Economics and Incentives
Introduction
Over the years, the government has been evaluating ways to respond to the Worlds Environmental problems. It has been looking for ways to balance environmental protection with competing values such as economic goals, individual rights, and social goals. The leading cause environmental problems have been science and technology, economics and incentive structures and values, and ethics.
Economics and Incentives
As much as science and technology and values and ethics are considered among the causes of environmental problems, i believe the leading cause of the environmental problems we are currently facing is because of the inappropriate imbalance of incentive. We exploit common resources together, such as public land, atmosphere, and surface waters, and economically gain from these practices without any consequences or economic loss. As a result, we do not care about the effect those practices may bring to the environment; thereby, we fail to create new ways of exploitation that are more friendly to the environment. It has led to the exploitation of those common resources to the point of depletion. For example, the fish in the sea no one owns them; thus, people tend to overexploit them to the point of capturing immature fish because no one has any incentive to manage or conserve the population leading to a shortage of fish in the sea.
It is also noted that individuals prefer private transport as compared to public transportation when going to work. It has increased the number of cars on the roads, causing congestion, which has resulted in noise pollution and air pollution from the emissions of carbon monoxide from the cars. The car owners have not considered solutions to environmental problems such as using public transport because it does not affect their day to day activities. Another concern is when evaluating the economic performance such as Gross National Product; it tends to exclude in consideration the value of environmental damage caused, such as floods or loss of forests.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, as much as the economy of a country is essential, the government and citizens should be responsible in ways in which the shared resources will be exploited without causing environmental problems. The government should adopt policies to encourage responsible exploitation of resources such is increasing the cost of fuel to encourage public use of transport, which reduces congestion, noise, and air pollution. Moreover, the tax credit should be given for the use of energy-efficient appliances and fuel-efficient vehicles to reduce the use of fossil fuels.