Don't Let The Door Hit You In The Ass On The Way Out, Ron

[Tiberius]

The will of most consumers is to have a cheap, comfortably accessable product. Inovation is expensive - so inovative but better products might die out under such sircumstances.

If that is the will of the consumers, it should be met. I don't see an advantage in forcing companies to make a loss, or to subsidize that loss with tax payer money when it is not what people want. Being friendly to the environment should not be forced on people; people should be educated to care, and to demand these changes themselves.

To drill, pump, manifacture, transport, market and sell oil - is currently cheaper than building solar pannels and windmills.

Sure, but only because the demand is not high enough. Do you think drilling was cheap when we first started doing it? Of course not. Once a company makes the right investments in solar panels and windmills, costs go down, because they learn better techniques and are able to better mass-produce said items. Indeed, drilling for oil is becoming more expensive as it runs out, and the oil companies are forced to drill in much harsher locations. A tipping point will occur; if the consumers are put in charge, this will happen sooner.

And how will you get the consumer to buy and demand a more expensive product? And how will you get a companie to change from a less risky and comfortable way of production to a potentialy more risky one?

The point is, it won't be a more expensive product. The price of oil is going up; the price of renewable energy is going down. There are people researching methods for cutting down the costs of renewable energy all the time. Besides, if it is a consumer demanded product in a consumer controlled market, the price is likewise set by the consumer. Oil is not a less risky and comfortable way of production. BP just got fined billions of dollars for stupid mistakes that caused countless amounts of environmental damage and the deaths of workers on an oil rig. If the demand is there, it is not a risk at all. Besides, companies that already exist can slowly move their current consumers over to renewable energy if the consumer is up for it.

That is wishfull thinking aslong as there is no logisticaly possible concept to actualy achieve something like that.

It's not wishful thinking...it's the way the market works. Supply and demand. Those that can supply to meet the demand succeed. Those that cannot supply to meet the demand fail.

Newspapers are not inferstructur - such as energy is. And the climate and with it it`s planet wont go up in a bunch of smoke and flames if people dont change their choice of media.

Irrelevant to the point I was making, which was that consumer action does work. It's worked pretty fast for newspapers (tablets have only existed for a few years). If government was to stop propping up oil companies, I'd posit that the same thing would happen for them.

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I think removing regulations would allow a handful of monopolies to form. Welcome the second coming of the 1920's. Not so hot. I don't have a better plan, and the government has issues so I don't think government takeovers would help anything. Not everyone can choose to buy things because they fit their moral/ethical/green standards, they simply can't afford to. It's a tough question, I certainly don't have all the answers, but I don't agree with your suggestion.

I said "excessive regulation". That which prevents small companies from getting a grip in the market. Small business is a good thing, and there are two things that prevent small business from forming: monopolies are one, but excessive regulation is another.

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"issues will handle themselves"

More that some issues should be outside the role of government.

"the market will provide or become the solution"

More that a free market ultimately has to bow to the will of the consumers.

"people will inexplicably begin purchasing on principle en-masse"

More that with a free market, small business can thrive, and you don't need people to purchase "en-masse"; you just need enough people to purchase from the small businesses out there. Having a niche in the market is a very powerful thing.