In its purist, most utopian form, business is the social mechanism by which we find the most efficient, and hopefully effective, means by which to distribute scarce resources. However, business will not do anything that is not in its own best financial interest, nor will it decide on its own to make changes. In the real world, existing markets use incumbency to restrict the entry of new technologies, and use their accumulated profits to move markets in their favor. There are only two ways in which we can force business to do unprofitable but necessary things: regulation or mass social action (basically boycotts). Our republic, since the turn of the previous century, has used the will of the people expressed through our laws to accomplish this in the most effective way possible. Examples like this one show why consumer action and business platitudes do not do enough to solve our biggest problems.Walmart's carbon emissions soar despite all that green talk
"Today Walmart ranks as one of the biggest and fastest growing climate polluters in the country. If it were included in the Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index, a list that is limited to heavy industrial firms, such as oil companies and power plants, Walmart would take the 33rd spot, just a hair behind Chevron, America’s second largest oil company."
I have followed this work at the Center for Neighborhood Technology for many years now, and to me it stands as one of their most impressive achievements. When transportation energy costs bottomed out in the 1950s-60s, and then again in the 1990s, we expanded the infrastructure for transportation by vehicle and established a horrible precedent that living far from ones work was necessary and sometimes even desirable. Now, we are paying the price for those decisions. Hopefully, information like that in the transportation and affordability index will help the marketplace better shape our urban and suburban dynamics.
Why the government now cares what you spend on gas
"Donovan said 75 to 85 percent of a family's living costs can be explained by location. Behavior accounts for the rest. If that's true, it would be a powerful insight for federal policy to leverage in trying to expand access to affordable communities."
In every way, shape, and form renewable energy bests fossil fuel energy when we look at a horizon longer than 5-10 years. The fact that we still want to not only allow, but financially support the extraction of fossil fuels shows that our political and economic systems are no longer free markets, but manipulated markets meant to favor the past over the future. The role of renewable energy in the future of our society has grown every year for the last decade: originally we thought it would encompass only 5% of future energy use, now we think maybe 30%. There is no doubt that if we embarked on a "moonshot-like" program to bring our country to 95% renewable energy by 2030 we would not only get there, but would do so at a positive impact on our economy as well as our quality of life. When we get there, we will curse those who made us wait so long.
German expansion of renewables may cut energy costs by EUR 54bn by 2030 - study
"According to the study, renewable energy production costs EUR 0.031 less per 1 kWh than energy from fossil fuels. The generation of electricity from nuclear and fossil sources causes environmental damage which then needs high investments to be repaired. Green energy, on the other hand, saves on these additional expenses and keeps lowering its price due to technological innovation."
The benefits of a clean energy economy go beyond the macro economic and environmental issues to a greater appreciation for those who work on the systems and equipment that support our life as well as a different shaping of priorities relative to work. The productivity gains we have made over the past half century, coupled with the economic stability provided by a clean energy future should mean that a high quality, middle-class American lifestyle can be lived on the income of one - to maybe slightly over one - average American worker. This would free our neighborhoods to strengthen social ties again, create a level of income equality that formed the hallmark of our economic strength in the last half of last century, and incentivize entrepreneurship and creativity at a scale not seen since the end of the 19th century.
Building a clean energy economy that works
"The place to start is clean energy. Renewable energy and energy efficiency investments create far more jobs per dollar spent than fossil fuels, including natural gas. If done properly, the clean energy transition will lead to a massive expansion of good jobs, providing one of the biggest opportunities for growth of the labor movement over the next generation. But workers, communities of color, indigenous people, women, and people of emerging nations must both lead and be the primary beneficiaries of this change."
I eagerly await this encyclical. I have wondered when Pope Francis (or Cisco, as I like to call him) would speak out on environmental issues since they have an inextricable link to the poverty and social justice issues that he holds so dear to his heart. I look forward to working with him and the Catholic Church to accelerate action on environmental issues so that we can create a truly just world free from all forms of tyranny and oppression.
El Papa Francisco posa con una camiseta contra el fracking durante la visita de un senador argentino
"'Tuvimos un diálogo extenso y profundo sobre el daño ambiental que se está produciendo en nuestro país y en el mundo. El Papa Francisco me reveló que está trabajando una gran Encíclica sobre el Medio Ambiente', ha revelado el político. El emotivo gesto del Papa da la vuelta al mundo."
Happy Friday!
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