Government Fertilizer
How green is my Napa Valley?
As the story goes, Wen-I Chang became an environmentalist in 1999 when he couldn’t get a glass of water in a California restaurant due to a water shortage. He decided to cut his time in the shower every day down from eight minutes to two minutes. Even better, Chang figured he could also become an environmental capitalist and began building green hotels.
His latest venture is the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa. The hotel features waterless urinals, solar lighting and recycled paper. It also features tax relief from the town’s transient occupancy tax to the tune of one million dollars over three years.
It’s a little bit easier being green when the green is denominated in $50s and $100s.
Many other municipalities are following suit in promoting a “green” agenda. San Francisco is giving priority to green projects, allowing developers to start building in as little as four weeks versus a usual eight month wait for regular projects. Chang was able to waive a $100,000 environmental impact fee in constructing a previous hotel in Anderson, California.
Government subsidies of projects or industries is not new. Atlantic City subsidized the gambling industry and many cities subsidize their professional sports teams. The problem with subsidies is the same as with all other government “incentives” to business (including taxes and socially engineered legislation in the “public interest”) - it puts power over private enterprise in the hands of a few politicians instead of leaving it to the choice of individuals in the market place.
Inevitably, government involvement leads to inefficiency, increased bureaucracy and to higher costs in the future. Costs that taxpayers are asked required to subsidize further. A quick look at the education system, the Post Office and Amtrak will confirm that.
We applaud Mr. Chang’s efforts to build a hotel that is profitable and environmentally friendly. Mr Chang estimates he is saving 25% on electricity and 50% on water by adopting various green technologies.
Mr. Chang had a long history of building profitable regular hotels before becoming, of his own volition, an advocate of green construction. He, like others, is obviously capable of making a decision on his own.
Let’s leave the government out of it.
global warming, climate change, Wen-I Chang, Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa, Napa Valley, government subsidies, green technology, Post Office, education, Amtrak
May 2nd, 2007 at 11:03 am
Mark,
I actually enjoyed this post and I have to say that I agree. Going green is a great thing, global warming or not, but should not come at the cost of added taxes or incentives from the government.
You have to keep the government out or they will ruin it.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:58 am
[...] already doing his part; today, he refused to pick up one of his appointees from the witness stand. A Napa Valley Hotel has replaced the Bible usually found in the nightstand drawer with a copy of An Inconvenient Truth. [...]