you are going to read 2 posts and respond at least 100 words for each one.

Student name: Hisham

What do you see as most pressing environment problems, and what role can and should businesses play in addressing them?

Pollution of the environment has been a pressing issue all along. Businesses have been polluting the environment in important amounts. For example, oil spills have had a lot of impact to the environment. Water has also been constantly polluted by waste emissions from businesses. This makes the water unfit for human consumption. Other environmental problems are the escape of small amounts of nuclear emissions to the environment, which is also very dangerous as well as the outer space pollution where so many debris and wastes are surrounding the satellites that are in good working condition.

Businesses have a role to ensure that they are fair to the consumers by clearly addressing these issues. They should take care of the environment and remember that what the environment offers is free but can be limited by how they treat the wastes. They should therefore realize that they have a moral obligation of managing wastes through their actions as well as their policies.

Can companies be truly green, committed to sustainability and economically viable?

Pollution control by the companies comes at a high cost that might not be economically viable. Companies have a challenge of showing their commitment in protecting the environment yet it is very expensive and it’s not yet clear who is responsible for the cost of ensuring that the environment is protected as production of goods take place. Moreover, they are faced with a dilemma of producing the products that the consumers need most and on the other hand the products are the reason they pollute the environment. The subject of the companies being truly green and at the same time being economically viable is therefore unachievable

Do only human interests matter morally, or is the natural world intrinsically valuable, in your view, is our current treatment of animals, in particular, factory farming, morally legitimate?

Philosophers have been arguing on whether human beings are only good to the environment because of the benefits they get from the same or they have a general obligation to take care of the environment, without necessarily looking at the benefits. However, the natural world has got an intrinsic value and human beings therefore have a moral obligation to take care of the environment.  The question on whether factory farming is morally right is a hot issue. While those who practice this, view it as a necessary evil to increase productivity of animal products, others who are against, feel that it is inhuman to treat these animals in such cruel methods. In my view, this practice portrays human beings as very selfish and inconsiderate. Animals have their rights because they have senses and the human being ignoring this is very inhuman. Moreover, animals are supposed to live in a certain way, which human beings decide to strongly ignore.