For the sake of this argument, assume that global warming is human caused and a bad thing (neither of which I currently accept). Without instituting leftist totalitarian measures to stop and reverse global warming what do you think would work?
Anonymous
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Capitalism works.
In fact, it works like a machine, but you must tell it what to do.
Today, jet fuel is tax free, worldwide. If you compare it with about 60% taxes on fuel in Europe, or even with the very low taxes in the USA, this is not a free market thing, because only airlines benefit. This causes low ticket prices, and so people fly, and fly, and fly...
To give an idea HOW cheap fuel is and how much airlines benefit have a look at this: if a jet, for example, carries 90 tons of load - passengers, luggage, other load in the trunk - it will need 100 tons of kerosine for a flight to Europe. One way flight, yeah. Is fuel too cheap?
It is also too cheap for manufacturers of aircraft, like Boeing and Airbus, to spend time thinking about how to make planes more fuel-efficient.
So, a low tax-free price for gas automatically creates more greenhouse gas. And it will help some chinese companies to take over more american jobs, by the way, because manufacturing goods in China is cheaper, and they stay cheap when flights are cheap.
Now, another example.
Volkswagen. A well-known car manufacturer, much less in trouble than GM, Chrysler and Ford, but they think about the future. Today, they announced HYBRID cars, available soon, this summer. The price for VW shares at the stock exchange is 3.2 percent higher than yesterday (and it had already grown recently). They will make a fortune with these cars and give Toyota a headache. Porsche will follow soon, and they have much more reason to do so.
One more from Europe: in Germany, in the business of wind energy, there are companies like Enercon that manufacture the windmills. Together with their competitors, they have created 250,000 jobs in Germany in the last years. Big business that is, right.
Now, let's think about dangerous goods.
We don't allow kids to buy dynamite. We don't allow lunatics to buy poison gas. We don't allow factories to dump radioactive waste in our gardens.
Dangerous goods, right. Not good for the free market.
Greenhouse gases are dangerous, we all know that, but we only know it now. But we built our economy at a time when nobody knew that.
So, a certain amount of not-so-free-market solutions is in place for other dangerous goods. Though I believe in capitalism, an extra portion of restrictions will help. But it helps more to make harmful emissions expensive. Then the capitalist machine will work at its best. Engineers will find solutions, consumers will adapt. We often did that in the past.
Time to Shrug, Atlas
Allow for the same entrepreneurial spirit that has always found solutions and made advancements. The free market will find the most effective solution to any problem.
For example, did the government need to mandate the development of a new transportation source? No. Cars were developed because an entrepreneur lived in a country where he had free reign to fill a market need, without the government stepping in and guiding his every step. And cars are much cleaner than the past alternative, horeses. Consider the fact that methane (from manure, for example) traps much more heat than CO2. Imagine how hot it would be today if the world was still riding horses!
Allowing the free market its independency will allow for thousands or more bright minds to compete to develop and corner the market for a cleaner, less expensive and more renewable fuel source. The desire for profits will drive them much more effectively than any goverment grant, subsidy, or whip.
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properly, that's partly real as substantial companies, incredibly re-insurers have bought independant study to asses worldwide warming, how genuine this is and what the outcomes are. between super companies different than for Exxon, this is an unanimous voice. concerning markets: they paintings quite often on the fast term. on the instant, Chile is left with for a scarcity of electric energy and expenses 4x what they must be... had they no longer merely trusted the industry, they could have had adequate electrical energy, even from a hundred% green materials for a million/third the fee.... So the industry is so blind that it would not consistently paintings. power markets are planned on a 10-50 years outlook, no longer a million-5.
powhound
So long as the alternatives to preventing global warming (which is in process now if you opened your eyes) are more costly than the current production methods of energy and materials and transportation, there is not a free market solution.
Companies normally need financial incentives to undertake a costly adventure. Nothing happens without some benefit to the company involved.
bamafannfl
I say cut all jet travel to all foreign countries , in and out. that will reduce the air pollution and greenhouse gases by about 10%. There will be some benefits from that economically. No Americans will be able travel to other countries for vacation and spend their money here in the US. We spend more in other countries than they spend here anyway.
Oh, but the immediate down side of that will be that the communist loving liberals will have to either take a slow boat back to the motherland Russia or talk to them only by phone. That means that Gorf will have to get his instructions from the Kremlin via the internet.