Eco-capitalism, also known as environmental capitalism or (sometimes) green capitalism, is the view that
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
exists in nature as "
natural capital
Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...
" (
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s that have
ecological yield
Ecological yield is the harvestable population growth of an ecosystem. It is most commonly measured in forestry: sustainable forestry is defined as that which does not harvest more wood in a year than has grown in that year, within a given patch o ...
) on which all
wealth
Wealth is the abundance of Value (economics), valuable financial assets or property, physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for financial transaction, transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the ...
depends. Therefore, governments should use
market-based
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers are ...
policy-instruments (such as a
carbon tax
A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...
) to resolve
environmental problem
Environmental issues are Human impact on the environment, effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, Climate change, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the prac ...
s.
The term "Blue Greens" is often applied to those who espouse eco-capitalism. Eco-capitalism can be thought of as the right-wing equivalent to
Red Greens.
Basic assumptions of capitalism - like continued
economic growth
Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...
- are not put to a test in the
bright green environmentalism
Bright green environmentalism is an ideology based on the belief that the convergence of technological change and social innovation provides the most successful path to sustainable development.
Origin and evolution of bright green thinking
The te ...
proponents' discourse. This, and the
commodification of nature The commodification of nature is an area of research within critical environmental studies that is concerned with the ways in which natural entities and processes are made exchangeable through the market, and the implications thereof.
Drawing upon ...
as a central element, has led to various criticisms of the idea.
History
The roots of eco-capitalism can be traced back to the late 1960s. The "
Tragedy of the Commons
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
", an essay published in 1968 in ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
'' by
Garrett Hardin
Garrett James Hardin (April 21, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American ecologist. He focused his career on the issue of human overpopulation, and is best known for his exposition of the tragedy of the commons in a 1968 paper of the same ti ...
, claimed the inevitability of
malthusian catastrophe
Malthusianism is the idea that population growth is potentially exponential while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering a population die off. This event, c ...
due to liberal or democratic government's policies to leave family size matters to the family, and enabling the welfare state to willingly care for potential
human overpopulation
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
. Hardin argued that if families were given freedom of choice in the matter, but were removed from a welfare state, parents choosing to overbear would not have the resources to provide for their "litter", thus solving the problem of overpopulation. This represents an early argument made from an eco-capitalist standpoint: overpopulation would technically be solved by a
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
.
John Baden
John A. Baden is founder and chairman of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) based in Bozeman, Montana. In addition to FREE. he cofounded the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), the Environmental Manag ...
, a collaborator with Garrett Hardin on other works including ''Managing the Commons,'' founded the Political Economy Research Center (now called the
Property and Environment Research Center
The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), previously known as the Political Economy Research Center, is a free market environmental think tank based in Bozeman, Montana, United States. Established in 1980, PERC is dedicated to origina ...
) in 1982. As one of the first eco-capitalist organizations created, PERC's ongoing mission is "improving environmental quality through property rights and markets". The most popular eco-capitalist idea was
emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...
, or more commonly, cap and trade. Emissions trading, a market-based approach that allows polluting entities to purchase or be allocated permits, began being researched in the late 1960s. International emissions trading was significantly popularized in the 1990s when the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
adopted the
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...
in 1997.
Eco-capitalist theorists
*
Terry L. Anderson
Terry Lee Anderson is an academic and author primarily focused on the intersection of economic and environmental issues in America. Anderson's works argue that market approaches can be both economically sound and environmentally sensitive. Influe ...
is a graduate of the University of Montana, and received his Ph.D. from Washington University. Anderson is currently serving as the co-chair of the Hoover Institution's Property Rights, Freedom and Prosperity task force. Anderson advocates that free markets can be both economically beneficial and environmentally protective. Anderson specializes in how markets impact Native American communities and their economies. Anderson is also one of the authors of ''Free Market Environmentalism,'' a book that explores how free market ideas could be used to solve environmental issues, based on Anderson's conclusion on a few case studies.
*
Bruce Yandle
Bruce Yandle (born August 12, 1933) is Dean Emeritus of Clemson University's College of Business and Behavioral Science and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus at Clemson. He is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Economics at the ...
