Comment▼ Ethics and sustainability ecent revelations about improper accounting practices within some large corporations remind us again that it is our morals and values that ultimately determine the course of a society. As we learn more about the personalities involved in each accounting deception, we see that those who perpetrated the dishonest and damaging acts were doing so to protect themselves, their jobs, and their families, while forgetting about the workers and investors who could ultimately suffer from their misdeeds. Many were acting out of greed, expecting a large monetary return on their investment, but others were simply trying to support their commitment to a lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. In their defense, they were working within a capitalistic environment that required their corporation to demonstrate totally unrealistic profits and growth rates, or for their accounting firm to support their major customers who faced these unrealistic expectations. To succeed within this environment, they and their superiors faced individual decisions in which the temptation to exaggerate and even to lie, must have been intense. This is no excuse for the lapse in the integrity of the officers and board members of these firms and their accountants, but it is useful for all of us to contemplate how our daily lives are filled with similar decisions. It is the classic dilemma that we face as individuals, the moderation of our personal desires for the benefit of the larger community. Those who have been entrusted with the wise use of natural resources, the preservation of nature, and the protection of people from environmental contamination face this dilemma every day. Most do so in a professional and ethical way, sometimes with courage and valor, which is surely the case with most accounting professionals as well; but compromises are being made every day. Some are not very significant in terms of their impact on environmental protection; others cause damage that is much more severe than the perpetrators anticipated. When the decision was made to adopt MTBE as a gasoline additive,
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© 2002 American Chemical Society
my guess is that almost everyone involved felt that the compound was superior to other additives and that the decision would benefit air quality and public health. But there were probably others who suspected that not enough was known about other possible impacts and were quiet. How did that drama play out in individual offices? What went into the decision-making process? What personal values and needs were involved? Situations like this that become the subject of intense media coverage hide the larger issue of accountability. As much as we would like to attach blame for the woes of society to a few corrupt individuals, to large corporations, to big government, or even to an economic system, the truth is that we are all responsible. Every day in our own lives, we are making or living with decisions that are not morally defensible if we would only consider our obligations to the global community, to nature, and the needs of future generations. Nor do we give enough attention to the factors that create the climate that encourages greed. It is no surprise that scandals such as Enron and WorldCom happen; the surprise is that they are not more common in a society in which economic gain has become the most important measure of success. This is not to say that we should absolve criminals of their acts because we too are not perfect. Rather, it is to say that the accounting scandals of today should be a lesson to us for tomorrow: The search for a better, more ethical, more sustainable society must go on, and although we will never succeed in reaching perfection, all of us must take responsibility for its progress.
William H. Glaze, Editor (
[email protected])
SEPTEMBER 1, 2002 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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