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Originally Posted by FireFly
Well basic supply and demand economics tells me that if the demand for oil and gas go down, so will the cost.
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You are correct..
- unless we aren't talking about oil and gas but pure electricity which now will need huge investment needed to generate the clean stream of power.
- unless they now have larger costs (due to carbon trading, penalties, etc) that will have to be recouped
- unless the companies look at what the others charge and decide to charge a slightly increased amount (what hotels, lululemon, auto insurance, cell phone companies, etc do)
There are lots ways that prices can continue to go up...
Quote:
Originally Posted by FireFly
There are plenty of ways to help the environment without putting yourself at the mercy of companies who are trying to install "green machines". You're right, there are things that might hurt us short term, but whether we panic and implement them, or let them be implemented at their own pace, it's still going to hurt. The sooner begun, the sooner done. The longer we wait, the more likely it will be too late when we actually do make a change.
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"Too late"? According to who? Where is the REAL deadline? It is only a figment of someone's imagination right now.
If you seriously think that no harm will be done by panicking and putting in place insanely impossible to meet measures overnight then you're fooling yourself. The fact that industry thinks that the Harper green plan is tough but do-able means that they can probably do better - and will since they know that things will continue to get tougher in the future.
You saw how the stock market panicked when the Harper gov't implemented the taxes on Income Trusts. You see how oil and gas prices react to international events (like kidnappings). Now imagine the reaction to a measure which would severely limit the capabilities of a vast majority of companies to operate at all. Imagine the Auto manufacturers, who already have a tough enough time staying alive. Imagine the airline industry, who also have trouble staying alive.
Fear is real, and the CEOs of the various companies need time to develop and implement strategies to come up with solutions. Designs just don't evolve overnight.
Take cars for example. The time needed to design a new car is
2-5 years based on the link I found in five minutes of searching. Now imagine trying to design a new car in less time, with new unproven or undeveloped technology. IMPOSSIBLE.
Add some realism to the timeframe and the enviromentalists might have some more support.