Environmental Theories

Environmental issues have been and continue to be very controversial.  With almost every proposition to protect, preserve, or enhance the environment questions of effectiveness and strategy are brought up.  Every detail must be throughly explained, such as what a human is what a animal is, what is right, what is wrong.  With such need for detail it is easily seen why environmental policies take time and thought before change occurs.  It also points out the need for theories in the heart of environmental history.

Throughout my quest to find roots for my research, I have come across Plato and his work the Republic, Book 1, Law 845.  Where he says:

Water is easily polluted by the use of any kind of drug.  It therefore needs the protection of a law, as follows:  Whoever purposely pollutes water shall be obliged, in addition to paying an indemnity, to purify the spring or receptacle of the water, using whatever method of purification is prescribed by ordinance, at all times and to everyone.

Plato points out point pollution sources by saying " whoever purposely pollutes"  perhaps this is way the Clean Water Act (passed in 1972) focuses on point sources rather than non-point sources of pollution.

(point pollution sources, are known polluters such as industries while non-point pollution source has no direct source, such as urban runoff)

More importantly Plato makes a case that everyone is entitled to clean water and those who pollute it must take responsibility for their actions with the help of laws.

I'm currently reading more about the Clean Water Act from a fantastic resource published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, it helps to explain the pit falls within the act's structure. One thing I've gathered so far is that even the term pollutant has different meanings to different companies, states, and regulators. interesting.  This is where we go back to defining what is good and what is bad, what is human, and what is an animal.  Detail detail detail.