4 ms·

See? This is why we don't need environmental regulations. The market will regulate itself if externalities are properly priced in! (Just pay no mind to how tho

See? This is why we don't need environmental regulations. The market will regulate itself if externalities are properly priced in! (Just pay no mind to how those externalities might be systematically priced and how penalties might be retroactively enforced. If you do you're a freedom-hating socialist!)

faitswulff 6y ago
> A pilot experiment more than a decade ago to bury the DDT [at the Palos Verdes superfund site] under a thick cap of clean sand showed mixed results. Then sampling in 2009 suggested that most of the DDT had mysteriously vanished — prompting a burst of headlines and more internal paralysis. The longtime project manager unexpectedly retired, and many of the scientists who had dedicated decades of their careers to the chemical have also either retired or moved on. The fact that DDT outlasted the scientists' careers is another strike (among many) against untrammeled libertarian free market thinking.
- 1propionyl 6y ago
  Ah, so the front fell off. In that case the DDT was just transported outside of the environment. There's nothing there, except water, and fish, and birds. (In case it isn't clear to anyone, this is heavy sarcasm and a reference to a well known satirical skit.)
  - mercer 6y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM
refurb 6y ago
That's a silly comment considering it was the gov't who has done a shit-ton of ocean dumping in the past (not this case, but others). Who will regulate the government?
- amcoastal 6y ago
  The people. People like me, and I would hope you, would demand the government pass laws to not do these things.
  - yeezul 6y ago
    And how exactly are you asking your government to pass those laws?
    - hanniabu 6y ago
      Through voting and protests. If those don't work then there's also other avenues.
nickpp 6y ago
After the 2nd world war, governments all over the world exploded atomic ordinance on land, on islands, in water and underground. The environmental effects were unimaginable. Regulate that.
- quasse 6y ago
  It's hard to say whether you're commenting in good faith, but ... World leaders did work to do exactly that, on a global scale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treat...
kilo_bravo_3 6y ago
Don't make fun of libertarians on Hacker News. The entitled, privileged, incapable of empathy, ignorant of the reality of the world around them, libertarian Tech Bros will get very angry with you. They will then try to eradicate your impure thoughts by downvoting you to the point that your comments are flagged or hidden-- while simultaneously criticizing this tactic whenever it is used against them elsewhere.

faitswulff 6y ago

> A pilot experiment more than a decade ago to bury the DDT [at the Palos Verdes superfund site] under a thick cap of clean sand showed mixed results. Then sampling in 2009 suggested that most of the DDT had mysteriously vanished — prompting a burst of headlines and more internal paralysis. The longtime project manager unexpectedly retired, and many of the scientists who had dedicated decades of their careers to the chemical have also either retired or moved on. The fact that DDT outlasted the scientists' careers is another strike (among many) against untrammeled libertarian free market thinking.

1propionyl 6y ago
Ah, so the front fell off. In that case the DDT was just transported outside of the environment. There's nothing there, except water, and fish, and birds. (In case it isn't clear to anyone, this is heavy sarcasm and a reference to a well known satirical skit.)
- mercer 6y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM

refurb 6y ago

That's a silly comment considering it was the gov't who has done a shit-ton of ocean dumping in the past (not this case, but others). Who will regulate the government?

amcoastal 6y ago
The people. People like me, and I would hope you, would demand the government pass laws to not do these things.
- yeezul 6y ago
  And how exactly are you asking your government to pass those laws?
  - hanniabu 6y ago
    Through voting and protests. If those don't work then there's also other avenues.

nickpp 6y ago

After the 2nd world war, governments all over the world exploded atomic ordinance on land, on islands, in water and underground. The environmental effects were unimaginable. Regulate that.

quasse 6y ago
It's hard to say whether you're commenting in good faith, but ... World leaders did work to do exactly that, on a global scale. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treat...

kilo_bravo_3 6y ago

Don't make fun of libertarians on Hacker News. The entitled, privileged, incapable of empathy, ignorant of the reality of the world around them, libertarian Tech Bros will get very angry with you. They will then try to eradicate your impure thoughts by downvoting you to the point that your comments are flagged or hidden-- while simultaneously criticizing this tactic whenever it is used against them elsewhere.