Green Daily

A lot of the arguments you hear advocating a more eco-friendly approach to every day life are based, essentially, on altruism -- asking you "save the planet," "help the animals," "protect future generations," or whatever.

These are all good reasons, but let's be honest: most of us are motivated by money. We all have bills to pay and families to feed, so it's a little frightening to hear statements like this one from a researcher at the University of Maryland:

"Climate change will effect every American economically in a significant and dramatic way."

The theory is that climate change leads to a number of expensive environmental problems -- like violent weather (think Hurricane Katrina, which has cost the United Station $200 billion), a need for greater fire suppression, lower water levels in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River System (which raises shipping costs), and higher sea levels (which are eating away valuable Atlantic coast property). All these problems will require public funds to fix, which means higher taxes.

Economic models that will accurately calculate these growing costs are still being developed, but by the looks of it, we either invest in infrastructure that cuts carbon emissions, or pay the consequences -- right out of our pockets.