, a graduate of Mercer University, attended Georgia State University where he earned an MBA and PhD. Yandle is currently serving as dean emeritus of Clemson University's college of business. Yandle is prominent in the field of eco-capitalism for his story of the "Bootlegger and the Baptist". Yandle's theory of the Bootlegger and the Baptist posits that ethical groups, religious institutions and business captains can align their organizations in the interest of regulation and
economic growth
Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...
.
*
Paul Hawken
Paul Gerard Hawken (born February 8, 1946) is an American environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, economist, and activist.
Biography
Hawken was born in San Mateo, California, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where his father worked at ...
is the architect of the United States first
natural foods
Natural food and all-natural food are terms in food labeling and marketing with several definitions, often implying foods that are not manufactured by processing. In some countries like the United Kingdom, the term "natural" is defined and regu ...
company, Erewhon Trading Company, where all products were organically composed. Hawken's continued by founding the research organization, Natural Capital Institute, and developed
Wiser Earth, a program focused on providing a platform for all to communicate about the environment. Not only has Hawken set an example for how to transform economy into eco-capitalism, but also has authored hundreds of publications, including four best selling books.
In his writings, Hawken stresses that many smart ecological options are out there for businesses that will help save the environment, while also continuing to bring
economic profit
In economics, profit is the difference between the revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and the total cost of its inputs. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs.
It i ...
. One idea discussed in his book, ''Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution'', is the possibility of developing lightweight, electricity-powered cars as an alternative to our current transportation issue. Hawken attributes the hesitancy of adopting these options to lack of knowledge of these alternatives and high initial costs. Hawken is now the head of OneSun, Inc., an energy corporation concentrated on low-cost solar.
*
Lester Brown
Lester Russel Brown (born March 28, 1934) is an American environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and former president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC ...
began his career as a tomato farmer in New Jersey, until earning his degree at Rutgers University and traveling to a rural India for a six-month study of the country's food and population crisis. From this point on, Brown's focus was mostly on finding alternatives that would solve the world's population and resources problem. With financial support from
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is a philanthropic foundation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was founded in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the five third-generation Rockefeller brothe ...
, Brown created the
Worldwatch Institute
The Worldwatch Institute was a globally focused environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C., founded by Lester R. Brown. Worldwatch was named as one of the top ten sustainable development research organizations by Globescan Surv ...
, the first dedicated to researching global environmental problems. In 2001, Brown found the
Earth Policy Institute
Earth Policy Institute was an independent non-profit environmental organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was founded by Lester R. Brown in 2001 and functioned as an environmental think tank, providing research and analy ...
, an organization that outlined a vision for creating an environmentally sustainable economy. Over the course of his career, Lester Brown has authored over 50 books and received 25 honorary degrees.
In his publications, Brown discusses how the key to an eco-friendly economy is an honest market and replacing harmful aspects of the environment, like fossil fuels with renewable energy. In June 2015, Brown retired from Earth Policy and closed the institute.
Transition to eco-capitalism
The ideology of eco-capitalism was adopted to satisfy two competing needs:
#the desire for generating profit by businesses in a capitalist society and
#the urgency for proper actions to address a struggling environment negatively impacted by human activity.
Under the doctrine of eco-capitalism, businesses commodify the act of addressing environmental issues.
The following are common principles in the transition to eco-capitalism.
Externalities: Correcting of a free market failure
A central part of eco-capitalism is to correct for the
market failure
In neoclassical economics, market failure is a situation in which the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not Pareto efficient, often leading to a net loss of economic value. Market failures can be viewed as scenarios where indiv ...
seen in the externalization of
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
. By treating the issue of pollution as an
externality
In economics, an externality or external cost is an indirect cost or benefit to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced goods involved in either co ...
it has allowed the market to minimize the degree of accountability. To correct for this market failure eco-capitalism would have to internalize this cost. A prime example of this shift towards internalizing externalities is seen in the adoption of a system for
carbon trading
Emission trading (ETS) for carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG) is a form of carbon pricing; also known as cap and trade (CAT) or carbon pricing. It is an approach to limit climate change by creating a market with limited ...
. In a system like this people are forced to factor the pollution cost into their expenses.
