Reread Jefferson’s quotation on corporations, from “Basic Concepts and Tools,” p

Usually, de facto (if not de jure) corporations are held liable only to the extent that their actions are illegal and cause measurable harm. This means injured parties must prove some dollar injury. This standard (in practice and absent acceptance of the precautionary principle) makes it very difficult to hold corporations liable for environmental degradation. Further complicating the issue is the evolving state of environmental knowledge and regulations. Ironically, this is one reason why many corporations want some tangible set of environmental standards. They argue that it is difficult to plan activities if the standards keep changing.