Major election happen once a year or less, so please make your vote count and take environmental and social issues into account when you cast your ballot this November. Did you also know that you vote each and everyday when you choose to buy or not buy things?
With the choices you make from your wallet or purse, you are voting on what you value. You may choose to purchase a more expensive product from one brand because you feel it is worth it, or you may choose to buy the less expensive product. You may even choose to not buy a product at all.
For example, we recently purchased organic strawberries and apples, or said another way voted that paying extra was worth it for our family’s health and for the overall sustainability of organic farming practices.
A big area that has been making national election news recently (and for a long time) is the price of energy. I recently wrote a few articles on it myself:
- Another Shocker – Agreeing with FoxNews
- What’s Wrong with Newt Gingrich’s $2.50 Per Gallon Gas Plan.
Energy is in everything we do and everything we buy, but it is also an area where we do not get enough information to make an informed decision. When we buy energy, we do not pay the full cost of the energy directly. What we don’t pay for are any of the externalities such as health impacts from pollution, the impacts of climate change or the cost to maintain a military to secure enough energy. The current taxes on gasoline only go to fund infrastructures like roads and are proving to be insufficient. Why? Some will say because of the various energy lobbies, which is partially true, but I would prefer to believe that it is because it is too hard to quantify. My solution to getting closer to seeing the true costs of energy and empowering people to make informed choices on how and when they consume energy is to enact a nation wide tax on CO2 emissions through a program called Pennies Per Pound.
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| Pennies Per Pound CO2 Tax & Energy Stamp Program |
We may only vote once a year at the election booth, but you vote every time you buy or don’t buy something, so make it count!
Happy Greening!
Jon
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