This system as well as other systems of internalization function on large and small scales (oftentimes both are tightly connected). On a corporate scale, the government can regulate
carbon emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...
and other polluting factors in business practices forcing companies to either reduce their pollution levels, externalize these costs onto their consumers by raising the cost of their goods/services, and/or a combination of the two. These kinds of systems can also be effective in indirectly creating a more environmentally conscious consumer base. As the companies who are creating the most pollution face falling profit levels and rising prices their consumers and investors are inclined to take their business elsewhere. This migration of investment and revenue would then be expected to make its way to business who have already incorporated the minimization of pollution into their business model thus allowing them to provide lower prices and higher profit margins attracting the migrating consumers and investors.
Green consumption
At the conception of the ideology, major theorists of eco-capitalism, Paul Hawken, Lester Brown, and Francis Cairncross, saw an opportunity to establish a different approach to environmentalism in a capitalist society.
These theorists thought that not only producers but also consumers could shoulder the social responsibility of environmental restoration if "green technology, green taxes, green labeling, and eco-conscious shopping" existed.
The resulting "shopping our way to sustainability" mentality encouraged the development of organic farming, renewable energy, green certifications as well as other eco-friendly practices.
A 2015 report from Nielsen lends credence to this theory. According to the report, consumers have more brand loyalty and are willing to pay higher prices for a product that is perceived as being sustainable. This is especially true among Millennials and Generation Z. These generations currently make up 48% of the global marketplace and still have not hit their peak spending levels. As these generations' preferences continue to shape how businesses operate and market themselves, they could drive a continued shift toward green consumption.
According to the Annual Review of Environmental Resources, "the focus of policy makers, businesses, and researchers has mostly been on the latter (consuming differently), with relatively little attention paid to consuming less". A review of how to encourage sustainable consumption from the University of Surrey shows that, "Government policies send important signals to consumers about institutional goals and national priorities."
Governments can pull a variety of levers to signal this including product, trading, building, media, and marketing standards.
Carbon trading
Creating perhaps the first major eco-capitalist endorsement, many political and economic institutions support a system of pollution credits. Such a system, which assigns property rights to emissions, is considered to be the most "efficient and effective" way for regulating
greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
in the current
neoliberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
global economy. Especially in the case of tradable pollution credits, the resulting market-based system of emissions regulation is believed to motivate businesses to invest in technology that reduce greenhouse gas emissions using
positive reinforcement
In behavioral psychology, reinforcement is a consequence applied that will strengthen an organism's future behavior whenever that behavior is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus. This strengthening effect may be measured as a higher freq ...
(i.e. ability to trade unused credits) and
punishment
Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...
(i.e. the need to buy more credits).
Full cost accounting
Environmental full-cost accounting Environmental full-cost accounting (EFCA) is a method of cost accounting that traces direct costs and allocates indirect costs by collecting and presenting information about the possible environmental, social and economical costs and benefits or ad ...
explains corporate actions on the basis of the triple bottom line, which is best summarized as "people, planet, and profit". As a concept of corporate social responsibility, full cost accounting not only considers social and economic costs and benefits but also the environmental implications of specific corporate actions.
While there has been progress in measuring the cost of harm to the health of individuals and the environment, the interaction of environmental, social, and health effects makes measurement difficult. Measurement attempts can be broadly categorized as either behavioral in nature, like
hedonic pricing
In economics, hedonic regression, also sometimes called hedonic demand theory, is a revealed preference method for estimating demand or value. It decomposes the item being researched into its constituent characteristics, and obtains estimates of t ...
, or dose-response which looks at indirect effects. A standardized measurement of these costs has yet to emerge. This should not be confused with the full-cost method used by organizations searching for oil and gas that "does not differentiate between operating expenses associated with successful and unsuccessful exploration projects".
Genuine progress indicator
The current standard of using the
gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
(GDP) as an indicator of welfare is criticized for being inaccurate. An alternative to GDP, the
genuine progress indicator compensates for the shortcomings of the GDP as a welfare indicator by accounting for environmental harms as well as other factors that affect consumption, such as crime and
income inequality
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...
.
Criticisms
A fundamental criticism of the eco-capitalist idea rests on the idea that the
commodification of nature The commodification of nature is an area of research within critical environmental studies that is concerned with the ways in which natural entities and processes are made exchangeable through the market, and the implications thereof.
Drawing upon ...
and
environmental services
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. Th ...
plus the principles of
growth economics
Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...
and
sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
cannot (easily) coexist.
