Leaded Gasoline Argumentative Essay
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation bought control of Octel, the world's biggest maker of lead additives for gasoline. However, the intent of the purchase was not the lead additive, known as Tetraethyl Lead (TEL), since leaded gasoline was banned in Japan and was almost phased out in the United States and Western Europe. Leaded gasoline was known for deterring the process in vehicles that reduced pollutants in car exhaust and because of the potential for causing brain damage in children.
Great Lakes interest in Octel was a chemical called bromine that was used to make the lead additives. This chemical was used by Great Lakes to produce several other products and in efforts to obtain the bromine, Great Lakes decided to risk taking on the ethical
issues associated with the production of TEL.
In addition to ethical issues, there were also reputational impacts. Great Lakes had to decide whether or not they should continue producing a product that was still legal, but being phased out of use in developed countries due to health and environmental hazards, however continue to sell in underdeveloped nations.
This was not an easy decision to make for Great Lakes. During this time, since most companies had stopped producing TEL, Great Lakes saw massive profits as demand was still high for leaded gas in third world countries. They were now the largest supplier in a market that others wouldn’t enter due to the known environmental issues associated with its production.
Although Great Lakes agrees with environmentalists that TEL is harmful, they didn’t agree with the timeline for a world-wide ban. This was due to many different reasons, including the fact that there weren’t currently enough refineries that could produce the preferred unleaded gas.
I believe Great Lakes understood the importance of the TEL ban in both developed and underdeveloped countries and had a plan to comply when the time was right (as determined by them). However, they made the decision to capitalize on the situation while they could, which lead to great profits for them. Considering the negative impact to third world countries, Great Lakes could have decided to use a portion of these large profits to assist these underdeveloped countries in efforts to prepare them for the future of using unleaded gasoline. Especially since the initial purchase of Octel was never to increase their profits. This gain was highly unexpected. This would have done more for their argument and their image.
Great Lakes interest in Octel was a chemical called bromine that was used to make the lead additives. This chemical was used by Great Lakes to produce several other products and in efforts to obtain the bromine, Great Lakes decided to risk taking on the ethical
issues associated with the production of TEL.
In addition to ethical issues, there were also reputational impacts. Great Lakes had to decide whether or not they should continue producing a product that was still legal, but being phased out of use in developed countries due to health and environmental hazards, however continue to sell in underdeveloped nations.
This was not an easy decision to make for Great Lakes. During this time, since most companies had stopped producing TEL, Great Lakes saw massive profits as demand was still high for leaded gas in third world countries. They were now the largest supplier in a market that others wouldn’t enter due to the known environmental issues associated with its production.
Although Great Lakes agrees with environmentalists that TEL is harmful, they didn’t agree with the timeline for a world-wide ban. This was due to many different reasons, including the fact that there weren’t currently enough refineries that could produce the preferred unleaded gas.
I believe Great Lakes understood the importance of the TEL ban in both developed and underdeveloped countries and had a plan to comply when the time was right (as determined by them). However, they made the decision to capitalize on the situation while they could, which lead to great profits for them. Considering the negative impact to third world countries, Great Lakes could have decided to use a portion of these large profits to assist these underdeveloped countries in efforts to prepare them for the future of using unleaded gasoline. Especially since the initial purchase of Octel was never to increase their profits. This gain was highly unexpected. This would have done more for their argument and their image.