Ms. Kolbert observes that the “logical, which is to say fair, way to make the driver absorb the cost of his slice of the damage … could be achieved by a new … tax on carbon.” The rest of the article goes on to comment about various political initiatives in DC and elsewhere to address the idea of putting a cost on carbon.
Obviously, the other element here is that, to keep competitive, the companies making and selling the automobiles will try to make them as fuel efficient as possible to offset the additional cost of the carbon from the auto operation. Hmmmm, like hybrids? Or the high efficiency diesels in Europe?
Now, lest you all think I am some sort of closet socialist (my Berkeley connection notwithstanding!), I want to assure you that I consider this healthy thinking and the prominence of such discussions about externalized costs is heartening and, in fact, is more broadly considered than one might think – even by the business community.
Some of it is pure competitiveness. A blog back in August of 2010 addressed some of the issues associated with carbon trading. An article in the New York Times about the recent auction of CO2 allowances and the “new cost of CO2 in California” describes the recent auction of carbon credits in California and another Times article mentions how the basis for a company’s carbon footprint is determined. The article states that, with respect to those worried that this will make the companies less competitive if this additional cost is factored in, ” … such a cost-centric analysis ignores the jobs and economic activity that the law could generate. Emission and efficiency standards for cars, buildings and appliances in California over the last four decades have succeeded in cleaning the air, making residents’ per-capita energy use rate among the lowest in the country and spurring innovations and new industries, like the one that arose around catalytic converters.”
More to be said about this for sure. But, to me at least, including all the costs of a product into the price the consumer pays insures that everyone pays their “fair share” and encourages innovation.
And that’s what engineers do – innovate. What better task than to innovate to create greener manufacturing?
David Dornfeld is the Will C. Hall Family Chair in Engineering in Mechanical Engineering at University of California Berkeley. He leads the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability (LMAS), and he writes the Green Manufacturing blog. Additionally, the Green Manufacturing Facebook page is constantly updated with tidbits on the topic of green manufacturing, anecdotes, examples and stories of interest.
