Cap and trade and green energy
Our situation
Imagine the planet was a dry, inhospitable desert with no life. Now imagine there was a teeny, tiny area filled with lakes, forests, animals, green grass, and flowers. This was the only place where humans could live and thrive; everything outside of it would mean certain death. Now imagine people started to destroy this oasis: poisoning the water, tearing down forests, and polluting the air. What would the people who live in this oasis do? How would they feel about people destroying their only refuge?
Outside our planet, we are surrounded by infinite amounts of dark, lifeless space, and inhospitable planets, yet we live here on our little oasis, surrounded by oceans, tall mountains, lush forests, and green grasslands, all teeming with life. It is easy to forget that we are all on a tiny planet, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but lifeless, freezing space. It is easy to forget where we really are, since we see the sun rise, and hear the birds sing in the morning, and think that all is well.
Environment vs. Economy
The argument of environment versus economy is one that always succeeds in raising the hairs on my neck, and it is indeed a false dichotomy (i.e., a false, forced choice between two things). These two concepts are not mutually exclusive. We can, and will, have a healthy environment coupled with a strong economy and job growth.
In fact, it’s already happening in the green energy sector. Furthermore, how can the economy ever be more important than the environment, which we rely on (and that the economy relies heavily on as well)? How can a theoretical concept be more important than the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat?
Policy makers and politicians of all stripes need to take a pro-environment stance. They must also be brave in making decisions that may not be popular with either climate change deniers or hard-line conservatives.
In fact, the whole idea of conservatives naturally being against environmentalism (if it affects jobs or economy) is fundamentally misguided. In a piece for The Guardian, Paul Foote, director of the Conservative Environment Network wrote that “the long political and philosophical heritage of environmentalism is in essence, conservative rather than radical.”
So it is not that far-fetched to think of environmentalism as an inherently conservative idea, although U.S. conservatives have certainly rejected that notion.
The Ontario government recently raised around $504 million in proceeds from a cap-and-trade auction sale, which by law must be invested in programs that will reduce greenhouse gas pollution. This includes things like building public electric vehicle charging stations and providing homeowners with rebates for installing high-efficiency retrofits.
Whether or not cap and trade is the best system to manage our emissions, the point remains the same: we must take action now to reduce our emissions and convert to a green economy.
The shift to green is already underway, and there is no stopping it now. In 2016, the price of solar energy was equal to or lower than energy produced using fossil fuels. This is due to advances in technology and government subsidies. But don’t cry foul over government subsidies so quickly — oil and gas companies still receive government subsidies, even in years of record profit, according to a ThinkProgress piece. This is an example of how the environment and economy can, and do, work in harmony.
Developing the green energy and green technology sector will create new types of jobs and sustainable, clean energy that we can use as long as we still have a sun. There are also countless new technologies being developed that aim to make our world more green and sustainable, all of which will create new jobs and entirely new industries. A report by the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps found that solar and wind jobs are growing at a rate 12 times as fast as the rest of the U.S. economy.
Analogy
The point of the analogy between the hypothetical oasis and the Earth is that we must never forget how lucky we are to be here, on the only known oasis in the universe. Some people in the corporate world think that infinite economic growth is possible on a finite planet with finite resources. We know that this is not the case. There has to be a balance between the environment and economy, but it must be one that always ensures our planet is clean and safe from climate change, pollution, and species degradation. Everything else must be built around this fundamental premise.
We must now leave it to engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, governments, and businesses to lead the way in creating this balance; but, it starts with the average person realizing how special their oasis is and doing anything they can to protect it.
Photo courtesy of Pir04D CC0.