This was written by Vera, one of our student interns. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue.
Anti-environmental policy rhetoric is often presented as an economic issue, with arguments such as job loss and a reduction of market growth as barriers to increased regulation. Although obviously protecting the environment is so essential it outweighs many potential costs, when implementing environmental policy, we must consider what would benefit the economy, especially to gain bipartisan support that is currently lacking. As shown through looking at global trends in environmental policy, incentivizing corporations to work sustainably, innovating new forms of energy and sustainability, and working internationally in attempts to create an economically beneficial green economy; are all good and well-established methods that the United States could adapt to increase environmental standards without harming the economy.
Like the U.S China has a large manufacturing industry, making it a leader in international trade. China was responsible for 26% of the world’s carbon emissions in 2016, a number representative of the country’s large population and expenditure of energy, (Xing, 874). This sets China on a similar path to the U.S in terms of repairing damage done over decades to the environment, and reforming entire industries and workforces, (Caprotti, 200). A big focus of China’s has been reforestation, restoring the nation’s once lush forests and spurring a whole new industry of work. Since the start of the tree planting campaign in 1978, the government has employed millions of people to maintain these man made forests and have offered cash incentives to farmers growing trees after three years, (Xing, 874). Not only does reforestation directly decrease C02 and carbon emissions (not to mention restoring entire ecosystems and habitats), it also has created job growth and opportunities for farmers and the working class.
When it comes to increasing sustainability with efficiency, Israel has focused on innovation and creativity in order to find new methods of agriculture and development. Methods such as desalination (providing more than 80% of what Israelis drink) and the technion system that “separates moisture from the air using a highly concentrated saline solution, and then condenses the vapor under sub-atmospheric pressure conditions”, (Li, 98) , generate water in order to compensate for the vast need in their agriculture industry. One of the many adverse effects of climate change has been a lack of fresh water, which through innovation Israel has managed to succor. Another field in which Israel has excelled in innovation is solar power, in order to hopefully increase the amount of renewable energy to 30% by 2030. The largest solar tower in the world was built in 2016 in Israel’s Negev desert, with over 55,000 mirrors of solar panels, in order to provide energy for over 120,000 Israeli households, (Li, 96). Using solar energy rather than coal or gas has innumerable benefits to the earth, being both sustainable and renewable, as well as releasing no carbon emissions.
It is important to note that whatever the U.S accomplishes in terms of environmental policy, it must be an international effort. “If the countries are very asymmetrical with respect to size, market integration may harm welfare in the large country. Introducing a minimum quality standard also has ambiguous effects on welfare”, (Ciociou, 38). This explains that a country as dominant as the U.S in international trade would not be incentivized to increase environmental regulations if other countries with looser restrictions were able to fill that demand with their own supply. Given the global power that the U.S holds, it should also be our responsibility to encourage other countries to uphold similar environmental regulations. “If the home country imposes the optimal tariff on the pollution-intensive imports, any deviation from the first best environmental policy by the foreign country would make the home country better off”, (Pearse, 583). In our own international trade deals, we can incentivize other countries to seek less pollutive manners of manufacturing goods through tariffs and subsidies.
The United States can borrow from an extensive list of countries who have spent decades formulating environmental policy strategies (namely China and Israel), in order to lessen their own carbon footprint and work collaboratively among nations. Through looking at a variety of examples of environmental regulations, the U.S could best adapt these by incentivising corporations to work sustainably, which must be done with international collaboration in order to decrease global market competition. Climate change is one of the most time sensitive and demanding issues we are facing today, and although surely it will come with many challenges and inconveniences, there is no way of getting around the drastic need to decrease carbon emissions and waste. We must actively work to campaign for our government to prioritize the environment, and adapt policies and methods such as those mentioned in order to do so.
