51–60 of 83 posts
Isn't $1B a trivial amount for environmental damage?
I mean it’s great they’re paying a fine, but are they going to you know, develop anything that will pull these forever chemicals out of the water?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chapter 11 bankruptcies allow corporations to continue operating. They just hose the investors.
The shareholders aren't the ones manufacturing the PFAS. I think that I want the operating unit to be halted and dismantled. Not the shareholders, management, or other units. So, I don't think Chapter 11 is the right solution.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it will likely be this - I'm already seeing all sorts of companies pivot to marketing "PFOA" free teflon alternatives (Starflon was the one that popped up last). I suspect that just like the whole BPA in plastic thing - the "___ free" alternatives will not be any better. They will just be sidestepping the very precise legal definition of the chemical that got them in trouble.
Either that or it will be like gluten-free, and you'll start seeing it slathered all over stuff that never had it in the first place. Like, no duh non-flavored sparkling water is gluten free! (Actual example I saw in the grocery store today)
If you've got celiac, you may want to avoid sparkling water made in a plant that also bottles wheat beers. Gluten free refers not only to the ingredients, but to the manufacturing facility.
https://celiac.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Combined-..., point #6.
> "The gluten-free label represents that the procedures put in place to prevent cross-contact with gluten meet FDA standards."
I mean it’s great they’re paying a fine, but are they going to you know, develop anything that will pull these forever chemicals out of the water?
When a payout like this occurs, does it mean the problem is resolved? In other words, are these companies no longer putting out toxic chemicals, or are they buying the ability to continue to do that without fear of further lawsuits?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chapter 11 bankruptcies allow corporations to continue operating. They just hose the investors.
The shareholders aren't the ones manufacturing the PFAS. I think that I want the operating unit to be halted and dismantled. Not the shareholders, management, or other units. So, I don't think Chapter 11 is the right solution.
The cost for anything like this should always be the cost of cleaning up the entire mess it created and compensating the humans harmed by it and covering their lifetime medical bills. $1billion sounds a tad low for doing any of that given the world wide impact. Its a bad deal.
Back when I was 19 and an anarchist, I was always critical of LLC laws. I probably still am. I believe the judicial system does do the fine as you mentioned, but the prosecutors have to be realistic and settle out of court at the risk a skeptical judge/jury. Without LLC laws, you could go after personal ownership too. Privately owned company means there is a few billionaires to have their wealth confiscated. Publicly…
IMO, what really needs to be reigned in is this blanket extension of natural/individual rights to synthetic entities that receive limited liability protection. That government-granted charter with limited liability means that they're not merely groups of people exercising individual rights collectively, as the supreme council has decreed.