Green economics: The other side of the grass
President Barrack Obama in his first speech to the Congress of the United States presented the idea of a green economic solution for some of the troubles facing the United States economy. The potential and the flaws of the idea of green economics have since entered the debate of citizen and politician alike (Goldenberg). Globally, the idea of a green market has begun to attract more attention than ever. The state of the global economic situation is dire. Therefore many world leaders have begun to look towards green economics to aid their struggling country. What are green economics exactly? The United Nations environment programme, defines a green economy as: “Economics which result in improved human well-being and social equality, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.” This type of economics seeks to develop key areas of national economies with a focus on long run stability (Towards a green). This paper will present several aspects of green economics. The aspects covered will include, businesses relationship to green economics, problems with green economics and environmental concerns of a green economy.
A country's economic strength is often measured by how much of the possible workforce it employs. Therefore, jobs are a critical concern in developing national economies. Employed workers contribute to Gross domestic product or GDP, lower unemployment, and pay taxes. Expanding of the green market will certainly create more job opportunities both in the United States and around the world. However, as the green energy market expands other areas of energy may be forced to shrink and cut employment. Whether these two markets will ultimately balanc...
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Even tho the green revolution had stopped starvation in some of the world, it has also caused some. The green revolution was the use of new technology to grow food for the people of the world that started in the 1950’s. These new technology were such things as Gmo’s, pesticides, fertilizers. The main goal was to stop hunger and make second and third world countries better and not living in poverty. The green revolution Raised the amount of food in the world, made the world's population increase in a dangerous rate and harmed and damaged the earth and its people.
The reason because environmental issues were not take in consideration before, in the economic field, was due to the absence of their costs from the calculation of GNI. However, it has to be consider that future growth and in general, quality of life are strongly related to environment. Therefore, environment’s long term implications has to be taken in consideration in the economy.
Labor market behavior can have significant long run effects on potential output. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the size and quality of the labor force, capital stock, and the efficiency of production, determine a country’s potential output. When policies influence relevant factors, such as the size of the labor force, the...
to jobs moving overseas and the flow of wealth in the energy industry, going towards
The globalized nature of today’s society means we cannot afford to put our heads in the sand and live in our own little bubble. For the world’s economy and the world’s trade to succeed and prosper, the whole world must succeed and prosper. By creating jobs and giving them the tools...
With the rapid growth of our global population pouring into the next millennium, we will witness an ever-growing hunger rate around the world. That is unless we call for a revolution on the global scale. The Green Revolution which already sprouted in the early part of the century only need to add a bit more momentum and we will see a bright future for the human race, a future without hunger and starvation ¡V hopefully.It is becoming increasingly difficult for the planet to support its overwhelming population. And since the amount of arable land available is becoming scarce, we must seek ways to dramatically improve crop yields of existing cropland.
... middle of paper ... ... Due to the recent economic struggles in the U.S., it is important that we maintain economic competitiveness with other countries. Instead of importing oil, the U.S. should invest in clean-energy technology innovation, which would boost growth and create jobs.
We say that we are heading toward a more global economy because of the fact that competition in today’s markets is global. This means that corporations in the United States can compete in foreign markets and vice versa, therefore U.S. corporations and foreign corporations become interdependent and thrive off each other. This can have a good impact on the United States because it allows U.S. corporations to seek materials and labor outside of the U.S. in countries such as China, India, and Mexico, where workers are paid a lot less money than U.S. workers, thus allowing them to sell their products for significantly cheaper than if they were produced in the U.S.; however, the tradeoff is that many American workers in the industrial sector lose jobs due to this shift of labor to overseas. In the long run this will be beneficial for the U.S. and although some percentage of workers are losing work, new jobs in the services sector, in fields such as computer technology, telecommunications, and language skills are opening up and experiencing growth because of this change.
The threat of global warming has never before been so real, as is being felt now. With the Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change giving out dire warnings of climate change and pollution in the environment, there has come about a sizeable literature to understand the phenomenon and to cope with it. There has been an increase in concern worldwide as to the deterioration of environmental quality and its impact on human lives. In particular in the field of economics, there have been pertinent questions raised in order to understand the linkage between environmental pressure and economic activity. In what way does environmetal quality affect economic activity? And how does economic development lead to environmental degradation?
(C1) Many agree with Summer on his stance of high-pollution industries in lesser-developed countries. They claim that it is economic logic to fill the countries with low wages with profitable industries. By doing this, it would cause more people to want to live in a less populated area and work for higher wages. A sudden increase in population would also increase the number of the labor force. By doing this, more workers and industries would rapidly affect the growth of the economy.
4 million jobs could be created by 2030 if California increased the use of renewable energy and low carbon energy, such as nuclear energy or natural gas, to be the primary energy source by more than 50% (3). A point to make is that green jobs will not be taken over seas (3). Manufacturing the materials to build solar panels, wind turbines, or other materials for renewable energy sources, might be made in countries with low cost labor, but the main installations and design cannot be done from overseas (3). Additionally, the rate at which fossil-fuel energy jobs, like coal mines, are lost are at a lower rate than the growth rate of green jobs being produced. Green jobs need highly skilled people to maintain these renewable energy resources, so a government program that would train people to install solar panels could increase job opportunities as the rise in solar energy usage increases. A program like this will bring about more jobs needed and also encourage energy
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, over half of the oil used in the USA is imported. Most of this imported oil is located in the middle east and is controlled by OPEC members. Subsequent oil price shocks and price manipulation by OPEC have cost our economy dearly—about $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008—and each major shock was followed by a recession (Reduce). We may never be able to fully eliminate our need to import oil, but we can reduce cartel market control and the economic impact of price shocks by reducing our demand (Reduce). One way we can reduce our reliance on oil is through investing in renewable energy. Solar power, wind power, and hydro power are all forms of energy which come from renewable resources. Unlike oil, solar, wind and hydro electric power is abundant and can be obtained locally.
Economists often talk about letting the economy work through the mechanism of the free market versus government control and regulation. Some believe that if the market is allowed to "do its thing" unprohibited and without government interference, then resources will be allocated efficiently, equilibrium will be found, and so on… However, this is not always possible. Of course, government control is not perfect either. Thus, it would seem that at times the market may be more appropriate than the government; other times the government may be needed because the market is not able to function properly; and other times a combination of the two working in unison may provide the best and most effective and efficient answers.
What is the socially optimum level of production keeping in mind the environment? How should it be achieved? It is at this point that the great economic minds of out time begin to take up arms. Michael Porter, a Professor of Business at the Harvard Business School claims that environmental regulation of businesses will actually give the businesses a competitive advantage over their counterparts in nations with less stringent regulation because it forces them to innovate. Porter claims that by changing their production processes, the businesses will actually lower their production costs (Porter, 97).
middle of paper ... ... g the Energy Revolution." Foreign Affairs. Nov/Dec 2010: 111. SIRS Issues Researcher.