A majority of the criticisms from traditionally unregulated capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
is due to eco-capitalism's increased regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
. Pollution credits (as a means for regulating greenhouse gas emissions) is traditionally at odds with economically conservative ideologies. Elements of unregulated capitalism
Economic liberalism is a List of political ideologies, political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial wr ...
prefer environmental issues to be addressed by individuals who may allocate their own income and wealth, oppose the commodification
Within a capitalist economic system, commodification is the transformation of things such as goods, services, ideas, nature, personal information, people or animals into objects of trade or commodities.For animals"United Nations Commodity Trad ...
of by-products like carbon emissions, and emphasize positive incentives to maintain resources through free-market competition and entrepreneurship.
Proponents of eco-capitalism view environmental reform like pollution credits as a more transformative and progressive system. According to these proponents, since free market capitalism as inherently expansionist in tendency, ignoring environmental responsibility is a danger to the environment. Approximately 36% of Americans are deeply concerned about climate issues. Proponents of eco-capitalism typically favor political environmentalism
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...
, which emphasizes negative incentives like regulation and taxes to encourage the conservation of resources and prevent environmental harm.
Political theorist Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a ...
cites theories of common sense
''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political argu ...
, which suggests that, in general, free market capitalism absent of environmental reform, is ingrained in the minds of its members as the only viable and successful form of economic organization through cultural hegemony
In Marxist philosophy, cultural hegemony is the dominance of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class who manipulate the culture of that society—the beliefs and explanations, perceptions, values, and mores—so that the worldview of t ...
. Therefore, the proposal of any alternate economic system, like eco-capitalism, must overcome the predominant common sense and economic status quo in order to develop opposing theories. Nonetheless, movements in the United States and abroad have continued to push for reforms to protect the environment in current capitalistic systems.
Another political theorist, Daniel Tanuro, explains in his book, ''Green Capitalism: Why it Can't Work'', that for green capitalism to be successful, it would have to replace current mainstream capitalism with eco-socialist methods, while defying corporate interests:If by "green capitalism" we understand a system in which the qualitative, social and ecological parameters are taken in account by the numerous competing capitals, that is to say even within economic activity as an endogenous mechanism, then we are completely deluded. In fact, we would be talking about a form of capitalism in which the law of value was no longer in operation, which is a contradiction in terms
However, Tanuro adds that social and economical change to the current capitalist systems is necessary, because technology will invariably increase emissions as manufacturing processes and distribution systems progress. Tanuro argues for changes in three areas:
# Use of transportation methods
# Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and dietary changes
# Overall consumer
A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...
lifestyle and market spending
Despite this argument, critics still claim that green consumption, sustainable behavior on the part of the consumer, is not enough to be instituted as a socio-environmental solution. In accordance with hegemony
Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over oth ...
, capitalism agrees that the government has little control over market and buyers, sellers, and consumers ultimately drive the market. In contrast, in green capitalism, the government would have more control therefore; consumers do not have direct power over the market, and should not be held accountable.
Environmental scholar Bill McKibben
William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...
proposes "full scale climate mobilization" to address environmental decay. During World War II, vehicle manufacturers and general goods manufacturers shifted to producing weapons, military vehicles and war time goods. McKibben argues that, to combat environmental change, the American Military Industrial Complex
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
and other national arms producers could shift to producing solar panel
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
s, wind turbines and other environmental products in an eco-capitalist system.
Appeal of renewable energy in the capitalist market
Tom Randall, a correspondent specializing in renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
for Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
, calls to attention that wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
and solar energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...
are "outperforming" fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
s. In terms of investments, clean energy outperforms both gas and coal by a 2-1 margin. This positive margin may be attributed to the consistently falling price of renewable energy production. Renewable energy source
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...
s hold assertive advantages over fossil fuels because they exist as technologies, not fuels. As time proceeds, renewable energy becomes inevitably more efficient as technology adapts. Technologies for extracting fuels may change, but the fuels remain as constants. Both the solar and wind industries have proven growth over time: Over the last 15 years, the solar industry has doubled seven times and the wind industry has doubled four times. In contrast, the fossil fuel industry has declined over the last 15 years. America's coal industry has lost 75 percent of its value within the past few years.
Renewable energy sources also gain advantages over the fossil fuel industry through international governmental support. Globally, governments implement subsidies to boost the renewable energy industry
The renewable-energy industry is the part of the energy industry focusing on new and appropriate renewable energy technologies. Investors worldwide have paid greater attention to this emerging industry in recent years. In many cases, this has tra ...
