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http://thehill.com/regulation/energ...ers-in-letter-to-trump-climate-change-is-real
Turns out most companies in the world are not evil they are simply in competition. But so long as one company in the competition does something bad which gives them a competitive advantage over the rest all the other companies in that competition have little or no choice, but to do it themselves. In fact, even if all the companies are run by good people the pure and simple threat that another company could do something underhanded to best them makes it virtually impossible for them to not do it themselves.
Car companies do not want to unnecessarily pollute our environment. They know climate change is real, they know humans are causing it, and they know that their cars burning fossil fuels are one of the single biggest contributors to the problem. So why don't they just stop making these cars? Why can't the invisible hand of the free market solve this problem?
Well, it turns out that while car companies don't want to contribute to pollution, and even though car owners don't want to either they are being forced to make a bad choice. Each individual who buys a car has a budget, and while they might like to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle they can't afford one because they're more expensive than gas burning vehicles. At the very least they can't afford one that has all the other features they desire like the size and safety. Each customer who goes to buy a car realizes that they alone making a sacrifice to help the planet won't matter in the grand scheme of things so they choose the car that is the cheapest, biggest, safest, and best looking and right now all of the cars that meet those criteria run on gas.
What this means for car companies is that they have little or no choice, but to continue making cars that burn a lot of gas in order to make a profit until such a time as their electric and hybrid cars can be made as cheap, big, safe, and nice looking as their gas-burning counterparts. Not only that, but because their more fuel efficient cars don't sell at a high rate and require all kinds of spending on new research and development they have no choice, but to continue selling them at significantly higher prices until there is a breakthrough.
So what would get us headed toward that breakthrough faster? Regulation demanding that they put the money towards research. As it turns out research costs money, and that hurts their bottom line as well. So in order to stay competitive and produce profits for their shareholders, they can't spend any more on it than they absolutely have to. Without regulation, however, they can't spend more money on that research because if their competition doesn't spend it as well they're putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
Gas burning cars are like concussions and helmet to helmet hits in the NFL. The players know they are dangerous, and the teams know they are dangerous but asking them nicely to stop those hits, or to bench star players with concussions still won't happen. So long as keeping star players in the game, and leading with your helmet gives you a competitive advantage the teams have little or no choice, but to do it so long as they know their opponents can do it. Third party regulation from someone who is not a part of the competition is the only realistic way to solve that problem. The free market can try to make a better helmet, but ultimately that may never happen.
Turns out most companies in the world are not evil they are simply in competition. But so long as one company in the competition does something bad which gives them a competitive advantage over the rest all the other companies in that competition have little or no choice, but to do it themselves. In fact, even if all the companies are run by good people the pure and simple threat that another company could do something underhanded to best them makes it virtually impossible for them to not do it themselves.
Car companies do not want to unnecessarily pollute our environment. They know climate change is real, they know humans are causing it, and they know that their cars burning fossil fuels are one of the single biggest contributors to the problem. So why don't they just stop making these cars? Why can't the invisible hand of the free market solve this problem?
Well, it turns out that while car companies don't want to contribute to pollution, and even though car owners don't want to either they are being forced to make a bad choice. Each individual who buys a car has a budget, and while they might like to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle they can't afford one because they're more expensive than gas burning vehicles. At the very least they can't afford one that has all the other features they desire like the size and safety. Each customer who goes to buy a car realizes that they alone making a sacrifice to help the planet won't matter in the grand scheme of things so they choose the car that is the cheapest, biggest, safest, and best looking and right now all of the cars that meet those criteria run on gas.
What this means for car companies is that they have little or no choice, but to continue making cars that burn a lot of gas in order to make a profit until such a time as their electric and hybrid cars can be made as cheap, big, safe, and nice looking as their gas-burning counterparts. Not only that, but because their more fuel efficient cars don't sell at a high rate and require all kinds of spending on new research and development they have no choice, but to continue selling them at significantly higher prices until there is a breakthrough.
So what would get us headed toward that breakthrough faster? Regulation demanding that they put the money towards research. As it turns out research costs money, and that hurts their bottom line as well. So in order to stay competitive and produce profits for their shareholders, they can't spend any more on it than they absolutely have to. Without regulation, however, they can't spend more money on that research because if their competition doesn't spend it as well they're putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
Gas burning cars are like concussions and helmet to helmet hits in the NFL. The players know they are dangerous, and the teams know they are dangerous but asking them nicely to stop those hits, or to bench star players with concussions still won't happen. So long as keeping star players in the game, and leading with your helmet gives you a competitive advantage the teams have little or no choice, but to do it so long as they know their opponents can do it. Third party regulation from someone who is not a part of the competition is the only realistic way to solve that problem. The free market can try to make a better helmet, but ultimately that may never happen.