Environmentalism and Capitalism

In the article “Corporations Want to Keep Carbon Emissions Secret”, the author writes about the problem with our capitalist country and how it is leading to environmental degradation. He makes a claim that “Long term solutions to environmental problems will never be possible as long as key economic decisions remain in private, profit driven hands”. I do not believe this claim to be accurate and I find it to be a very bold thing to claim.
In the Western society we live in, there are multiple large, privately owned companies that make their own decisions about things and there is nothing we can really do about it. For example, Wal-Mart is a privately owned company and we as the general public do not get to be a part of their decisions making. The company does not work like a democracy and like the claim, they are profit driven. And as a big company that supplies so much of our needs, they produce a lot of waste and release tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Producing waste and carbon dioxide is just the nature of big factories and manufacturers and there’s really not much we can do about this.
Our economy supports our country and builds it up. There is no way we could get rid of the banks and big companies that make our country what it is. And in a capitalist society there is no way we could control the company’s decisions about waste production or anything else for that matter. Companies do not want us knowing about the waste they produce because they are profit driven and it would be negative advertising for them, which is something they do not need or want. Knowing the amount of waste a company produces and knowing all the toxic substances they put into the air would make us significantly more aware of the choices we are making. It would help us to make more conscious decisions about which products from which companies to use, but since all these companies are profit driven, they would evidently not want this information to be revealed.
We cannot say that because sharing this information is better for the environment, we should do it. To start off with we cannot force companies to share this information because they are privately owned. If we wanted to control these companies we would have to become a communist country which would be changing the whole entire country from what it is right now. The author’s claim is that we need a planned and organized economy to have a sustainable one, but that is not even possible in this situation. It may be true that if we did control these companies, a lot less waste would be produced, but this is simply just not possible. In the case where we could control these companies though, we would also have to make the right decisions. It is expensive to use renewable sources of energy and expensive to make environmentally friendly products. It is unrealistic and impossible for us to have a planned economy.
Although companies are profit driven, they also have moral obligations to take care of our planet. Many companies are taking green steps such as donating money to non-profit environmental organizations, using recycled products, and also creating more environmentally friendly products. Many companies are creating more environmentally friendly products because that is what is in demand and that is what is popular by consumers right now. Many companies are just using “green” as an advertisement to make consumers feel like they’re doing their part to help their environment and make them buy more and more. This is called greenwashing. But it is wrong for us to say that all companies do not care about the environment and they cannot help be a solution towards environmental problems.
People are becoming more and more aware of the fact that we need to start taking care of our environment every day. It is something we’re obligated to do and many companies are trying to do their part. But producing waste is the nature of many of these companies and there is no way to change that, but many are trying to play their part. Our technology is becoming better and more sustainable practices are being used.
Environmental responsibility and capitalism can go together. Long term environmental problems may be harder to solve when profit driven countries are making all the economic decisions but that is something we cannot control and many companies are trying to do their part. Us as consumers though can show our want for more environmentally friendly products and we can show our interest in companies that practise sustainability. This will push companies to be more environmental and long term solutions will be made.

http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/news-channels/usa/corporations-want-to-keep-carbon-emissions-secret-43619.htm