please stop lying

the GOP has set its sights on environmental regulation, something they think democrats will finally cave on, and some very prominent republican politicians have been propagating some pretty obvious lies about economics and the environment. i'll address some of these in installments over the next few days.

the first is haley barbour, bless his heart, who thinks that "obama's [environmental] policies are hurting our economy, raising energy prices."


that's actually not true. the widely-accepted porter hypothesis suggests that environmental regulations actually encourage innovation, and thus encourage competitiveness, and thus encourage economic well-being and growth. although this theory has its fair share of detractors, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. a company that's required to cut its sulfur dioxide emissions, for example, must either invest in new technology (which creates jobs in a different industry and diversifies the economy), or it has to develop its own new technology, which not only increases efficiency, but could potentially create a new income source for the industry. sometimes, stringent environmental regulations force companies to look at their production strategy and cut out any unnecessary operations, which also increases efficiency. in the long run, the benefit to society and shrinking of economic externalities (e.g. pollution-related diseases, cleanup costs, etc.) far outweigh the cost of installing a few flue-gas desulphurization caps.

moral of the story, barbour is lying, and he knows it. but the republicans want to cut cut cut, even though they know it's a detriment to society. they have a ridiculous party line that they need to toe, and they couldn't care less if they destroy the world in the process.

i'll address another lie tomorrow.