Case Study
Case Study
Case Study
2. What do you think the Tacoma community should choose? Why? What would you choose? I think Tacoma community should choose to keep the smelter open. It is beneficial for them because according to cost benefit analysis, it shows that the economy gains $20 million. The first and foremost argument of opposition would be that isnt there any value of a persons life? The reply in favor of my choice is that according to me 570 lives are more important to me than a single life that has disease of lung cancer. I would choose smelter to keep open because it not only benefits the economic life of many people but also benefits the social life of many families. The economic benefit may not suppress the life of a person who CAN have lung disease because of it but the social welfare of 570 families suppresses that one life for sure. I would choose the same because of all the reasons presented and discussed above.
Exporting poison:
1. Does an American company like Velsicol have an obligation to refrain from selling pesticides that are banned in US to developing nations where they are not banned? Yes, they do have this obligation because they cant engage in an action if they dont want others to do this to them. Others life is as important as theirs. The U.S. authority banned it because they affect very badly on the health of many people. They have been classified as very hazardous not only for the people of U.S. but the people of the whole world. They are not banned in developing nations not because they dont want it to be banned but because those people are not aware of the hazardous effects of these chemicals or because they dont have any other choice left. If they will be provided with the same pesticides as the citizens of US use, only then they will be held acceptable.
2. Does an American company like Velsicol have an obligation to refrain from exporting chemicals that are only suspected of causing cancer? They dont have an obligation to REFRAIN from exporting suspicious chemicals but they do have obligation to verify if it does harm the citizens of developing country in any way. Thus if the results of the verification tests are positive then they should not export. The cost benefit analysis should be done to take any kind of decision. The intensity and the probability should be taken into account and checked & verified in the cost benefit analysis as well.
3. Whose responsibility is it to ensure citizens of developing nation are not harmed by exports of pesticides? First of all it is the responsibility of the supplies that is the U.S. Company that is manufacturing this chemical. They should ensure that the buyer knows about its harmful effects and is warned about its effects. Along with that, particular precautions should be communicated related to the chemical. The government of that developing country is also responsible because it is allowing the chemical to be imported so they should also watch upon their use and a random check and verification should be established. After that it is the responsibility of the World Health Organization to make ensure that the particular chemicals are not misused by the buyers and end users. They should also check if someone is lacking in their responsibility.