I like to call myself an environmental activist. In high school, I was a leader in educating our community for local environmental sustainable. I helped our high school become more sustainable. Baby steps was my anthem. I ran initiatives to spread awareness by publicizing facts about the environment and climate change. I educated people about our consumption and waste. I motivated people to turn off the lights, leave their car at home and find a more sustainable way to get to school, and throw their recycling in the recycle bin.

However, being in attendance at the Environmental Panel hosted by Professors Shanjun Li, Greg Poe, and David Wolfe gave me the realization of the importance of economics and policy and their influence on the environment in the way I had never thought of before.

The professors brought up the importance of environmental policy and its turns out that we are behind. There are two policies that are debated in the economic and political community” taxation and capping. Taxation would inhibit a free market economy. Capping would require extensive regulation and motivation.

I’ve always thought of environmental issues as a issues catalyzed is the private sector. I have also believed that the private sector must catalyze its own reform or be motivated to do so through lower cost energy sources.

The professors discussed the advantages and disadvantages of a free market economy in regard to its affect on the environment. In a free market, every entity is making its own environmental decisions and each seem trivial in the grand scheme. Therefore, as individuals we find ourselves feeling powerless in the face of environmental change, and give up. However, having regulations and more government control on environmental decisions will allow each individual organization to be a part of a larger group, and understand the impact of their decisions in a more global and tangible manner.

While it will cost companies more to use unsustainable forms of energy and resources, it will push our market to seek new energy sources, management, and ideas. More governmental control has the potential to catalyze a national change within our markets and will allow a lot of advancement for the future.

So the fact that the environment has been and still is rarely a topic for political debate is bizarre. Our government is an institution that provides life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and in order to to that, it builds infrastructure, funds development, and recognizes and deals with national issues that may inhibit us from our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Environmental initiatives are very important part of our infrastructure.