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What Would Be Your Response To This?

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problem fixed.

I just want to know what fellow objectivists feel about the enviroment, and how such things like ocean pollution can be averted.

my problem is that many leftists feel that capitalism does not have the forsight to serve the long term interest of the enviroment. I know that government doesnt do better, but I have never been able to find a very decent capitalist article regarding enviromentalism.

a common citation is also the Hoover Dam, which was a public works project and is still publicly operated, but provides the entire city of Las Vegas with energy. What would you say if this came up with a socialist?

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I just want to know what fellow objectivists feel about the enviroment,

I like it.

and how such things like ocean pollution can be averted.
Don't do it.

my problem is that many leftists feel that capitalism does not have the forsight to serve the long term interest of the enviroment.

The environment does not have any long-term interests. People have long-term interests, and they change their environment to suit those interests.

I know that government doesnt do better, but I have never been able to find a very decent capitalist article regarding enviromentalism.
Oh, my, there are thousands of really good articles, and many books too. For the philosophical perspective, as to why the "environmentalists" are basically anti-reason, anti-man, just search through the op-eds and other writings at the ARI web site, http://www.aynrand.org/

For a more technical analysis, yet still simple enough for laymen, try the many articles at http://junkscience.com/

a common citation is also the Hoover Dam, which was a public works project and is still publicly operated, but provides the entire city of Las Vegas with energy. What would you say if this came up with a socialist?

What would I say about what? You have simply stated what you consider to be facts, but you have not asked a question.

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my problem is that many leftists feel that capitalism does not have the forsight to serve the long term interest of the enviroment. I know that government doesnt do better, but I have never been able to find a very decent capitalist article regarding enviromentalism.

Plastic bags, bottle tops and polystyrene foam coffee cups are often found in the stomachs of dead sea lions, dolphins, sea turtles and others.

Before the capitalists accept blame for this, shouldn't it be explained how the plastic actually kills these animals?

I have eaten plastic before accidentally. Guess what? I didn't die. I don't even think it clogged the toilet. Why would it kill other animals if it didn't kill this animal? We should at least find out if there is a problem first.

Macdonald, who is also an underwater filmmaker, said he has seen albatross parents fly huge distances to feed their young a deadly diet of plastic bottle caps, lighters and light sticks.
Why would an albotross feed its young a lighter?

"The sheer volumes of plastic in oceans are staggering," he said. In recent years Algalita researchers have sampled a huge area in the middle of the North Pacific, and found six pounds of plastic for every pound of algae.
Doesn't algae usually grow on something? If so, why would they give you the ration of plastic to algae where no one would expect algae to be. You would be just locating trash at that point and the types of algae that do not grow on objects. Of course it is impressive. Wouldn't have been more informative to tell how many pounds of plastic per square mile? What is the realtion between plastic and algae?

Come to think of it, there are 6 lbs of plastic to zero pounds of humans in the North pacific. How about plastic to wood?

Did you scan the entire ocean? No, just behind the the ship thowing trash over board. Shouldn't you have reported the sample area at least? They are picking trash out of the water in the ocean, and studying the water that is collected with the trash. If plastic kills wild-life, why is the algae present? Wouldn't they have reported that the trashed killed the algae? If it doesn't kill algae, how does it kill a albatross that is able excrete it?

I am not discussing animals being caught in plastic since that is probably valid. The extent of it is questionable.

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I just want to know what fellow objectivists feel about the enviroment, and how such things like ocean pollution can be averted.

The capitalist environment comprises of private properties. No property owner has the right to impose upon another property owner in any way. That would, in effect, eliminate pollution since one causing pollution to another would be illegal. If you, as a property owner upstream, cause pollution to my property downstream, you have harmed me and I can at least take you to due process.

In a capitalist scenario, there is a clean environment due to the respect for individual and property rights. Capitalists are, in that respect, supreme protectors of the environment.

my problem is that many leftists feel that capitalism does not have the forsight to serve the long term interest of the enviroment. I know that government doesnt do better, but I have never been able to find a very decent capitalist article regarding enviromentalism.
The leftist's view of the environment is totally altruistic-oriented and assumes that all property is shared for the sake of others, which it is not in a capitalist-based society. In a socialist scenario, government has to regulate pollution because there is no redress regarding the harming of other's property since no property rights exist.

a common citation is also the Hoover Dam, which was a public works project and is still publicly operated, but provides the entire city of Las Vegas with energy. What would you say if this came up with a socialist?

Privatize the Hoover dam.

:D

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Privatize the Hoover dam.

Nice catch, AJC. The statists' argument relies on you assuming that the owner of the dam, a capitalist, will stop supplying power or he would try to create a monopoly in the utilities. Since a capitalist would not destroy his earning, he would not stop supplying power. In addition, the utilities are already monopolized; that can not be a threat to them.

What is so upseting to a statist about a person making a dollar? When the dollar being made doesn't go through their hands, they are not able to skim off of the top for their own monetary gain, political influence or vote buying with governemnt subsidies of individuals.

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