. Concurrently, various global efforts fight against fossil fuel production and use. The demand for renewable energy sources has skyrocketed in the last 15 years, while fossil fuels have drastically fallen in demand (in capitalist societies).
The worldwide concern of climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
(also known as global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
) is notably the largest contributor to the green energy
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenho ...
industry's rapid acceleration, just as it is largely responsible for the decline of the fossil fuel industry
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...
. The overwhelming scientific consensus of climate change's reality and its potential catastrophic effects have caused a large part of the world's population to respond with panic and immediate action. While the world's response has been strong, environmentalists and climate scientists do not believe the response has been strong enough to counter climate change's effects, and that the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is moving far too slowly.
The global efforts and concerns of both governments and individuals to take action regarding implementing and transforming a society's energy sources from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources show the enormous potential of the green energy market. This potential is seen in the countless renewable energy projects under way. Currently, there are over 4,000 major solar projects being implemented. These, and all renewable energy projects, set goals of long-term economic benefit.
The Global Apollo Programme The Global Apollo Programme was a historic call for a major global science and economics research programme to make carbon-free baseload electricity less costly than electricity from coal by the year 2025.
Inspiration and aims
Launched in June ...
, set up by both economists and scientists, has a goal of creating a solar capability that can stand as a cheaper alternative to coal-fueled power plants by 2025. In capitalist markets, solar energy has the very real potential of becoming a direct competitor to coal plants in less than a decade.
Barriers to transition
One of the most daunting barriers to the transition to an eco-capitalist system is the systemic barrier that can be created by former models. Dimitri Zenghelis explores the idea of path dependence
Path dependence is a concept in economics and the social sciences, referring to processes where past events or decisions constrain later events or decisions. It can be used to refer to outcomes at a single point in time or to long-run equilibria ...
and the how continuing to build infrastructure without foresight seriously impedes the implementation and benefits of future innovations.[ Zenghelis uses the term "locked-in" to describe situations where the full implementation of a new innovation cannot be seen because an earlier infrastructure prevents it from functioning well. This barrier is exemplified in older cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York where the infrastructure was designed around ]urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
to accommodate private vehicles. The sprawl has been researched with the results returning that the moving forward mega-cities
A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban ...
need to be constructed as eco-cities An eco-city or ecocity is "a human settlement modeled on the self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems", as defined bEcocity Builders(a non-profit organization started by Richard Register who first coined the term). Simp ...
if the hope of curving emission levels down is going to have any hope.
See also
References
Further reading
* Chapple, Stephen (2001) ''Confessions of an Eco-Redneck: Or how I Learned to Gut-Shoot Trout and Save the Wilderness at the Same Time''. Perseus Publishing.
* Comolet, A. (1991) "Le Renouveau ecologique. De l'eco-utopie a l'eco-capitalisme" he Ecological Renewal. From Eco-Utopia to Eco-Capitalism Futuribles, 157(Sept.), 41–54.
* Corporate Watch
Corporate Watch (The Corporate Watch Co-Operative Ltd.) is a research group based in the UK. It describes itself as a "research group that helps people stand up against corporations and capitalism." And as a "not-for-profit co-operative providing c ...
(2016).
An A-Z of Green Capitalism
. Corporate Watch, London.
* d'Humières, Patrick (2010) ''Le développement durable va-t-il tuer le capitalisme?'' Editions Maxima
* Lovins, Amory B & Hunter Lovins
L. Hunter Lovins (née Sheldon, born February 26, 1950 in Middlebury, Vermont) is an American environmentalist, author, sustainable development proponent, co-founder of Rocky Mountain Institute, and president of the nonprofit organization Natural ...
(1997) ''Factor Four. Doubling Wealth - Halving Resource Use'', with Ernst von Weizacker. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London
* Pons Rullan, Bartolome (2015) ''Ecoliberalismo. ¡Hay alternativas al Capitalismo!'' Ed. Verbum
* Sarkar, Saral (1999) ''Eco-Socialism Or Eco-Capitalism? A Critical Analysis of Humanity's Fundamental Choices''
* Porritt, Jonathon (2005, revised 2007) ''Capitalism: As if the World Matters''. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London.
{{Green politics
Green politics
Economic ideologies
Capitalism
Environmental economics
Ideologies of capitalism
Political ecology