Should it be a crime to harm the environment?

June 16, 2012

At the heart of its official negotiations, the Rio+20 summit is all about looking for political agreements that will improve the lot of society, particularly the poorest, and of nature.
Politics isn't necessarily the best course, nor politicians the best people to plot such a course, to judge by the glacial, boulder-strewn pace of talks here in Rio.

The science is clear on so many of the issues, and ministers acknowledge it - but they see many other factors too, which is why the political response on issues such as climate change often lags way behind the science.

If politics can't get on with it, what about the law?

In 1996, lawyer Mark Gray had a simple vision: make ecocide (destroying nature) a crime.

Well, you might say, any country can do that - and many countries have, in various degrees. Depending on where you live, lighting bush fires, stealing birds' eggs, dumping old motor oil in streams and building on the habitat of a protected newt can all land you in court.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-18455351

June 16, 2012

while i am all for saving the environment, this seems like walking a fine line along the top of a slippery slope. i could see laws like this being easily abused. very easily abused. that being said, we do need some better protection for the environment. :S

June 16, 2012

Teach kids at school how NOT to be litter bugs, and maybe in a few years time when we are ankle deep in Ice cream/crisp pkts and dog mess they might realise that its not wise to dispense rubbish everywhere.Walk along any beach and see what detritus had been left by the tide, including rubber fish, disgusting.

June 16, 2012

Its all ages and all classes who litter

June 16, 2012

Depending on the magnitude of the damage it is a crime, it is just that this magnitude is unjustifiably high.

June 16, 2012

It should be a civil offense, not a CRIME. We americans abuse the criminal sanction.

One should be environmentally friendly, or however one wishes to put it. If one deliberately harms the environment, there should be some sort of penalty, but NOT a jail cell.

I knew a father and son who were sent to prison for an environmental crime of digging a ditch the wrong way, or some equally trivial offense. It was wrong that they were sent to prison, but this IS amerika....

June 16, 2012

makes me laugh. still waters asks if harming the environment should be made a crime and the only responses are about kids droping their sweet wrappers. if it was a crime the whole human race would be guilty. we are parasites who use or destroy all our natural resources without a second thought and one day when its all gone the last human draws his last breath the planet will sigh with relief. :no:

June 16, 2012

Its all ages and all classes who litter

Agreed but the older age groups were never taught or if they were,chose to ignore waste baskets.

June 16, 2012

makes me laugh. still waters asks if harming the environment should be made a crime and the only responses are about kids droping their sweet wrappers. if it was a crime the whole human race would be guilty. we are parasites who use or destroy all our natural resources without a second thought and one day when its all gone the last human draws his last breath the planet will sigh with relief.

Do you not think that chucking rubbish about,is a crime and is harming the planet,

June 16, 2012

It should be a civil offense, not a CRIME. We americans abuse the criminal sanction.

One should be environmentally friendly, or however one wishes to put it. If one deliberately harms the environment, there should be some sort of penalty, but NOT a jail cell.

I knew a father and son who were sent to prison for an environmental crime of digging a ditch the wrong way, or some equally trivial offense. It was wrong that they were sent to prison, but this IS amerika....

Well I know that in Argentina you used to spend a night in a cell and the next day you would be sweeping the streets under Police supervision for any minor "crime" .It happened to a couple of our ships crew,a few years ago when they accidently broke a shop window..

June 16, 2012

Do you not think that chucking rubbish about,is a crime and is harming the planet,

why not charge them with ecocide then? Or do you think the crime of littering is enough ?

June 17, 2012

makes me laugh. still waters asks if harming the environment should be made a crime and the only responses are about kids droping their sweet wrappers. if it was a crime the whole human race would be guilty. we are parasites who use or destroy all our natural resources without a second thought and one day when its all gone the last human draws his last breath the planet will sigh with relief.

Prolly because all those who are asking themselves the questions (not in this forum of course nor Still Waters who happen to be the messenger) but the politicians and other banksters in charge would be found guilty as sin and send to jail for the rest of their life

June 18, 2012

Something I can't stand is litter bug. You should see the sides of the roads around here. I have picked up the highway a few times because it bothered me so much. Yea, I was one of those idiots you saw walking down the road with a big highway dept garbage bag.

We should do all we can to protect the environment but its never going to stop completely. Try to heat your house or eat without doing some harm to the environment but that harm should be managed so it isn't so great.

June 18, 2012

Something I can't stand is litter bug. You should see the sides of the roads around here. I have picked up the highway a few times because it bothered me so much. Yea, I was one of those idiots you saw walking down the road with a big highway dept garbage bag.

We should do all we can to protect the environment but its never going to stop completely. Try to heat your house or eat without doing some harm to the environment but that harm should be managed so it isn't so great.

You aren't an "idiot! " and I commend you for being litter aware , a few miles from me is /was a real rough housing estate until this 85 yr old dear got sick of her garden being used as a tip, so she went to see the "hardest" family on the estate,they rounded up all the kids and made them clear out her garden,then they proceeded to clear up the estate which is now "spotless", but unfortunately it doesn't happen elsewhere..