Government Intervention is primarily necessary in matters that impact society on a large scale, and with the forthcoming issue of Climate Change, multiple debates and arguments from various people and sources from around the world have stimulated government intervention on a global scale. Market failure has been heavily described as one of the major facets of climate change, providing a strong platform for government intervention as it is necessary to combat the so called ‘Stock flow’ problem associated with Climate Change.
Climate change in the market is known as an extremely large negative externality, and if left to market forces, ignoring the external costs of greenhouse gases will generate an over production and consumption of products
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relevant to the incursion of greenhouse gases, along with the selection of production methods that incur these greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the emissions of Greenhouse Gases will impact future generations rather than those responsible in the current era, meaning that the detrimental effects of greenhouse gases are external to the markets, resulting in an ethical rather than an economical approach for companies and consumers to create a reduction in their emissions. Thus causing the market to fail, by over producing greenhouse gases. When the welfare of society is not maximized by free markets, they are represented as failures and policy and government intervention are required to rectify them. The mammoth task of causing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will ultimately involve changes in decision on both demand and supply sides.
An increase in price on the demand side to expose the external costs of products that produce greenhouse gas emission are needed cause a shift in the choices of consumers. A reduction in sales, in conjunction with a rise in the costs of greenhouse gas production methods will provide newer incentives for manufacturers to assimilate to new production methods. A change that could be greatly developed through government intervention, by offering financial backing (subsidies) to these alternative production …show more content…
methods. Ultimately climate change is seen as a force that cannot be contended with on an individual basis, requiring the need for the government to provide support on a larger scale to help combat the direct adverse economic effects. 2) Climate change results from particular human activities in every country across the world. To what extent can government intervention in any individual country such as Australia be effective in combating it? Ultimately climate change affects all occupants of earth; therefore many private solutions will be ineffective in the long run, paving the way for public solutions.
Government intervention will provide these public solutions in an effective way as the government has the power to affect all inhabitants of their respective country. Australia for example, has implemented policy initiatives and targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, along with promoting their primary focus of spreading information about Climate Change. The Information about climate change (Booklets, pamphlets etc.) are typical (Non-excludable and Non-rivalrous) public goods where the cost of producing the information has to only be incurred once, but the information can be consistently expended at no extra cost. Without government intervention, such information cannot be widely spread and the effectiveness of it will be belittled when compared to a sole individual attempting to spread the propaganda.
Unfortunately, there is a large uncertainty about the economic costs that climate change will incur due to the very long time lapse between cause and effect. As a result, the effectiveness of various projects implemented by the government cannot be correctly determined in the long run, thus hindering anticipations of the government regarding changes in the
market. The economic decisions by governments that deal with climate change will raise primarily two different approaches. To either adapt to each set of climate conditions, or to develop appropriate policies to control the human behavior that contribute to climate change. Both ways will incur a change in the relative prices of different production processes and the products themselves. Ultimately known as ‘Creative Destruction’, there will be a large shift in the markets as new developing ideas and production methods will be supported in order to aid the climate change issue. While these new production methods will be effective and benefit society in the future, in the short term however market failure will be an extremely prominent aspect due to ambiguity of these new production methods in terms of the way they influence markets. 3) What different public policy solutions are available to an individual government such as Australia’s to combat climate change? What are the pros and cons of each? An individual government such as Australia’s will need to bring about change through innovation of production and consumption. Electric vehicles are the future of society. However they will become inconvenient if charging points are scarce, but much more beneficial once a large network of charging stations is established and are readily and easily available to the public. This solution is an example of a positive externality in consumption: as when the network increases in volume, all members of society benefit (Even though they may not have funded the solution). Policy support from the government may be required in order to inspire young inventors to produce useful networks. When regarding innovation, markets are currently failing to offer substantial incentives for the construction and deployment of low carbon technologies. Therefore governments need to subsidize these projects in order to promote positive externalities within society. Unfortunatly though, regulations such as subsidising low carbon producing tehcnologies, ie. Renewable energy sources, will provide signals for decreasing emissions on only a small segment of the possible series of supply and demand change options. Another method used by governments to counteract negative externalities coinciding with Climate Change is by incurring taxes and or permits. There are significant similarities and differences between the taxes placed and the tradable permits given to greenhouse gas emissions. Both offer a cost wedge between the returns of the producer and the prices of consumer products that contain the external costs of greenhouse emissions. The share of this tax handed to the buyer or back to the seller varies on the relative supply and demand elasticities. Since the long run elasticities of supply of the majority of produced products that create harmful emissions are highly elastic, the consumers will ultimately endure the bulk of the economic incidence of the relevant tax or permit. These taxes however, will increase the price of carbon based energy sources, and thus offering incentives for consumers to conserve energy as well as causing a shift in their demand to alternative and more renewable energy sources (which are non-taxed).
