Going green costs more - why?

By Value hunter on Nov 23, 2009 | In In real life, Wondering

It is clear that everyone in the world would like to go "green" but why does everything concerned with "saving the planet" "protecting the environment" or "going green" always cost the people more money?

In the past few years, windfarms have sprung up all over the UK, offshore wave technology is creating energy and hydro electricity is growing in popularity, yet our energy bills continue to grow by a far higher percentage than our income.
Appliances for the home also shoot up in price.
A tumble dryer that has a hose hung out of the window, costs over £100 less than a condenser dryer with an A class energy rating.
This same condenser dryer also allows more water to be saved and put back into the "system" - reducing the need for more rain water.
A 5 litre vessel (every 2 drying cycles) is poured back into the water system, yet my water bills increased by 19% at their last "review" - national inflation was just 1.7% at the same time!

I pay electricity and gas by card meter, paying for energy in advance, yet I am charged a higher rate and "standing charges" that direct debit customers do not have to pay, even though both types of payment require the same - once per month - attention and direct debit customers do not pay in advance.

Did you know that the entire "climate change" argument, is about how to improve just 2% of the Earth's problems - the other 98% is natural and we can do nothing about it whatsoever! (Ask the scientists themselves!)

Exactly how are we all being encouraged and helped to use more energy saving, "green" methods in our daily lives?
Solar panels? - these have increased in price over the past 5 years, grants to install them have also been cut.
Energy efficient light bulbs? - you might have received some "free" bulbs? As a taxpayer, it is you that have paid over the odds for these bulbs. Have you seen the prices of them shoot up in the supermarkets?
The companies giving away "free" bulbs, are given grants by the government, who do you suppose fund the government? Of course, it is us, the public!
To dispose of these bulbs requires specialist methods, causing more damage to the environment than conventional bulbs that have been in our homes for decades.
Drive our cars less? - Most people now cannot walk to work, I'd even guess the majority of people cannot get a bus to work, due to working times, distances, no routes going to industrial estates, etc. So how does charging record taxes on petrol/diesel help those who have no choice but to use their cars?

The arguments for going "green" may well be strong, the evidence of "climate change" is, I believe, shakey at best, but all the measures the public have taken so far, have brought no savings, no improvement, etc, and have cost them heavily in their pockets.

Perhaps if we actually saw just one of these measures benefit us personally, we would be more inclined to believe the whole argument?