Thursday, September 8, 2011
Collective action requires incentives
Gernot Wagner (an economist at Environmental Defense Fund) has a thought-provoking piece in yesterday's New York Times. He hits on a lot of issues that we've been discussing in class or will discuss later in the semester. Notably topics are the need for incentives to curtail externalities and the notion that it's easy to make marginal movements toward being "green" when you're rich.
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The article references an external cost of $20 per ton of C02. That's a figure derived by the federal gov't. I'll try to track it down. Here is a link to an article at Scientific American suggesting that $20 is a gross underestimate:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=economists-find-flaws-federal-estimate-climate-damage#comments
I feel like the author of the article is a little too pessimistic about individual action. I agree that collective action is needed to achieve complex problems like environmental and natural resource issues, but I don't think you shouldn't try as an individual to live a more sustainable life.
I agree with Tom that the article is a little too pessimistic about individual actions however it is clear that the current system is broken. I drive 7 miles to Wrightsville Beach to drop off my recycling in a car that gets 15 miles to the gallon if I am lucky. Is the trip worth it and are there net gains? It would be an interesting and simple analysis. The author is correct in saying that we need to have the proper incentives in place to have a truly "free market"
I agree the author of this article does sound pessimistic but also tells us at the end to not stop trying to make a small impact. People need incentives which is sad to think knowing about all the external damage to the environment.
I also agree with the previous posts to a certain extent. This article goes against everything I have ever heard about how "YOU can make a difference". It is true that not one individual person will be able to make an impact on global warming or pollution but if everyone believes that, they won't make a difference then I feel like people might not care as much about going green. If everyone stops caring about going green then that can't be very good for the environment either. Of course collective action would be the thing that really makes a difference and we should work towards that and increasing incentives, however, we should not completely disregard the actions we can take as individuals.
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