So, what is really good about going green?
The green revolution, global effort to cut back on detrimental exhausts and byproducts by adopting eco-friendly technology, is coming into full swing. With Al Gore’s film, An Inconvient Truth, reaching critical acclaim and being honored with an oscar; much of the country and the world are proposing plans to reduce their "carbon-footprint". A Carbon Footprint is a term used to describe a certain groups negative impact on the environment in the form of carbon emissions resulting from the burning of fossil fuels. More and more business and corporations are promoting "green campaigns" within their business model.
This step is smart, considering the increasing concern for the environment on the parts of their customers. If customers are working to be more eco-friendly, they would LOVE to see the companies they invest in doing the same. In fact in some cases by promoting a brand as an eco-friendly brand, they draw in their original customer base as well as those who recognize that they should support a company who is supporting the environment. One downfall, which most cope with, is usually a slight rise in costs coming from the green transition. It is more expensive to don an environmentally friendly business but an investment now would prove to be smart considering the future of energy consumption.
I speak of energy consumption because I was looking through my BW.com feed and 6 out of 24 articles were about ethanol and other eco-friendly energy sources. Ethanol from corn is becoming quite the fiasco in Washington, as livestock farmers are protesting corn subsidies for ethanol producers. If corn is expensive for livestock farmers to acquire in order to feed their animals, the animals will be expensive for food producers which will in turn increase the prices on beef, chicken, pork, etc. that we buy from the grocery store. Another interesting twist in the ethanol story is that the government has put a tax on sugar ethanol produced in Brazil in order to corner the market in corn ethanol within the U.S. Why can’t we support our environment and energy concerns by buying some of our ethanol from Brazil? Buying from Brazil creates competition in an emerging market. It would force the corn ethanol producers to bottom out their prices and urge the public to transfer to their energy source as opposed to gasoline and other fossil fuels.
A couple quick questions for you all:
1. Should the U.S. follow through with subsidies for corn ethanol producers?
2. If so, how would this affect agriculture within the country?
3. If not, what could we do to promote alternative energy consumption?
Think GREEN!
