by Christopher Belnap
If the intended goal is to save the environment, we need to focus on passing policies that will incentivize businesses and people to adopt helpful actions without banning harmful actions.
For many, the state of the environment has quickly become one of the most polarizing issues in the United States today. Since the early 2000s, we have started to see the effects of our environmental ambivalence which began during the industrial boom of the nineteenth century. In order for lasting environmental change to occur, we need to pass legislation that incentivizes companies to "go green." Government incentives are integral in causing a "Green Industrial Revolution."
The Forbidden Fruit Effect
There is a phenomenon in psychology called "The Forbidden Fruit Effect" which describes "man's desire to learn about the unknown and the consequence of things that are supposed to be dangerous."1 In short, it is wanting what you can't have. As Mark Twain said, "There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable." This idea hearkens back to the notion of the sublime, first emphasized in the Romantic era2. There is something appealing about what is outside
the realm of possibility. When people are told what they aren't allowed to do, the desire to keep engaging in that action increases. On top of that, maintaining the status quo is by far an easier option than changing one's habits. The relationship between the forbidden fruit effect and the environment, though unexpected, is also quite simple. For instance, the governmental push to limit coal production in the United States has reinvigorated political support for the coal industry, despite its devastating environmental impact. The solution to this forbidden fruit effect in our environmental policies is to shift focus from forbidding certain actions towards incentivizing others. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith called for specialization to produce a similar effect. He did not mandate specialization, but rather demonstrated how specializing is in one's best interest. Rather than focus on forbidding the fruit, providing more appealing options will naturally lead people to chose those options.
To Save the Environment, We Don't Need to Talk About Our Impact on the Environment
We need to provide people with more appealing options than the ones that are currently available to them. We need to provide economically viable incentives for people to get involved in bringing about a "Green Industrial Revolution." There need to be incentives to urge both large companies and people to change their habits in order for any meaningful change to happen. This is where policy changes start to become incredibly important and relevant. Instead of penalizing businesses for their carbon emissions, Congress should pass legislation that offers large tax breaks for corporate businesses that implement green initiatives. Instead of being penalized for using coal, the government should provide a reward for energy-efficient industries. Additionally, rather than punishing businesses for their carbon emissions, our public policies should seek to offer financially alluring options that would draw companies away from carbon emissions. This can be accomplished through tax breaks on the cost of implementation of energy efficient practices. Ultimately, rather than talking about all the harm we are causing to the environment—and using this negative rhetoric as the motivation for change—we should lobby our government to provide incentives for changing business practices. Corporations will respond better to incentives than they will toward emotional appeal of protecting and saving the environment alone. At the end of the day, businesses will act in their best interest. Therefore, making environmental preservation matter for business will be most effective.
Implementing Incentives for Individuals
While providing incentives is important, we must also avoid banning other practices. I've often thought about this idea in terms of using plastic shopping bags. When I lived in Russia, each plastic bag cost 5 additional rubles (about 7.5 US cents). The Americans in our community thought this a nuisance but eventually recognized that they were in a foreign country with different rules and were willing to play by them. However, I would often hear things like, "I am glad we don't need to pay for plastic bags in America." Over time, my family grew accustomed to using reusable bags, but I lost the practice after returning to the States. One day after moving to Provo, I decided to use my reusable bags at Walmart. As I was checking out the cashier said, "Because you have reusable bags, you can get a 1% discount on your entire purchase." All of a sudden instead of needing to pay for plastic bags—and feeling bitter about it as many in our community felt in Russia—I was encouraged to keep using reusable bags because it proved to be in my best self-interest to do so. I saw the reverse of this recently while at another quintessential American institution: Panda Express. After ordering, I asked for a water cup. However, instead of receiving one for free (which I was used to), I was charged fifteen cents for the cup. Robbed of my precious dime and nickel, I found myself irrationally peeved at the whole exchange. But then I started to wonder about what my reaction would have been if, for instance, I was told that I could receive a coupon for filling up my own water bottle instead of being charged for a plastic water cup.
What to Do Now?
