Question

1- Apply the precautionary principle to the case of Ford and the crash tests for the Pinto. What does the principle say Ford should do about the car?

2- On the topic of non-renewable resource depletion, are you a techno-optimist or a techno-pessimist? Defend your position and explain why you feel the other side is wrong.

Answer 1

1.ford pinto was a subcompact car.it was marketed in north america from 1971 to 1981,a car manufactured by ford company.it was the smallest ford vehicle sin e 1907.

The safety was a key point of pinto.there had ocurred some safety issues regarding the fuel design of pinto car.in 1973 low speed rear engine collisions resulted into problem for pinto.during the testing this problem was encountered but was not enlightened among public.

*precautionary principle for ford

Proper testing of fuel design should be done.engine analysis should be done so that fuel and engine combination is safe for driving.if there are certain guidelines regarding fuel design and engine,then it should be followed.business ethics should be followed.proper cost-benefit analysis should be done and proper time for evaluation of the project should be given.final decision should be taken after careful consideration of all the safety aspects along with cost-benefit analysis aspect.

2.non-renewable resources have been considerably used for the last certain amount of years.the reason behind this is increasing use of technology.as more and more production is increasing and due to which technology is increasing,large amount of non-renewable resources are getting lesser and lesser.the common example of such type of resource is oil.oil is required for commercial,industrial,transportation purposes globally.daily barrels of oil is used for various purposes and daily it is getting depleted.oil is found in less areas of the world.geographically it is available in few countries.being techno optimist seems to be fair,considering the tech-oriented trend which is on the rise.but one thing on the rise and other on decline does not seem fair.so to maintain balance and fairness I would rather be techno pessimist and want greener and eco-friendly solutions to emerge in order to safe-guard the depleting trend of non-renewable resources.