“At present, the global system for carbon emissions trading is embodied in the Kyoto Treaty,” said Al Gore, which points out that Global Warming is not a national problem, but global problem. The Kyoto Treaty states that parties involved will reduce greenhouse emissions in their nation (United Nations). These facts introduce the idea of transforming this perilous world into an innocuous one. It supports his claim for having a preferable future for all, where there will be no droughts, devastations, deaths, or poverties due to global warming. His repetition of the word “reduce” engages the audience of having a solution to climate change. Mr. Gore continues with his ideas to reduce Global Warming by saying, “...Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CSS)...will play a significant...role as one of the major blocks of a solution to climate crisis.” This fact is an example of a paradox as before this statement he mentioned that CSS, a method to capture the CO2 burned from the burning coal, is an expensive method which most companies resist from using. His use of paradoxes throughout his speech makes the audience rethink their opinions. These statistics are part of many other logically statements that Mr. Gore used to support his claim. Some of these logical procedures include; electronic cars, reduction of renewable
The book “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” by Ishmael Beah presents a compelling story about navigating through the ravages of a war-torn country and the struggle for survival in a profoundly humane way. Ishmael’s realistic approach to life and survival in a war-torn environment resonates deeply with my way of approaching stressful situations. Ishmael's ability to set practical expectations and make the best out of dire situations mirrors my way of thinking during anxious times. Ishmael’s resilient nature and determination to grow as a person despite his circumstances inspires me to strive for personal growth. I connect to Ishmael Beah, the main protagonist, through his characteristics of a realist approach to life, the setting of
Over the course of recent history, much concern has been raised over the industrial revolution and the potential climate changes that it might be causing. It has been stated by global warming theorist that C02 emissions caused by human technologies are causing the world to warm, which will cause negative climate changes. The Earth may be experiencing a global warming trend and climate change; however, the process of climate change is outside of human control because human activity can barely account for any of the C02 level increases. Attempts to reduce human C02 emissions is needlessly expensive, and will have a negligible role in preventing or slowing any climatic changes such as global warming or an impending ice age. People must be prepared to adapt to the climatic changes that occur, because it is unlikely that human intervention will postpone them or limit the impact of their arrival.
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society is facing today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been slowest” (geocraft). There are no known solutions yet to reverse these effects in the environment, however there are many things people can do to prevent it from increasing. By implementing a carbon tax the government can tax corporations on how much carbon they emit into the atmosphere. With the extra money from the tax, scientist can invest in alternative ways to reduce how much carbon is emitted. Reducing climate change is going to take years and so nothing is going to get fixed anytime soon, but meanwhile we can use that extra money to begin cleaning up the atmosphere. There are many ways to explain climate change, some say its due to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, others say it is the burning of the fossils fuels, some even say it’s the greenhouse gases. All of these sayings mean the exact same thing, no matter how one says it. I believe there are more convenient ways to solve climate change; and if the government would to implement a carbon tax on companies they will then be forced to re-evaluate all the carbon they emit to the environment and red...
It is becoming increasingly certain that climate change will have severe adverse effects on the environment in years to come. Addressing this issue poses a serious challenge for policy makers. How we choose to respond to the threat of global warming is not simply a political issue. It is also an economic issue and an ethical one. Responsible, effective climate change policy requires consideration of a number of complex factors, including weighing the costs of implementing climate change policies against the benefits of more environmentally sustainable practices. Furthermore, this analysis must take place amidst serious gaps in the existing research and technology concerning the developing climatic condition.
