basic misunderstanding of economics

Reader comment on: Lomborg on Green Jobs

Submitted by ben (United States), Feb 10, 2011 15:29

Fossil fuels cost far less than they should. The problem is that many of the negative externalities of reliance on fossil fuels are not built into the price, the most significant being climate change but also the cost of maintaining a huge army to safeguard our supplies of oil, and the cost of spills (if they aren't paid for by the company). These negative effects have real consequences on pocketbooks including the rising price of wheat because of the drought in Russia, the cost the ever large storm systems and so forth. If it were possible to calculate in these prices, wind and solar would undoubtedly be cheaper than our current "traditional" fuels.

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