Ode To Capitalism

Research shows that recession is good for the environment, people need real price incentives to consume less energy, and the market does that best! If the government also cut the petroleum subsidies you would see additional favorable effects. Cut the crap; cut subsidies to the failing manufacturing industry.

“While data on the country’s carbon emissions from last year have yet to be released – A 2009 study by the International Energy Agency found that the world’s carbon emissions fell sharply that year.

The United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power, according to energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a government national security laboratory in Livermore, Calif. There also was a decline in natural gas use and increases in use of alternative energy sources, including solar, hydrothermal and geothermal power, the researchers say.

However, the consumption dip doesn’t necessarily reflect a sea change in the way Americans think about and use energy, or a shift to more “green” behavior. Rather, the decrease is due, in part, to the current economic downturn as well as advances in technology.”

Full article on C.S. Monitor: Americans using less energy, thanks to recession, technology.