Economy vs. the environment

When discussing the environment; it´s often presented as the flip side of the economy, and people are presented with a black and white choice of which they´d rather have – a healthier planet or more jobs.
But that paradigm has a lot to do with our traditional business model, which, until recently, has never included an organization´s environmental footprint as a meaningful part of the costs it must bear. But that´s changing with policy initiatives like emissions trading and the new Ontario Green Energy and Green Economy Act.
The new Act changes the established economic model for power generation, which considers only the economic efficiency and cost effectiveness of a project, to one that gives priority to its environmental impact. Suddenly, the playing field has tilted, and opportunities for alternative power generation abound, which will hopefully mean more innovation, jobs and money.
The new Act received Royal Assent in mid-May. For an interesting article on the Act by Henry Krupa, counsel in Lang Michener´s Environment, Energy & Emissions Trading Group, published in that group´s new Environment, Energy and Emissions Brief, click here.