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To: KyrosL who wrote (19929)	12/30/2004 2:37:31 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 116555

Small island countries like Maldive would be the first bunch of tolls for global warming. And they are going to have a conference soon to call on stopping the global warming trend, but who will listen to them and can the trend be stopped?

To: KyrosL who wrote (19929)	12/30/2004 4:13:36 PM
From: gpowell	Respond to of 116555

One could say government is a mechanism through which "the market" remedies its own failures, i.e. free riders and negative externalities.

To: KyrosL who wrote (19929)	12/31/2004 1:14:21 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Some of the environmental damage occurred because people simply lacked knowledge about these things. You forget how new some science is in this regard. I was talking about this with a friend who is a doctor, he was telling me of some of the common practices that doctors had in the not too distant past, things we know now are incredibly stupid were done with absolutely no intention of malice. I seriously doubt paint companies could foresee the extensive damage of putting lead in their paint. Something that seems unbelievable in this day and age. Do you know of any examples where the free market resolved severe environment problems without government intervention? Would you buy a house next to a polluted river or an open strip mine? Do you consider gas mileage when you buy a car? Do you choose efficient heating systems for your home? Do you have a dump on your property? Did you stop buying Exxon gas after the Exxon Valdez disaster? Have you given money to various clean air and clean water groups? Frankly, I value my own property highly because it is situated in a rural water shed area which is relatively pristine, has lots of wildlife, clean air, etc. and so does the market. Those with property have an incentive to copy if they want to compete. Without belaboring the point, a society with a high standard of living will always impose environmental standards on private individuals and companies. Either through government or through the market. The market tends to be more effective. I think more double hulls were employed in response to the PR and financial disaster Exxon suffered than from all the government attempts to make them mandatory. OTOH the worst environmental disasters have occurred in collective economies (ie. Russia).