GEtting away with it

Taxes have always been a part of all successful civilizations. It is the way the governments get funding. And when somebody doesn't pay their taxes, they are breaking the law. This is called tax evasion and it happens all of the time. People just don't pay taxes for different reasons and more often than not, they get caught and prosecuted. But how often do corporations do this? You would think not that often since they usually have millions of dollars to their names and need to stay operational. It just doesn't make since for them not to pay their taxes. Except for one reason, their taxes often cost millions of dollars every year. So corporations have increasingly been not paying their taxes. That is what GE is doing. Except what GE is doing is somehow actually legal. GE made over 5.3 billion dollars in profit last year and yet they still don't have to pay taxes. In fact, it is actually owed 3.2 billion dollars by the government! This is possible because it has hired a skilled army of tax experts and lobbyists. This is just unbelievable. I don't care how rich you are or how many experts you have under your belt, if you make a one year profit of over 5.3 billion dollars, you should have to pay taxes or do like other billionaires do and donate so much money that you don’t have to pay taxes. GE has reportedly stated that the 3.2 billion dollars that the government owes them will be given right back to the U.S. Treasury department.

Photograph. Gorillarms.com. 27 Mar. 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://gorillarms.com/gramsisgeometry/?cat=7>.

Ecuador v. Chevron: You decide

Since the earyly '70s, America has become more enlighted about its harm to the environment than at any other time before. Years of environmental research led to claims of ground and air pollution which then helped cast many new environmental laws we live by today. These laws were past because people and corporations were not taking care of the environment and it was begining to cause problems. Problems with air quality and even water quality. One prime example of a corporation taking advantage of the environment and ruining the lives of thousands of people is Chevron, an American multinational energy corporation. In 1993, Chevron was in a class action law-suit from over 30,000 Ecuadorians. It was being accused of poisoning the land, for over 20 years, by dumping millions of gallons of oil-tainted water in Ecuadors creeks and streams. To help avoid harm, Chevron had the case thrown out saying that the law suit should be litigated in Ecuador, closer to where the alleged crimes occured. Now, however, Chevron could be in big trouble. The court case that was moved to Ecuador is going badly for the corporation and Chevron may be liable to pay over 7 billion dollars. In an attempt to clear itself of any law-suits, Chevron spent around 40 million dollars to clean up part of its toxic waste delima. This did not fly well with the Ecuadorian government whenever it found out that this did not cover any of the third party claims, which consist of the 30,000 Ecuadorians suing Chevron in court now.

Chevwrong. Photograph. Chevwrong. Uprisingradio.org. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=8074>.

Frying The Environment

Most everybody enjoys going to mcdonalds and getting a burger and fries. But do you ever stop to think about where those tasty, golden fries come from? Most people don't really stop to think about it. But then again the E.P.A. isn't most people. According to the E.P.A., the "Simplot factory was the main source of a potentially deadly amount of phosphorus dumped into the Portneuf River"(Hurt 4). All this waste that is dumped into the Portneuf River is from the over 3 billion pounds of fries, produced annually, nonedible scraps. These scraps inlude phosphate, phosphorus, and nitrate compounds (Hurt 4).
These scraps actually would do no harm to humans if they were properly stored in barrels and containers. But if they were, then I wouldn't be blogging about it right now. Instead, Simplot has been placing its waste by-products from its fertilizer company in unlined stockpiles which have contaminatied surrounding groundwater and the local Porneuf River (Hurt 4).

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that what Simplot is doing is wrong for the environment, the wildlife, and the local people. I think this is beyond the level of slaping Simplot on the wrists and giving them a fine. I think immediat action needs to be taken involving a notice that all environmentally dangerous opertions must sece and assist or else the plant will be shut down within a preset date. How is it that we talk about other countries needing to change their environmental strategies and yet we can't even clean up our own backyard? Chances are that forcful action wont be taken but it does need special attention from the E.P.A. and more important, the public.

Hurt, Harry. "10 Worst Corporate Polluters." Portfolio.Com: News & Views On Business And Entrepreneurship - Portfolio.com. 19 Feb. 2008. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/02/19/10-Worst-Corporate-Polluters#ixzz1ItSJFbe4>.