Well, no, I haven’t worked in the energy sector. However, I wasn’t specifically referencing the energy sector but big company pollution and degradation in general…. from Big Ag fertilizer runoff to chemical companies polluting groundwater, as well as oil spills, etc.

My point was, regulations keep big companies from acting nefariously against the common good while chasing profits for stockholders. Historic patterns of behavior tell us they will if there are not heavy penalties to prevent them from doing so.

If the company you work for can do so ethically, that’s great, I’m all for it. Just realize, they’re not doing it because they’re a great bunch of people, they’re doing it because it’s profitable to do so and unprofitable not to. Remove that profit motive and/or the negative pressure of not doing it and they won’t be so gung-ho about environmentally sound policies. They won’t be able to stay competitive if they’re the only ones operating that way.

And they’ll do everything they can to both shift and shirk responsibility to make profit a little longer before the 💩 hits the fan.