Environment And Growth Work Wonders Together

The United States has the largest reserves of natural energy, gas and oil, in the world. The United States has the best CO2 emissions of any country on the planet, not it matters in the least, but consumption of fossil fuels is the main driver of our prosperity. Green energy, solar and wind, account for less then 3%.

A growing economy needs a ever increasing energy supply. Without it prosperity will diminish by the exact amounts of energy denied to that economy. It's a reality. Stacks of studies of history has the proof.

The question now is why would the progressive socialists Democrats, that in power now, restrict energy production when we need it the most in a failing economy that have created? What is their purpose?

Those in our country that voted for Mr Obama should ask these questions, and then find good logical answers that will help solve some of our most pressing problems. On second thought, maybe logic might be beyond the progressive's mental abilities.

Why Growth Is the Environment's Best Friend
Source: Kenneth P. Green, "Why Growth is the Environment's Best Friend," The American, November 7, 2012.

November 12, 2012
Many people argue that as economies grow so does the need for energy production and distribution. As a result, the environment suffers as it is forced to sustain a larger population that produces waste and contributes to destruction, says Kenneth P. Green, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Contrary to popular belief, the single best thing we could do to minimize energy's impact on the environment is not only maximize our own economic growth but also help developing countries increase theirs.

Rather than looking at energy use and environmental degradation as a linear relation, the relationship looks more like an inverted U; this is called the Kuznets curve. The Kuznets curve argues that societies go through a series of phases.

•First, a society overuses a resource.
•Second, the society reaches a point where they realize they are overusing a resource.
•Third, there is a period where the society takes action to reduce their overuse.
•Finally, once the resource consumption is reduced, they reach the maximum sustainable level.

Central to this theory is that countries that are poor use a resource to expand their economy, and once that is accomplished, they can shift their resources to cut their consumption of a resource. In other words, economic growth is the main driver in helping societies get to the point in which they develop solutions to fix the environment.

Developed countries should also help developing countries increase their economic growth as a means of helping the environment. Since many developing countries are focused on economic growth, environmental concerns are put on the backburner.

Some economists argue that this theory only applies to local-area pollutants and resource protection. But when it comes to global environmental issues like greenhouse gas emissions, companies have an incentive to find poor, developing nations to conduct business that don't have strict environmental standards.