That this will be a reason for the producer cost to go up since they will have to add more technology to meet the emission standards put in place. It will also increase and decrease the customer demand if the cost of the price goes up or down or if the value of the dollar keeps changing which can affect everything by making it more expensive to buy products in this industry. This now leads to Deere
Jeff Butcher and Rachel Hill pointed out the impacts of businesses on environments, by stating “The more of a product that is consumed or produced, the more of an externality that results” (Butcher, Jeff, & Hill, Rachel, 2006). Obviously, we can see that one product produced will bring benefit to consumer, sellers, and manufacturers. Meanwhile, one produced and consumed will cause negative externalities for environment. There is one fact we cannot deny that the more social life develops, the more externalities will be produced to the society. Daily living garbage, industrial wastes, carbon dioxide from factories are most outstanding examples to describe negative externalities to environment (Butcher, Jeff, & Hill, Rachel, 2006). In “The tragedy of the Commons”, Hardin showed us causes of negative externalities. He proved that people assume a...
Climate change has become of the world’s major issue today. The earth’s climate is always changing in a very fast and also in different ways. Climate changes affect our lives psychologically, emotional and also physically. Climate change is defined as a long term change in the earth’s climate, especially a change due to the increase in the average atmospheric temperatures. Due to this change in temperature, a lot of changes has occurred in our environment, these changes include rising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice caps, hotter days, colder nights and heat waves. These climate changes plays an important role in shaping our natural ecosystem, our human economics and also the most important, it affects the human race. For
The Earth is currently locked in perpetuating spiral of climate change. While the global climate has unarguably been changing since the dawn of it's manifestation, the once steadied ebb and flow of climate change has become increasingly more unpredictable.The risk of rising sea levels, and drought plaguing the fresh water supply, during the time that flooding and sporadic storm conditions turn once fully inhabited regions into uninhabitable death traps. Climate change catalyzed by human's increased production of carbon dioxide, is more noticeable than ever in our recorded history (United States, 2014 National Climate Assessment). Thankfully however, with the changing weather conditions due to carbon related emissions, the change in public opinion about their personalized influence on climate change is also increasing. Kevin Liptak Jethro Mullen, and Tom Cohen note that In reaction to the most recent governmental report on climate change, even the U.S. government believes that a stronger approach needs to be taken to correct our self-generated cataclysm.
Climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that is being experienced globally in various forms, such as temperature rise. Sea level rise, droughts, floods, hurricanes, landslides, etc. According to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC project, even with immediate implementation of mitigation strategies, global climate change will continue for decades. Climate change is inflicting serious consequences on human wellbeing and will continue to inflict damage in the future. It is estimated that global temperature will rise by 1.8 oC - 4.0 oC by the end of the 21st century (Izaurraade, 2009).
Stern, Nicholas. “The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change,” Report for Her Majesty's
Our society is riddled with countless problems that are causing discussions and debates around the world. One of the most important problems is crucial to focus on and it is climate change or “the greenhouse effect.” The greenhouse effect is a serious problem that is destroying the planet and its atmosphere. Rules and regulations need to be made if want future generations the have a place to call home.
In the modern era, climate change is a variation of weather over a long period of time, and it is the most important and controversial global issue. It is arguable in different positions, especially on science, culture, and politics. These three fields all cause a lot of latent concerns. The science of climate change brings out several harmful phenomenon, such as global warming. With respect to the climate change, the culture of humanity may be changed because the changing climate is the most important key factor of forming today’s human societies. Instead, climate change is now a political issue, which will affect the public attitudes directly. In other words, it means the government tends to review and provide latest information in order to adapt and retard the climate change. Over a long period of time, climate change has been taking place because of human activities that affect the scientific, cultural, and political sides.
The effects of climate changes in Agriculture is a change of temperature, rainfalls and climate extreme, for example, heat waves and drought. In the article, Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, stated that Since 1990, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have increased by about 4 percent. From year to year, emissions can rise and fall due to changes in the economy, the price of fuel, and other factors. In 2015, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions decreased compared to 2014 levels. Industry (21 percent of 2015 greenhouse gas emissions) Greenhouse gas emissions from industry primarily come from burning fossil fuels for energy, as well as greenhouse gas emissions from certain chemical reactions necessary to produce goods from raw
Because these things will affect society, there are important decisions that have to be made in the present as well as in the future to secure people’s lives and lifestyles. The world community is aware of this serious issue and do already prepare for projects to slow down global warming, but they still have to improve. If the world leaders stop worrying about this issue, the future generations could be in danger. The future lifestyles will be affected by the decisions made in the present day. Society has much to improve to save energy and to lower greenhouse gas emissions.