A Changing Climate
It is not secret that the earth’s climate is changing. And I am sure you have all heard more than enough about global warming and perhaps even some really crazy ideas on how to solve it. When I worked at a non-profit environmental group over the summer another group from Germany actually suggested to us that if we could get 2 million people to jump up and down at the same time on a certain day, we could throw the earth out of orbit and all global warming problems would be solved (right). Despite what you may have heard, climate changes are of real concern, especially for the U.S.
An article published in The Economist stated that, the United States is the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases currently, although it looks like China may surpass us soon.
The article goes on to say that developing nations feel that counties like the United States created emissions problems that are leading to negative climate changes and they should be the ones to fix these problems. However, as a country, we have done little to take control of emissions problem therefore it seems that if we don’t take action, many other countries won’t either.
Believe it or not, possible solutions that are being offered to solve emissions and global warming problems are economic ones. One solution would put a price on emitting harmful greenhouse gases. Or another option that economists like but environmentalist might grumble about, which is to have a carbon tax, allowing producers to emit and buy and sell emissions credits.
What do you think is the best way to solve these climate problems? What are your thoughts on emissions credits?
1 comment:
Economic solutions, as KristenBird suggested in the post, may be the most effective way to prevent the obliteration of our planet. Putting hefty taxes on larger businesses, or the biggest polluters, may help to solve the current situation we are facing. Perhaps this tax will encourage businesses to find more environmentally friendly ways of producing their goods.
Businesses find that the opportunity cost of producing harmful emissions is lower than the monetary gains received from continuing to produce these emissions...so by continuing to profit from this habit, businesses will not consider new, more environmentally friendly ways of doing business. Therefore it is necessary to tax businesses and make the opportunity costs greater than the marginal cost of continuing to produce emissions, forcing them to become more environmentally friendly.
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