Examkin

Question

Difficulty: EasyPrinciple Questions

A municipality recently enacted an ordinance banning single-use plastic bags in retail stores to decrease landfill waste. However, the municipality ought to grant a temporary exemption from this ban to small independent grocers until affordable biodegradable alternatives become widely available. Small independent grocers operate on narrow profit margins and cannot absorb the sudden expense of supplying paper bags without substantially raising food prices for neighborhood residents who have low incomes.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the argument's conclusion?

  1. A
    Environmental regulations should never be enforced if doing so causes any commercial enterprise within the jurisdiction to experience a decline in overall profits.
  2. B
    If affordable biodegradable alternatives become widely available, a municipality is obligated to immediately eliminate all exemptions to its retail regulations.
  3. A local government should temporarily exempt businesses from an environmental mandate if immediate compliance would lead to higher essential living costs for economically vulnerable residents.Answer
  4. D
    A business is entitled to an exemption from municipal environmental ordinances only if it operates as an independent grocery store in a low-income community.
  5. E
    Small independent grocers should be permanently exempted from all municipal commercial regulations that affect consumer retail prices.

Answer

A local government should temporarily exempt businesses from an environmental mandate if immediate compliance would lead to higher essential living costs for economically vulnerable residents.
The correct answer provides a general rule that directly bridges the premise and the conclusion. The argument's premise establishes that forcing small grocers to comply immediately will cause low-income residents to face higher food prices. The correct principle asserts that when an environmental mandate would lead to higher essential costs for economically vulnerable residents, a temporary exemption should be granted. Applying this principle to the grocers' situation directly validates the conclusion that the municipality ought to grant the exemption.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the argument's structure to separate premises from the main conclusion.
Premise: Small independent grocers cannot absorb the cost of paper bags without raising food prices on low-income residents. Conclusion: The municipality should temporarily exempt these grocers from the single-use plastic bag ban until affordable alternatives exist.
Identifying the exact premises and conclusion reveals the logical bridge required to justify the recommendation.
2
Identify the logical gap between the factual evidence and the normative judgment.
The premises state an economic fact about price increases on vulnerable consumers, while the conclusion asserts what the municipality 'ought' to do regarding regulatory exemptions.
A justifying principle must connect the specific negative consequence (increased living costs for low-income residents) to the recommended administrative action (granting a temporary exemption).
3
Evaluate the choices for a rule that establishes a sufficient justification for granting the exemption under these specific circumstances.
The principle stating that local governments should grant temporary exemptions from environmental mandates when immediate compliance increases essential living costs for vulnerable residents directly justifies the conclusion.
Applying this general rule to the stated facts validly derives the author's prescriptive conclusion.

Key Concept

Bridging a premise-conclusion gap with a normative principle
Estimated Time:1m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Principle Questions

More questions from this topic