Reading (For Dummies)

Smokin'

Doug gets me thinking again. Start here continue here.

It's hard to say whether this whole smoking ban is good or bad. I like it. Doug has a point though.

But still, if the argument is to allow market forces to regulate these environmental laws, why don't we just repeal all environmental law (since I want to be so black and white) and let market forces decide what is environmentally safe.

Tired of having a polluted Hudson? Stop buying steel from Carnegie & Co. Tired of having a three-inch layer of mercury sludge dumped in Lake Onondaga every year? Stop buying from Crucible. In reality we've needed laws to force the market into a health and environmentally conscious state. Without these laws, changes happen too slowly and damage is done.

The powers that be are saying there will be 1 billion smoking-related deaths in the next hundred years. Compare that to 49 million people dying in WW2. Drastic realizations about the environmental impact of some chemicals requires drastic laws to restrict their effect.

Bars and restaurants operate a lot differently than a factory, for sure. Bar and restaurant pollution is far more localised. However, social pressures keep even us non-smokers going to smokey bars and restaurants.

Again I'm totally biased and arguing like a shithead. Ohwell.