From the inbox:
Dear John,
A Harvard-trained young economist at the Environmental Defense Fund is advocating the use of plastic bags and gas-guzzling SUVs - sort of. In his recent book, But Will the Planet Notice? How Smart Economics Can Save the World, Gernot Wagner argues that individual action is futile - carrying your reusable grocery bags and driving a Prius have basically no effect on the environment. Changes in economic policy and incentive are the only solution. In effect, Gernot is the rare business-friendly environmentalist because of his economic training.
Gernot goes so far as to say that the "No-Impact Man," Colin Beavan, is truly having no impact - but not in the way Beavan thought.
I've pasted Gernot's recent New York Times op-ed below, as well as a copy of his book release. Additional key topics on which he could speak include the following:
- The EPA's Air Toxics Standards for Utilities that recently came out.
- What are the next steps after cap and trade, and why should Obama care about it? Who in the political realm is dealing with this issue effectively?
- There are parallels between the financial and planetary crises: misaligned incentives, misguided belief in economic models, and socializing costs and risks while privatizing benefits are culprits in both.
Please let me know if you'd like more information.
Thank you - all my contact information is below. I look forward to speaking with you.
Please make it stop.
Update: Also note that, while surely impressive, anything that begins with "Harvard-trained economist" is a turn off for the rest of us rabble.
