XV. Managing the planet

Read and translate the article:

Nowadays, most of us are more or less aware of what we call environmental issues. How many of us conscientiously deposit our empty bottles at the bottle bank, save electricity by switching off lights, or make a big thing of using recycled paper - all in the belief that we are 'doing our bit' for the environment? But what impression are we actually making on the environment by doing so?

Tragically, the answer is almost none. For even if every household in the world recycled practically everything it used, solid waste would be reduced by a mere 2%. In global terms, that would make absolutely no difference whatsoever, because the real problem lies, not with the private individual, but with big business and the $21 trillion world economy.

No solutions yet

Business, just like everything else, depends upon the survival of the eco-system, and you would think

it would be in the interests of commerce and industry to learn how to manage Corporation Earth. Yet the fact is that though business is the only mechanism powerful enough to reverse the current global trend towards ecological disaster, it has yet to come up with a practical plan to halt the destruction of the planet.

Poor track record

The track record of the world's companies is poor. Whereas the Chernobyl disaster can perhaps be attributed to lack of funds and the antiquated technology of a crumbling Soviet regime, no such excuse can be offered in the case of Union Carbide. When the full horror of the chemical accident at Bhopal in India became apparent, the company, quite legally, liquidated a large portion of its assets in the form of shareholders' dividends, thereby reducing the company's compensatory liability to its 200,000 victims. And when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground, the Exxon company seemed more

concerned to reassure the stock markets that its financial strength was undiminished than to console the Alaskans, whose livelihoods were wrecked by the catastrophic oil spill.

Large scale pollution

General Electric has taken what some people call 'corporate crime' to even greater extremes. So much so, that it actually had its contracts suspended by the Pentagon. It stood accused, amongst other things, of bribery and insider trading, and of being one of America's greatest toxic polluters. And one of its nuclear operations in Washington State alone has created sufficient radioactive pollution to charge 50 atom bombs of the kind dropped on Nagasaki during World War Two.

Making conservation profitable

The situation seems hopeless. But, as ecological expert, Paul Hawken, points out, if business is not only about making money, but also about sustaining life, then perhaps it really can make conservation profitable, productive and possible. And some say that, if they wanted to, the commercial powers could actually halt environmental degradation within as little as 20 years. For why must what is good for business always be bad for nature?

Short-term goals

The simple answer to that is that big business is, by definition, antagonistic to nature. Business is designed to break through limits, not respect them. It is about exploring, discovering, mining, extracting, and exploiting. It is quite definitely not about putting things back. Although, in the long term, a living rain forest is more profitable than a dead one, the goals of big business are notoriously short-term. And, contrary to popular belief, big business is not in decline. The largest one thousand companies in the United States still account for over 60% of GNP. With modern telecommunications their global reach is almost complete. And what can the environmentalists do when our planet's greatest enemy turns out to be the only force strong enough to save it?

Assignments:

1) Which of the following viewpoints support those expressed in the article:

1. Environmental awareness is greater now than it used to be.

2. People are still largely unaware of the scale of the environmental problem.

3. Domestic recycling is a waste of time.

4. Without government support, the business community can do little to protect

the environment.

5. The corporations of the world only step in to put things right after the

disasters have already happened.

6. Green politics need not be a hopeless cause.

7. Commercial gain and ecological balance are incompatible.

8. As our business culture changes, the environment will be given a higher

priority.

2) Look back at the article. Find the words and expressions which mean:

1. making our contribution

2. past performance

3. destroy jobs, means of living

4. persuading people to do what you what by illegal payment

5. illegal manipulation of share price

6. opposed, hostile to

4. Produce a summary of the text.