I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. Guess who's doing more for the quality of the environment, the EPA or modern technology?
I bet you thought I was going to say the EPA?
But according to a new study by The Center for Energy and Climate Solutions, technology's way ahead of government regulation.
A few examples:
Selling goods over the Internet saves the need to build new retail stores. Sending files via email means less energy expended on mail delivery. Paper savings alone will reduce total industrial energy consumption by a quarter percent within three years.
Home officing with telecommuting, fax and e-mail cuts down on gasoline use. New cars are far more fuel efficient and cleaner than the ones of just a few years ago. New appliances run on a fraction of the energy needed by older ones. A report by the Dallas fed shows today's refrigerators use a third of the electricity of those made in 1972.
The greatest pollution is where there's the greatest poverty. Innovation and the market, again, get the job done. Capitalism turns out to be the best green of all.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, clearing up fuzzy math.