‘From the board room to the shop floor to the marketplace, business decisions are skewed when environmental costs are hi

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‘From the board room to the shop floor to the marketplace,
business
decisions are skewed when environmental costs are hidden.
Common
accounting practices hide these costs in two ways: by burying them
in ‘non-
environmental’ accounts and by failing to link costs to the
activities that
spawn them. As a result, managers are forced to make crucial
business
decisions – what products to manufacture, what technologies to
employ,
and what materials to use – without command of all relevant
facts.’
(Jonathon Lash, President, World Resources Institute)
a) Explain how accounting practices might hide environmental
costs.
(Hint: What is the accounting treatment for environmental costs
such
as, high energy costs and fines paid for environmental
damage?)
b) Does accounting ignore some environmental costs?
c) Critically evaluate the underlined claim.