Environmental Engineers: Engineering Custodians?

Today was my first day at work, and pushing past all the paperwork and administrative things, I managed to start a small amount of work on three separate projects (and be informed of 3 or 4 others with which the workers wanted help). What I've realized over the past semester, and largely supported by my first day out in the real world, is that much of the work of an environmental engineer is to address the mess that other engineers have left behind. I'm not sure how specific I can be about the projects Arcadis has going, so I'll just say the projects with which I may be involved are all from household-name companies. Companies that have been doing things involving mechanical, materials, chemical, and biological engineering.

When I took a tour of the Crapo (Kruh-poh, yes I laughed too when I first saw the coincidence in such a name) Landfill, the manager of the landfill extolled the virtues of reducing and elimating waste when possible, and lamented the fact that there remains the need for jobs like his to exist. It's true-climate change deniers who say climate scientists are in it for the money fail to recognize that any given climate scientist could likely pursue a much more lucrative career in investment banking or any number of fields. They don't choose the field to profit off it.

I feel like that Course 2 (MIT for mechanical engineering) student who works for the defense contractor or policemen who patrol the streets protecting against criminals-ideally the job would never have existed but because the need is there, those who have those positions cannot be blamed, and instead deserve respect. Yet I still come back to the thought that, like the difference between taking care of my own space versus using public spaces, if I (and everyone else) was more cautious, perhaps the need could be greatly reduced or even eliminated in some circumstances for workers to base their entire careers on the externalities of other professions.


Side note: I saw a mechanic shop that said free re-inspection for failed emissions tests. I think that's mandated by law. Doesn't that create the perverse incentive for mechanics to pass cars rather than fail them, even when they don't meet the emissions standards?