"Going Green" the Capitalist Way

This morning two of my girls and I were taking our morning walk/jog, and it occurred to me that there were some ways to "help the environment" that the MSM seemed to be missing. Furthermore, they are things I have been doing for years.

1. Don't bother decorating for Halloween. I personally don't believe Christians should celebrate Halloween, but even if I did, I would not have electricity-consuming decorations "on" at 6:09 a.m. Turning them off before going to bed would save some fossil fuel, wouldn't it? Even for Christmas (a holiday I joyfully celebrate), I use a timer for my outdoor lights; they generally are off by 11:00.

2. Take a look at your trash can. I have four children living at home. I have a big wheel-it-to-the-curb trash can. Unless we have done some major housecleaning—perhaps once or twice a year—it is never full. Yet I see various members of the neighborhood whose cans, equal in volume to mine, are overflowing on a regular basis. Where is all this trash generated? Perhaps an inventory of what's in there could give people some ideas about conserving resources.

3. Take fewer trips; run more errands on each. My wife and I have been doing this for years, although with more soberness since gas prices eclipsed $2 a few years ago. We simply don't make extra trips. If she needs something to make supper, she calls me and I pick it up on my way home. Grocery store runs happen during music lessons. And so forth.

Notice, too, what all three of my ideas have in common: Each one saves me money! Capitalism, handled properly and ethically, is pro-environment, because we realize that the long-term view demands good stewardship of our resources.

When people see that they can keep more of their own money by doing something that is "environmentally friendly," they will do it. Liberals seem to have difficulty grasping this simple idea.

Utility Rates on the Rise—Ouch!

First, I drive home this afternoon, appalled that gas prices along the 15-mile drive from work to home jerked upward by sixteen cents. That's going to hurt my wallet.

But when I get home, I read this story about utility customers in nearby South Haven:

The City Council has been asked to approve a 16 percent overall increase in utilities, including a 29 percent increase in water rates.

Electricity and sewer rates are going up, too. The water rate rise is due primarily to debt service, and the sewer rate rise (a mere 7%) is primarily to fund some studies and upgrade some lift stations.

It's the electricity rate increases (12% for residential customers), however, that caught my eye:

The increases -- expected to generate $800,000 -- are costs being passed on by American Electric Power.

It seems to me that I remember legislation passed several months back (my memory was aided here and here) that would, as predicted ahead of time, raise residential electricity rates.

The people of South Haven will be upset about the rate increases. I don't blame them. But this could be a very instructive lesson for Van Buren County's largest concentration of Democrats—allowing the Dems to pass legislation that reduces competition and mandates economically unrealistic (and not free market-driven) "renewable energy" production will hit them in the pocketbook.

There is a better way. Shrewd companies know that whoever develops, patents, and produces the next generation of affordable energy-saving devices—whether electrical, such as lighting, or gasoline-based, such as cars—stands to make a great deal of money. Many companies even now are working on R&D to do just that in a variety of fields. Let's let them, and let us reward with our pocketbooks those who succeed in producing a better product at a better price.

I don't expect GM or Chrysler to be doing that anytime soon, though. Which brings me back to that first observation....