Charging for the Waste of Some, but Not of Everyone

This is touching: Oregon legislators don't want to get stuck with the bill for cleaning up the detritus of a wave energy company that goes belly up.

Would only that they were so concerned about the detritus from fossil fuel companies and users, whose wastes cost the U.S. at least $120 billion per year, according to a 2010 report from the National Academy of Sciences.

Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use (2010) 

National Academy of Sciences

$120 B/yr is the damage for the year 2005, in 2007 dollars.

(By the way, can someone please tell the enlightened members of the National Academy that us plebians cannot convert dollars in our heads, and to please announce their results in units we can all identify with?)

That comes to $405 per person in 2005, in 2007 dollars (see what I mean??)

That, I think, is $449 per person in 2012 dollars, except for 7 years ago.

That's nearly $1800 for a modern family of four (do the conversions yourself).

Why aren't they paying for the disposal of their wastes?