Business, Ethics, and the Environment

Business, Ethics and the Environment explores the public policy debate surrounding the issue of business and its role in environmental matters. Unlike other discussions on this subject, the major focus here is not the monetary cost/benefit of environmental protection, but instead, the ethical obligations businesses may have for protecting the environment. A variety of questions are addressed by the contributors, including: Are businesses obligated to protect the environment? Should private enterprises take an active and leading role in solving a national problem? Should the solution be entirely a matter of public policy, involving business only to the extent that businesses are bound by law? The work begins with a brief foreword by W. Michael Hoffman and an introduction by Robert Fredrick that outlines a framework for the debate and the major questions it entails. The essays are grouped in three separate sections, covering business and government interaction, public attitudes and involvement in environmental issues, and environmental problems and solutions. The first of these sections addresses a variety of topics and case studies, including hazardous waste management, low-level radioactive waste facilities, lessons from CPC regulation, and a Massachusetts solid waste dispute. The second section features a range of issues involving the public, such as the world-wide response to the environmental crisis, customers as environmentalists, and community-corporate conflict and the new environmentalism. Finally, the third section highlights such problems as the dolphin-tuna controversy, the use of animals by business, and international toxic waste trade. The work concludes with a comprehensive index. As a companion to The Corporation, Ethics, and the Environment, this volume of essays will be an important resource for courses in business, public policy, and environmental issues, as well as a useful addition to business, academic, and public libraries.