I envision a world where EIA legislations are more well defined and enforced, projects from corporations such as mining companies would be thoroughly analyzed before their projects are allowed to start, and regulatory inspections or reassessments are performed on these projects after they begin operating.
At the moment, EIA does not exercise its intended effects on the evaluation of resource extraction projects, due to both resistance from the industries, as well as inaction from the government in regards to enforcing its environmental laws on these companies.
To overcome these problems, we should advocate for third-party organizations to monitor and keep these resource-extraction industries in check, working towards more transparency from these corporate activities. This way, we can spread awareness about the environmental impacts of resource-extraction, and report any irregular/illegal actions taken by the corporations so that public pressure would compel the government to take action instead of sitting idle and not enforcing its environmental laws.
Hi Tom, I like your suggestion that we should advocate for third party monitors. However, I wonder, do you think that by moving to third parties, it would be easier for them to be corrupted by corporate interests?
I really like your take on the issue. Third-party organizations that are responsible for monitoring and keeping everything in check would be a novel but effective inclusion to all these issues. I think I would add that better education and awareness could make this idea a reality.
Hey Tom!
I share your vision for regulatory reassessments! Given that a proponent's commitments during the EA process are not legally binding, strong oversight is needed to ensure the proponent is meeting their end of the bargain.
Your solution is very thoughtful! We discussed in class that the two biggest issues with current environmental assessments are conflict of interest and low regulatory capacity. This intervention goes a long way towards addressing both of those concerns. I was wondering which third-party organizations you had in mind. Would these be NGOs? If so, what would be the process of vetting these NGOs and how would we prevent corruption within these organizations?
I agree, impartial and continued assessments would be a huge improvement over the biased systems we have in place today.
I agree with you about the importance of reforming EIA legislation