ETHICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
If for no other reason, environmental problems are important because they're a matter of life or death, either now or in the As we saw in our opening case, GE has come to see eco-responsibility as a matter of protecting not only the future of the environment but its own also future. Like GE, companies contribute to damage in a variety of ways. Some, for example, contaminate the air, soil, or water during or make products such as automobiles or electricity that release fossil-fuel contaminants into the atmosphere.
In extracting natural resources, other companies also have a direct and unmistakable effect on the environment. But even in these cases the issue isn't necessarily clear-cut. Granted, although some resources (such as minerals, gas, and oil) may not be renewable, others (such as timber) are, and some observers even suggest that resources can never really become scarce. Why? Because as they become less available, prices go up and technology or substitutes compensate.