Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems*

Economics is about how people respond to incentives.  Reader Eric Nordman points us to this perfect Friday story demonstrating the correct way to use incentives to further an environmental cause:

To shake up an often apathetic public, environmentalists have sometimes appealed to fear (warnings about rising seas, Al Gore’s movie) and theatrics (tree-hugging, crying American Indians on TV).

This weekend, they were trying something that was new, yet as old as human desire. At an eco-festival at a park on the East River in Manhattan, men and women mostly too young to recall the “Keep America Beautiful” Indian came across an aqua-blue sign that spelled it out in no uncertain terms: “Sign up for clean energy and drink free beer.”

Ladies and gentlemen, you have my attention.

*While I agree with the sentiment, I can't take credit for the title.  That honor belongs to Homer Simpson.