Environment vs human impact

[mousme]

So it turns out that the mercury in those new-fangled lightbulbs is causing major health problems for the workers producing them.

I already knew that there were disposal issues with the bulbs because of the mercury content, but now there's an extra ethical dimension to it. I'm not sure which outweighs the other, or if I can even think of it in those terms.

Comments

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

It's a problem. The same problem comes up every time that someone has "the answer".

Now they want to legislate the use of CFCs. They shouldn't legislate the how. They should legislate for a desired result.

Same thing with the city and woodstoves/fireplaces. They want to ban new ones and are thinking of banning them outright. They should be setting a maximum level of pollution coming out of the chimneys. The Finns use contraflow woodstoves for heating and those are virtually pollution free. I don't know if it is still true, but at one time you couldn't get a government mortgage-guarantee on a new house if you didn't have one.