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Economics / Finance / Business

For an unclean

   business-plan

      flow-chart,

         scroll below. 

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 A  Business  Plan  (flow-chart)  for  monetizing  pollution:   

 Fossil-fuel companies look for   coal/gas/oil. 

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 Deposit is suspected - go below  v 

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 If nothing likely - go to the right   > 

 They dig or drill or virtually explore,   to find an accumulation of fossil fuel. 

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 If a deposit is found   v 

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 If no deposit  

 If the deposit may be "rich", they 

 ask investors for up-front money. 

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 If no investors agree to give $   > 

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 If investors provide funds   v 

 With investor cash, they buy   rights to where the fossil-fuel is. 

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 Go below   

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 If unable to purchase rights   > 

 Nothing thought to be there. 

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 Start over.  Look elsewhere. 

 No deposit found - go above   ^ 

 Unable to come up with   funding for the project. 

 

 Return to beginning  

 Without rights from government   officials, project is stymied... 

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 Corrupt payments, lawsuits, or   intimidation could be tried... 

 

 Otherwise, go above   ^ 

 Drilling/fracking/mining   operations are set up. 

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 If fossil fuel is unearthed   

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 If unable to obtain the material   > 

 After extraction, the raw material   gets transported for processing. 

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 Assume no major problems   

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 If unable to transport   

 After processing, 

 the product is transported to a   "buyer/purchaser". 

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 Sell product to "buyer"   

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 No one wants to buy the product   >

 Can logistics problem be   resolved? 

 

 If so, return to left   < 

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 If not, argue with investors about   how to split financial losses   ^ 

 If transportation problems are   unsolvable   ^ 

 An odd situation, but one could   sell it at a loss. 

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 Go two steps up   ^ 

 "Buyers" burn the fuel in order to   accomplish a profitable task 

 (or sell to customers to burn). 

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 If goes as planned   

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 If consumers won't pay   > 

 Consumers pay the "buyer" for   the services/item   

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 Citizens refuse to buy the   services/item   >​ 

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 Pollution goes into the   atmosphere as a by-product of   the burning; 

 plants, animals, & people 

 suffer and/or die. 

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 Go back to the beginning to   repeat the business cycle   ^ 

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 Or...boycott   > 

Consumers don't pay as expected.

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 The price could be dropped and   sold at a loss   

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 Or the buyer may try again later,   when economic factors change. 

 People don't pay because of   unusual situation (i.e., pandemic)   ^ 

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 People don't pay because of   moral commitment to boycott   pollution   v 

 Boycott disrupts this scenario. 

 Fossil-fuels stay in the  ground. 

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 Investors lose $, corporations go   bankrupt, employees lose jobs. 

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 Lives are saved, investors place   ($) bets on different businesses,   employees try to find other work. 

Other options to stop this toxic madness:

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  • Appeal to investors, boards of directors, and corporate CEO’s

  • to stop seeking pollution-oriented profits?  

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  • Convince political leaders to refuse campaign contributions

  • from pollution-profiteering companies?

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  • Ask government leaders to make profits from pollution illegal?

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  • Ask voters to vote for candidates who will prohibit pollution?

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  • Ask polluting companies to no longer lobby political leaders?

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  • Ask them to stop using ads to convince people to ignore pollution?

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  • Ask commercial media owners to no longer accept those commercials?

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  • Ask workers in pollution-related jobs to go on strike until company

  • bosses put the company out of business by leaving the fossil-fuel

  • where it sits (and thereby laying off all the workers)?

 Or join a boycott of pollution? 

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 Investors have already moved some money into renewables. 

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 Will they be rewarded, or will they lose their bet (on "green")? 

 

 It depends upon consumers like you and me. 

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