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Who can save us from climate disaster? Well, probably those whom you’d the least suspect to care about climate change.

Even if one in ten Americans turned into a tree-hugger, sold their car, moved downtown and commuted to work on a bicycle, that wouldn’t have any impressive, lasting impact on global emissions of greenhouse gases.

American oil consumption might fall a bit - which would be something positive for the country since less money would be shipped to OPEC and instead kept local - but the resulting downward pressure on oil prices would only encourage the rest of the world, most notably quickly developing nations such as China and India to increase energy productivity at a slower pace and consume even more energy in the short term.

Moreover, the entire transportation sector’s contribution to climate change is lower than that of deforestation as New York Times columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman explained in his article Trucks, Trains and Trees:

Imagine if you took all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships in the world and added up their exhaust every year. The amount of carbon dioxide, or CO2, all those cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships collectively emit into the atmosphere is actually less than the carbon emissions every year that result from the chopping down and clearing of tropical forests in places like Brazil, Indonesia and the Congo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/opinion/11friedman.html

Apparently, there  are no easy ways of fighting climate change. And trying to talk hundreds of millions of Americans, Europeans, Chinese and Indians into driving less, eating less meat and switching to energy-saving lamps won’t help a lot either.

But there are ways of effectively bringing down global emissions without having to preach green. As soon as ordinary people are offered a possibility to save money by heating, cooling, driving more efficiently, a huge market will take shape. Businesses will be making money, jobs will be created, the economy will grow as more money is kept local instead of being shipped abroad to pay for energy bills, and the byproduct will be a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Many people don’t care a lot about their contribution to CO2 emissions. A gas that nobody can see or smell. Neither were many willing to switch to a more expensive energy-efficient hybrid in an attempt to preserve the habitat of polar bears. Nevertheless, people would change their habits if they could clearly see the economic benefits for themselves. Most drivers care more about how much they pay at the pump than about their cars’ CO2 emissions. But gasoline consumption and CO2 emissions go hand-in-hand.

Therefore it is important to support companies developing technologies which can help people make little changes to their everyday lives and thereby save dollars and emissions.

Introducing electric cars to the market in large numbers would be a major step forward as the immediate benefits on the economy and the environment were obvious. With zero tailpipe emissions, electric cars would be greatly appreciated by city dwellers.

It is true that it will take several years until efficient vehicles running on alternatives to gasoline become competitive with conventional cars. A way to accelerate the process would be to force up the prices of fossil fuels through taxes and other disincentives. We’re not paying an honest price for oil since the costs of the economic and environmental consequences of our oil consumption are not included in the price. However, oil prices will inevitably shoot up again and make alternatives competitive as growing demand meets tight supply.

And once the point at which alternativ energy sources and new enery-saving technologies are competitive with existing technologies and energy sources, the market will bring those new technologies  to scale and reduce production costs, eventually reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. Middle-class Chinese and Indians would soon follow and embrace new, more efficient technologies. Struggling to power their thriving economies, any means of reducing energy waste is welcome.

Therefore we need the capitalists to take on the challenge. Their job is to figure out the smartest and consequently most profitable way of doing something. When it comes to the energy challenges of the 21st century, only a market approach can effectively deliver the emissions reductions necessary to avoid the unmanageable consequences of climate change. The politicians’ job is to support companies working towards smart energy solutions by creating an environment that allows businesses - big and small - to invest huge sums in research, production and marketing.

You might also be interested in my post The True Cost of Oil

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 6:59 PM and is filed under Economy, Energy, Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.