by Elijah Lutz, Opinion Editor
I need to start by saying that climate change is real, humans have had a hand in it and it is a threat to life on Earth. This leaves a major question to be answered: how do we address climate change? The left has sought to cling to government intervention, saying that only with strong regulations will people and businesses change their practices to be eco-friendlier. Let’s face it, though; that isn’t the way to make progress, especially not in the United States.
Politically, I am more of a classical liberal: I believe in personal rights and freedoms of ALL people, I believe in market systems with very limited government intervention and I believe that the government should not get any bigger. So when it comes to addressing climate change, when those on the left begin calling for heavier regulations and stricter laws to address the threat of emissions, I find myself isolated among my own brethren. On one hand, I think that these laws have some merit, and their intentions are good. On the other hand, though, I don’t see any good coming from more regulations beyond economic harm and increasing the opposition against the climate change efforts.
Like Jim Manzi and Pete Wehner write in National Affairs, I believe that more progress will come in reducing emissions through technological innovation rather than government regulation. As Manzi and Wehner point out, technological advances that have had little influence from the federal government have led to an overall increase in the United States’ energy output and overall decrease in emissions. More green technology and eco-friendly methods of obtaining natural gas have led to the decreasing popularity of coal plants. While natural gas still releases emissions, it is far less—almost half the CO2—than the emissions released from coal, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
So if we have been able to come that far through market-based innovation, what is preventing us from doing even more? Take a look at Elon Musk and Tesla: Musk has created a full fleet of automobiles that are completely electric, affordable and technologically advanced. More importantly, Tesla has accomplished these advances as a private company seeking to be competitive in the automobile market. Other automobile companies have also taken to creating models that are either eco-friendly, hybrid or completely electric. I’m not an economics expert, but that leads me to assume that eco-friendly cars are now a competitive desire for consumers.
The United States has been a bastion for economic competition for decades, and it is that economic competition that has enriched the technological progress that we reap today. In a society that has created the Tesla, the iPhone, virtual reality headsets and more innovations every single day, I flat out refuse to believe that we are not capable of addressing climate change through market competition. All that is needed is a little incentive, which is where the government comes into play.
I firmly believe that we can create a fully eco-friendly society if the government were to subsidize businesses that seek to compete with eco-friendly technology; we can ensure progress will be made. Looking at Tesla again, the government gives Tesla subsidies for their work to the tune of nearly $4.9 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times, and I would be willing to argue that much of their progress would not have been made without it. But that requires a Republican government willing to embrace climate change as an issue, or a Democratic government willing to let the businesses work primarily on the issues; neither of these seems viable at the current time.
Again, climate change is an issue, but it is something we can address with little government intervention. While I concede that some regulations and oversight are necessary, it is certainly well within our capabilities to encourage a market-based push toward green technology. In the end, though, the real factor that is needed is us, the consumers. We need to increase a demand for products that minimize the harm done to our planet, and with that increase in demand, companies will feel the push toward progress. It can be done, and judging by our history and our ability, it will be done.
