C an someone explain to me how in the world those in favor of small government regulation in business can expect to protect the environment? It seems a fantasy to expect corporations to just be good world citizens on their own. Won't the financial motive always favor doing something for their own bottom line over doing something good for the planet?

Public / consumer education and outrage seems to make for a miniscule feedback system. People can't follow complex issues as a whole, and tire of hearing any message too often. They are also easy to fool into thinking they've done their part. Think of the people who buy brand new hybrid cars, oblivious to to the damage they continue to cause and typically not even considering doing something more serious than this trivial gesture.

We have a thousand years of detailed history of the interplay between companies and the environment, across many eras, fads, peoples, lands, etc, and I don't read any of it as showing evidence that an unregulated business community will on their own make the environment better than it is.

Pointing out one small set of companies or sectors here or there does no good. One must show that this is good for the whole of a country's businesses.