On the World
Observation / Sustainability with Socialism
NEVATHIR
July 21, 2018
There is no doubt that sustainable development is a urgent policy and research topic for future human survival. How to achieve it is, surprisingly, a very sensitive subject, not the least due to public confusion and distaste for nuclear power. Carbon tax, cap and trade, subsidy, etc. provided modest defense against rising GHG accumulation, but extreme weather and climate, together with the fate of human society, proved a formidable challenge beyond current policy measures.
For corporations, even though the cost of clean energy is reasonably affordable, it's still far above the marginal cost of current everyday power supply. Business as usual maximizes profits. Regulatory and monetary aid encouraged news coverage of success stories, but failed to generate widespread enthusiasm for clean energy adoption.
For households, budget constraints remain a significant barrier for transition to GHG-neutral lifestyle.
The status quo makes the case for sustainable development with socialism considerably stronger as government purchase for clean energy solutions may replace and rebuild entire electricity infrastructure very quickly. Structural and frictional unemployment as well as inflation can be managed with reasonable macroeconomic policy. Contrary to popular disapprobation, sustainable development with socialism is both cost-effective and largely business-friendly.
While conventional ineffective policies enjoyed political and societal success, even among elites, alternatives for a chance to save the planet faced marginalization with little funding for research and enactment. The failure of tyrannical statist regimes destructively interfered with public opinion to a degree comparable with genocide.
Thus, the funny thing for sustainable development with socialism is to convince the public that government purchase for clean energy doesn't necessitate genocide.
The danger of dictatorship and corruption is present, but the potential for evil arising from clean energy is much less serious than from warfare or finance. Societal awareness and judicial monitoring are reasonably capable of safeguarding against wrongdoing.
Concerns for efficiency are justified as the performance of public provision varies greatly, which suggests that government purchase from public utility or private corporation is a matter of economic deliberation. However, conventional ineffective policies are more inefficient. Just being less inefficient is a gain.
Government finance for clean energy purchase and GHG-neutral solutions may take many forms, including regular budget, public sector bank credit, or even central bank financing, depending on macroeconomic status, but affordability is less a problem than inflation.
Extreme weather and climate risk the end of human civilization, compared with which mild manageable economic fluctuations are worth bearing.
Humans shouldn't act too late.