Losing respect for Rand Paul

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There are a surprising number of business opportunities that are more sustainable and less expensive than how things are conventionally done. It makes sense - there's nothing inherently inexpensive about waste. Like, having windows that let out heat is not only bad for the environment, but it's a waste of money.

For the consumer..yes, but not the producer.  There are better margins and a larger market for less efficient windows  That's the problem in a nutshell.

Same thing with renewable energy in 2018 - huge profits to be made there.

-and yet...even limiting oneself to just the sustainable alternatives..the cheaper and comparatively less sustainable products are more profitable.

Wrong and wrong. Usually it's a matter of improved technology. Like I said, it's a new way of thinking about things. Another example: using more efficient light bulbs - they aren't more expensive, just different. Re-using grocery bags instead of wasting a new plastic one every time - now virtually no cost incurred by either the consumer or store. Sending mail digitally instead of printing it and shipping it physically - now virtually no cost incurred by consumer or postal service. In these scenarios, it is simply more economically efficient to do things sustainably.

I can pull up evidence for this tomorrow if you like, but intuitively, why do you assume that the cheapest way of doing things is less efficient? It's not a dichotomy - there is actually a profit margin, and in some cases a massive one, in win-win sustainable endeavors. The free market might not solve all of our sustainability problems, but there's a lot of low-hanging fruit in some industries.