Negative Externality: Pollution Pollution has become a heated issue in recent years. The destruction of the environment along with serious health problems are the eventual effects. The extensive use and availability of automobiles, tremendous amounts of production in the booming economy and the constant increase in demand for energy, can be held responsible. Pollution and its effects can definitely be categorized as negative externalities. Although millions are inevitably responsible, nobody in their right mind enjoys being subjected to these conditions. Long-term affects of air pollution include chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys. Continual exposure to air pollution affects the lungs of growing children and may aggravate or complicate medical conditions in the elderly. Currently there is much being done to limit the amount of pollution being released in the environment. There are federal regulations as well as state regulations on the amount of discharge that can be released. In such events as the Montreal Protocol, about 180 countries have come together in an attempt to eliminate the release of all chlorofluorocarbons, (CFC’s), in the near future. CFC’s are responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer. Finally, the EPA has the ability to levy taxes of 50,000 on companies for each ton of glop created.There are many pros and some cons to the current policies being conducted. The overall increase in protection against such harmful pollutants is extremely obvious. By limiting the amount of pollution will diminish the risk of health problems caused by these toxins. Now many industries have gotten involved with a technique called carbon trading in which those with high pollution releases buy the rights to pollute from others with low amounts of releases. This is a controversial approach to reduce pollution because it allows unnecessa...
