I watched a video is about David A. Kaplan talking about his book called The Most Dangerous Branch: Inside the Supreme Court’s Assault on the Constitution. In the video, Kaplan talks about his book and his argument though discussing the court case and the problems in the United States. He mentions that the Court involves and intervene in American life too much. He thinks the Court should not get involved so often; however, he supports the Court intervenes some areas but not all areas such as protecting those unpopular opinions, because, in his opinion, we do not expect other two branches to defend some areas like the crimes’ rights.

The video reminds me of the weakness of the Supreme Court. Even though the Supreme Court strengthens its power by establishing the Judicial Review, the Constitution does not define what it suppose to do. Under the Checks and Balances system, the Supreme Court has the power to declare the president and the Congress unconstitutional; however, its power also is limited by the other two branches. For instance, the president can nominate the judges, and Congress might control the Court because there are two dominant parties competing the power in the government.

On other hands, as Kaplan says, the Supreme Court’s involvement could distort the presidential election because they think the new president will nominate the “right” judges. In other words, sometimes the Court has too much power. Some decision of the Court will make it run the country, and it is possible that a single vote in the Court will determine the key social and political policy. In my opinion, I think that what the Court does is required by the Checks and Balances system. Since the three branches share the power and influence each other, how we draw a clear line for the Court and its duties?

Introduction

I conducted a survey to obtain the customers’ viewpoint from people on how the public preserves the role of the corporate social responsibility in environmental protection and interviewed Timothy Ridenour, who works in Baruch College as an actuarial science professor to comprehend the position of actuaries in corporate social responsibility in the environment. The survey’s target audience is a diverse general public. In addition, the reason that I chose to interview an actuarial science professor is because his professional knowledge makes the result more persuasive. The result of the survey and the interview indicate that although not every person recognizes the corporate social responsibility, those who have realized it believe CSR is important not only for the business profits but also for human benefits. Besides, according to Professor Ridenour, the actuaries play a positive role in corporate social responsibility.

The benefits of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) in protecting the environment

According to the survey results, most people still pay attention to the relationship between business and the environment and believe a company’s corporate social responsibility plays a significant part in increasing business profit and building a healthier living condition. When it comes to the business and environmental relationship, near ninety percent of 16 of those who were surveyed believe that they have a win-win and mutual help relationship. On the one hand, based on their responses, companies can use CSR to enhance their reputation through environmental protection to promote business expansion and development. A sustainable environment has a carrier function which means that the more sustainable, healthy, and consistent the environment is, the more profits a business earns in the long run. As Professor Ridenour insisted, from a risk perspective, the business takes less risky because in a sustainable environment. On the other hand, almost all respondents expressed that they will support the company’s corporate social responsibility in protecting the environment since it contributes to helping to improve people’s living conditions, such as reducing the pollutions. Therefore, not only the companies but also our living conditions gain benefits from corporate social responsibility in protecting the environment.                                                                                                                                                                                  The roles of the big companies and the actuaries in the CSR

It seems that all respondents agree that every company should undertake the social responsibility of environmental protection, whether it is because of pursuing the business profit or establishing better living conditions. Besides, they believe that the greater the abilities, the greater the responsibilities, according to their responses. In order to explain the role of companies, I attempt to find out the answer from interviewing a professional. Professor Ridenour also advocated that big corporations should play a leadership role and inspire all companies to take the responsibility to protect the environment because, based on his expertise in risk perspective, the big corporations have less risk than other small businesses while fighting uncertainty. In addition, he believes that actuaries have the abilities and skills to contribute to assisting the companies in its CSR in protecting the environment. For instance, Professor Ridenour mentioned that the actuaries’ skills in data analysis and modeling to assess risk are useful for assessing the environmental impact of business activities. In other words, they can provide professional advice to entrepreneurs and report the environmental and social returns in their investment decisions. Therefore, actuaries can make contributions to the implementation of CSR in protecting the environment.

Conclusion

This survey and interview contributes to analyzing the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility in protecting the environment, and the actuaries have the abilities and skills to assist the corporations in that area. The results from the public demonstrate that the business and the environmental influence each other mutually. The CSR, in protecting the environment, creates a sustainable environment; a sustainable environment helps to earn more business profits and improve human’s living conditions. In addition, from Professor Ridenour’s professional point of view, large companies should play a leading role, and actuaries can help companies achieve CSR in protecting the environment to a certain extent.