One day it struck me that the world would be a very different place if environmental crimes were treated in the same way as murders. So, why aren’t they? And should they be?
At the moment such crimes can, mistakenly, feel distant and abstract. If someone came into your flat and set fire to your furniture, stole your valuables, killed your pet, added poison to your water … what would you do? You’d be terrified. You’d go to the police. You might want revenge. You’d certainly want justice. It would be entirely obvious to you that a crime had been committed.
I don’t know what you mean by “like murder”.
Do I think we need more capital punishment? Absolutely not. We should never kill person that’s already restrained from doing harm, even if their intent is clear.
Do I think there could be more meaningful liability? Yes. I think restorative justice means not just MUCH heavier fines (large percent of gross income for the entire period they are in violation) that are earmarked for environment restoration / pollution control efforts, but also time spent doing the work, on-site to restore / clean / contain for everyone in the decision/authority chain, across organizations.
I also think anyone that has been convicted/punished from wrong environment decision/action more than once could be subject to monitoring, publication, and shaming. Whatever education is part of the restorative justice is not enough, and society has to engage in prevention as a defense.
They should be treated more as “crimes against persons” than “property crimes”: probably.