All in Environmental Policy
Over the past decade, the Electric Vehicle (EV) market has rapidly gone from proof-of-concept to full manufacturing, and now approaching mass adoption. The economic environment is primed for EVs to flourish. Battery prices continue to fall each year, political climate policies push towards less carbon emissions, and legacy automakers are shifting into the EV space. It is only a short matter of time before EVs become the most common choice for transportation. Both personal and commercial.
The Earth’s average temperature has risen by 0.6°C since the late 1800s (World Health Organization). The change seems minuscule given the time horizon, but even the slightest increase in temperature can have grave effects. Climate change directly affects food production and weather conditions which influence transmission patterns for diseases and infections like malaria. It has already wreaked havoc worldwide as many animal species are becoming endangered with nowhere else to go. With so many warning signs and scientists advocating that the U.S. government should take a stronger position on the issue, it is a wonder why so little change has occurred. A 2019 study by Pew Research Center indicates that the United States ranks 20th in the world regarding citizens’ views on climate change as only 59% of U.S. citizens believe it is a major problem (Fagan & Huang 2019). Given that the government prioritizes issues important to the public, it is no surprise that environmental protection has remained in the shadows of issues more pressing to Americans such as taxation, foreign policy, and more. Nevertheless, the environment has remained a controversial topic as the debate between prioritizing economic success and environmental protection has been a decades-long battle. Due to the lack of prioritization of environmental protection, there has been limited action by the U.S. government and businesses to take steps towards more environmentally-friendly regulations and measures.
As the new President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office in January, he plans to usher in a new administration and agenda that aims to bring large changes to how America handles climate change. Part of his plan includes “an enforcement mechanism to achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050” (Plan for Climate Change, 2020). Bringing a nation to net-zero emissions takes more than just talk. It involves compensating for existing carbon dioxide emission sources like cows and industrials, greenhouse gas emitters that won’t simply disappear in the next thirty years. It goes beyond simply reducing our emissions. To accomplish this, we will need to see significant methods of removing these emissions from the atmosphere. One such method, and the focus of this article today, is the farming of kelp.
