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I know you specified "without government involvement", but to be honest I think this is exactly the sort of thing that governments should be doing. Effectively
by chad_oliver 13y ago
I know you specified "without government involvement", but to be honest I think this is exactly the sort of thing that governments should be doing. Effectively what you're saying is that we have a problem with externalities (costs not borne by the agent who caused the cost). The best way to fight this is to create laws such as the carbon tax, which force businesses and individuals to pay the equivalent cost of the externalities.
- benjamincburns 13y agoI agree, and I hesitated before writing that. I phrased it that way not because I believe that government shouldn't be involved, but because given the current funding climate for endeavors such as these it's unreliable to expect the government to become involved. Carbon credits would be perfect. In fact, if oceanographic organizations such as ORCA could get themselves into the benefactor stream (I'm not sure what the right term is), that would be great. Intuitively, it's not a stretch, either - massive swaths of hypoxic water could have huge impacts on global warming (lack of oxygen-producing organisms also means lack of carbon-consuming organisms, since they're one and the same). But unfortunately our political system is too complex and unless you've already got the funding to pay lobbyists you're just not going to get very far.