Hybrid cars are bad for the environment? How can that be? Let's say you are an equal opportunist enviornmentalist: that is, you are equally happy to clean up an African lake and thus provide drinking water to a poor village as you are to plant a tree to scrub carbon from the atmosphere. When you buy a hybrid car you pay more to transport yourself around than if you got an efficient conventional car. The money you would save by driving a conventional car can instead be used to clean up the African lake. The free market sets the price of a good based on the labor and resources necessary to produce the good. If one good does the same job as another, but does it cheaper, it frees resources and labor to be used in other endeavors, such as cleaning up the African lake.
Now, there's one objection that can be raised to this analysis. The environmental cost of pollution may not be accurately reflected in the price of gasoline (I happen to think it is). Basically, when you chose to buy a gallon of gasoline you are happy to pay, say, $3.50 for it. However, when you burn the gasoline it smudges your neighbors upholstery. He has to pay $0.05 to clean up his property every time you burn a gallon of gasoline. Since you don't bear the cost of the clean-up, you won't use the true price of the gasoline, $3.55. This is an example of a negative externality. The right way to handle this problem is to, as best you can, predict the price of the pollution and increase the cost of gasoline by that amount through taxation or other means, such as carbon trading. If a specific person or entity bears the cost of pollution they should be compensated directly. Now, I personally am not too worried about global warming, and thus I believe the current price of gasoline fairly accurately reflects the true price of production, transportation, and pollution. Allowing that I can make a strong claim that driving hybrid cars is bad for the environment.
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5 comments:
Interesting idea. Hmmm, but hybrids are so cool looking. Doesn't that count for something?
I'll email you the recipe or you can go to the cooking blog I'm part of (see my complete profile for url).
So you're going to actually post on your blog?
When are you going to get a cat? Cats are not bad for the environment.
I hear that cats are cheaper than hybrid cars.
While your point is good, Kakak, there is one problem- people are not equal opportunity environmentalists. They like to do their little bit for the environment while still keeping themselves comfy. As Mumsy pointed out, Hybrids are cool... people don't mind investing in the earth if they get something cool out of it. But few, though there are many who are generous and charitable to such ideas, are actually willing to simply part with the money and clean an African lake or plant more trees.
Good theory, but not really pragmatic. :o)
I'm glad you are posting! Miss you and hopefully see you soon!
"Hmmm, but hybrids are so cool looking." - Willow
umm no they're not, the prius looks retarded and civics and accords are boring
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