/blog/?p=484#comment-1020 I didn't claim that government was the worst polluter, hands down. Just that while environmental degradation is often characterized as an exclusively "corporate" creation, government activity, whether through government-owned enterprises, defense waste, power generation, or even the government's own attempts to provide sanitation (i.e., landfills) are frequently large if not the largest contributors to environmental devastation, especially local devastation with immediate health impacts. I'm not sure that ozone depletion has claimed more lives yet than, say, Hanford, and it is surely way behind Chernobyl. That doesn't mean ozone depletion hasn't been a problem, and that the regulatory action taken wasn't successful; but the popular image needs the occasional corrective. I didn’t claim that government was the worst polluter, hands down. Just that while environmental degradation is often characterized as an exclusively “corporate” creation, government activity, whether through government-owned enterprises, defense waste, power generation, or even the government’s own attempts to provide sanitation (i.e., landfills) are frequently large if not the largest contributors to environmental devastation, especially local devastation with immediate health impacts.

I’m not sure that ozone depletion has claimed more lives yet than, say, Hanford, and it is surely way behind Chernobyl. That doesn’t mean ozone depletion hasn’t been a problem, and that the regulatory action taken wasn’t successful; but the popular image needs the occasional corrective.

]]> By: Jason Lefkowitz http://www.sfsmith.com/blog/2007/04/09/for-once-a-world-bank-dam-environmentalists-wont-hate-much/#comment-1019 Jason Lefkowitz Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:14:12 +0000 http://www.sfsmith.com/blog/?p=484#comment-1019 Good post, but I dunno if I buy this part: "When you think about the impact of human activities on the environment, remember that the government is often one of the worst causes of environmental devastation." It might be better phrased to say that *individually*, government projects can be far worse environmentally than private projects. This is primarily because government will take on projects of a scale too large for private businesses to consider (like, say, the damming projects of the TVA). Taken *collectively*, though, the sum of all those smaller private projects almost certainly outweighs the sum of the public ones. Global warming, for instance, is caused by the sum of lots and lots of tiny private decisions, not because of the failures of one massive project. Good post, but I dunno if I buy this part:

“When you think about the impact of human activities on the environment, remember that the government is often one of the worst causes of environmental devastation.”

It might be better phrased to say that *individually*, government projects can be far worse environmentally than private projects. This is primarily because government will take on projects of a scale too large for private businesses to consider (like, say, the damming projects of the TVA).

Taken *collectively*, though, the sum of all those smaller private projects almost certainly outweighs the sum of the public ones. Global warming, for instance, is caused by the sum of lots and lots of tiny private decisions, not because of the failures of one massive project.

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