Answer to Question #186849 in Economics for Lindsay m Smith

Question

How much of a role do you think the government should take in regulating the environment?

Answer 1

Every state and every person plays a significant role in disrupting the ecological balance of the Earth. The solution to environmental problems at the present stage should be implemented in the activities of both state special bodies and the whole society. The purpose of such activities is the rational use of natural resources, elimination of environmental pollution, environmental education, and education of the entire public of the country.

State policy of environmental protection

 

The philosophers of antiquity understood the need for a careful attitude to nature and its protection. For example, the ancient Greek materialist philosopher Epicurus in the 5th century. BC. came to the conclusion: "One should not violate nature, one should obey her ...", which has not lost its relevance at the present time.

There was also another concept of approach to nature, giving the right to unlimited dominion over it. Some modern researchers consider the founder of this approach F. Engels, who believed that, unlike an animal, only using external nature, "man ... makes it serve its purposes, dominates it." Perhaps, in the development of this thesis, the Michurin-Lysinka slogan, widely known in our country, was born in the 1950s, justifying violence over the environment: "We cannot wait for mercy from nature, it is our task to take it from it."

At present, in order to protect the environment in each country, environmental legislation is being developed, which contains a section of international law and legal protection within the state, containing the legal basis for the preservation of natural resources and the environment for the existence of life. The UN in the declaration of the Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, June 1992) legally consolidated two basic principles of a legal approach to nature conservation.

1. States should introduce effective legislation in the field of environmental protection, the tasks and priorities put forward should reflect the real situation in the field of environmental protection and its development, in which they will be implemented.

2. The state should develop national legislation regarding liability for environmental pollution and other environmental damage and compensation for those who have suffered from this.