DAMAGE LIABILITY: A JUST PAYMENT PARADIGM FOR DESTRUCTIVE EXTERNALITIES

As carbon is transferred via combustion of fossil fuels from natural subsurface sequestration to accumulations in Earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere, the impacts of this unnaturally rapid geochemical redistribution are becoming increasingly problematic. Manifold impacts are stressing most of our planet’s ecosystems, including the habitats of hundreds of millions of people and marine environments due to rising temperatures and ocean acidification. Shifting climate patterns are disrupting vital water supply and agricultural systems. Extreme climate and weather events have increased significantly; prolonged droughts and historic heat waves reduce crop yields and increase wildfires as rising temperatures (especially minimum nighttime temperatures) facilitate expansion of insect ranges and insect-borne diseases; and escalating sea levels enhance coastal flooding, erosion and salt-water intrusion thereby reducing available living space.

These increasing anthropogenic impacts inflict immense human suffering in the form of death, disease, and bodily harm as well as enormous property damage. Who is liable for these industrial by-products so often euphemistically dismissed as “externalities”? It is a cost of doing business, the fossil carbon business. According to present practice, the financial burden is borne by the victims themselves and/or by the public at large through taxes and higher insurance premiums. This concept of “victim liability” is contrary to fundamental ethical principles of fairness and justice. The party that is responsible for the damage is liable for the damages. Failure to assess such liability amounts to a de facto subsidy of the damaging activity and serves as an incentive for its continuation. It is time for a new and just paradigm for the payment of damages for destructive externalities. Call it a fee, a tax or an assessment of damages; require the responsible parties to pay. Reason, justice and future generations demand it!