These experiences have led me to see how people inherently respond positively to incentives and negatively to restrictions. With incentives, you have the autonomy to choose, while restrictions frustrate and embitter people. Now, why would companies such as Panda Express be incentivized to implement programs like providing a coupon for filling your own water bottle? Instead of implementing a country-wide ban on all plastic water cups, tax breaks can be provided based on the reduction of plastic cups sold. In order to begin solving our current environmental crisis, we must first lobby our government to incentivize environmentally beneficial behavior rather than ban environmentally harmful habits.
Image Credits:
Photo by Win McNamee, Getty Images News, Getty Images, Nov 14, 2018.
Rubens, Peter Paul The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man. 1617, Mauritshuis, Netherlands.
Photo by Author Reusable Bag
"Plastic Straws" by Flickr licensed under CC BY 2.0
Source Credits:
1. https://exploringyourmind.com/forbidden-fruit-effect/, Accessed June 6th, 2019
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(literary), Accessed June 6th, 2019
If the intended goal is to save the environment, we need to focus on passing policies that will incentivize businesses and people to adopt helpful actions without banning harmful actions.
 |
| The congressional class of 2018 |
For many, the state of the environment has quickly become one of the most polarizing issues in the United States today. Since the early 2000s, we have started to see the effects of our environmental ambivalence which began during the industrial boom of the nineteenth century. In order for lasting environmental change to occur, we need to pass legislation that incentivizes companies to "go green." Government incentives are integral in causing a "Green Industrial Revolution."
The Forbidden Fruit Effect
There is a phenomenon in psychology called "The Forbidden Fruit Effect" which describes "man's desire to learn about the unknown and the consequence of things that are supposed to be dangerous."1 In short, it is wanting what you can't have. As Mark Twain said, "There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable." This idea hearkens back to the notion of the sublime, first emphasized in the Romantic era2. There is something appealing about what is outside
 |
| The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man by Peter Paul Rubens |
To Save the Environment, We Don't Need to Talk About Our Impact on the Environment
We need to provide people with more appealing options than the ones that are currently available to them. We need to provide economically viable incentives for people to get involved in bringing about a "Green Industrial Revolution." There need to be incentives to urge both large companies and people to change their habits in order for any meaningful change to happen. This is where policy changes start to become incredibly important and relevant. Instead of penalizing businesses for their carbon emissions, Congress should pass legislation that offers large tax breaks for corporate businesses that implement green initiatives. Instead of being penalized for using coal, the government should provide a reward for energy-efficient industries. Additionally, rather than punishing businesses for their carbon emissions, our public policies should seek to offer financially alluring options that would draw companies away from carbon emissions. This can be accomplished through tax breaks on the cost of implementation of energy efficient practices. Ultimately, rather than talking about all the harm we are causing to the environment—and using this negative rhetoric as the motivation for change—we should lobby our government to provide incentives for changing business practices. Corporations will respond better to incentives than they will toward emotional appeal of protecting and saving the environment alone. At the end of the day, businesses will act in their best interest. Therefore, making environmental preservation matter for business will be most effective.
Implementing Incentives for Individuals
 |
| A reusable bag I have used for several years |
What to Do Now?
These experiences have led me to see how people inherently respond positively to incentives and negatively to restrictions. With incentives, you have the autonomy to choose, while restrictions frustrate and embitter people. Now, why would companies such as Panda Express be incentivized to implement programs like providing a coupon for filling your own water bottle? Instead of implementing a country-wide ban on all plastic water cups, tax breaks can be provided based on the reduction of plastic cups sold. In order to begin solving our current environmental crisis, we must first lobby our government to incentivize environmentally beneficial behavior rather than ban environmentally harmful habits.
Image Credits:
Photo by Win McNamee, Getty Images News, Getty Images, Nov 14, 2018.
Rubens, Peter Paul The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man. 1617, Mauritshuis, Netherlands.
Photo by Author Reusable Bag
"Plastic Straws" by Flickr licensed under CC BY 2.0
Source Credits:
1. https://exploringyourmind.com/forbidden-fruit-effect/, Accessed June 6th, 2019
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(literary), Accessed June 6th, 2019
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