Wisdom-Seeker

The Prius Conundrum

The easy way to get "Green" construction is to mandate it in the building codes for new residential construction. Or for cities to make that a sticking point when a developer comes and tries to build new property. Hate to admit it, but sometimes when the people want the public interest to be satisfied, the government - at the lowest level possible and with the most democratic participation possible - might have a role to play.

BTW, the same arguments FS made also apply for energy infrastructure (power plants, transmission lines...): there are cases where it's clearly in the public interest to go with a more expensive (short-term) option that has better long-term economics (and externals).

The trouble in all of these cases is that once the government gets involved, they don't stop, and then all sorts of unintended consequences pop up... (And one might say the same about the Fed these past couple of weeks!)