Externalities
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True Cost Accounting: Understanding the Real Cost of Food
“By considering all of the external expenses factored out of the cost of food, an economic principle called true cost accounting helps consumers understand the real cost of the food they buy.” More
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Should We Put a Price on Nature to Save it?
The first World Forum on Natural Capital was held in Edinburgh, Scotland last November. This comes at a time when there is increasing interest in the idea that we need to place a value on the services that nature provides us with for free if we are to prevent further environmental degradation. The conference attracted […] More
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ExxonMobil Agrees to Report on Carbon Asset Risk and Climate Change
Pressure from activist shareholders is behind what could be considered a landmark agreement from a major energy company, as ExxonMobil is said to have agreed to publish a Carbon Asset Risk report, which will give investors better information on how the company is planning for a lower-carbon future. [repostus]As You Sow Reaps Exxon Mobil Carbon […] More
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The Power to Change the Economy from Within
When we look at how our market economy affects the environment, it appears that all common sense goes out the window. According to the prevailing economic wisdom, it makes perfect sense for us to clear vast swathes of tropical rainforest to make way for oil palm plantations and soya beans, to pursue the last few […] More
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Microsoft’s Carbon Fee Playbook Guides Company Carbon Emissions Accountability
As more companies strive for increased sustainability in their businesses, it’s become important for them to be not only aware of the externalities of their operations, such as the carbon emissions associated with their organization, but to also be accountable for them. And while it may not be feasible for all of the company operations […] More
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Sustainable Development, Water Rights, and Beer: How the Free Market Can Solve Water Conflict
In the dry western United States, water rights are one of the biggest impediments to sustainable economic development, and often the cause of major conflicts between industries, companies and states. In addition, the archaic laws that protect water rights holders make it virtually impossible for streams and rivers to flow as they have for millenia, […] More
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Will Australia Nix Its Carbon Tax?
Last week’s general election victory for Tony Abbott and his liberal party may well spell the end of the carbon tax in Australia. Abbott’s liberals (which are kind of the opposite of liberals in the U.S.) have verbally opposed putting a price on carbon, and with overwhelming financial backing from heavy pollution industries in Australia, […] More
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True Costs in the Agriculture and Food Industry
by Heidi Darling Up until about 1960, the largest contributor of CO2 to the atmosphere wasn’t the burning of fossil fuels. It was plowing agriculture fields, which destroyed the rich dark (carbon) filled soil. Even today, agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than the transportation or industrial sector! 2% of global sea level rise is caused […] More
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Economic dangers of oil reliance
The small town of Lac-Magentic in the Quebec province of Canada is ablaze over a full day after a driverless train carrying 72 tankers of oil derailed and exploded in the downtown area. At least one casualty has been reported, with police and officials indicating that the death toll will likely continue to rise. The […] More
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“Stealthy” Obama Adds Some Cement to His Climate Change Legacy
Most enviros these days have their sights set squarely on Keystone XL (KXL) as the true barometer of the Obama climate change legacy. Given that, just yesterday, the British Columbia government shut down the possibility of piping the extremely dirty Canadian tar sands oil from Alberta to the coast through the BC province, Obama’s decision […] More
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The Economic Argument Against GMOs: a Top Ten List
Ask an economist to give an opinion about any controversial subject in society, and they’ll turn to the data and start digging for answers. While I’ve covered the economics of GMOs in the past, Dr. Vandana Shiva, on a recent visit by the visionary sustainability guru to my home state of Hawaii, opened my eyes to […] More
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Where conservative capitalism breaks down: Three primary sources of free market failure
Many people criticize policies and elected officials based on strong support for what they believe to be free market capitalism. But do these people actually understand capitalism? What they believe to be capitalism: getting the government off the back of the private sector, is not true free market capitalism. Adam Smith, the man many in the […] More
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