So you create a product, put it out and have it do unimaginable damage, then pay for the health and environmental damage you did
Or not. How often have companies actually had to pay for anything like the actual cost of the damage they have caused to the environment? Are there any cases when they have had to? They sometimes have to compensate a few of the humans involved, but never anything more general than that, and usually nothing approaching the real cost to society or the environment.
Oh, I know. Compensation is the best case scenario. Much more likely is that the entity ultimately responsible doesn't even exist by the time the issue is discovered.
I don't know what the answer is here either. The EU is getting much more aggressive about this, but it's already getting to the point that to bring a new product to market strictly within the law essentially costs infinite dollars.
Aviation still uses leaded fuel and we KNOW how bad it is. But the economic consequence of fully eliminating it is still too great. Literally the one chemical that we know with certainty that there is no safe level of exposure to, is still getting distributed through the air all day every day.
It's funny to me the way Prop65 turned out in some ways. When people were told just how bad absolutely everything is, people actually care less. And now the same thing is happening across the EU in a broad range of categories. Everything has at least 3 or 4 warnings on it. Most people just ignore them completely or look for a product with no warnings—which is probably just lying.
it's already getting to the point that to bring a new product to market strictly within the law essentially costs infinite dollars
Of course, cleaning up various of these messes (forever chemicals, fossil fuels, etc) also costs infinite dollars, and in the meantime they also fuck up the health of the entire planet for both humans and other animals. It still seems a no-brainer to me to take the economic hit and accept slightly slower (but safer) progress. At least then we'd have a better chance of not accidentally ending the world.
Or not. How often have companies actually had to pay for anything like the actual cost of the damage they have caused to the environment? Are there any cases when they have had to? They sometimes have to compensate a few of the humans involved, but never anything more general than that, and usually nothing approaching the real cost to society or the environment.