In the early 1980s, South Korea government enforced the policy which raised the price of energy as part of an effort to conserve energy. This policy dramatically met with gratifying result. After the policy, a lot of citizens immediately reduced energy use because high cost of energy usage fee had been a certain burden for them. It seemed likes that the most significant policy to conserve energy is to increase the prices of gasoline and electricity. Exactly ten years later, however, the sound ‘successful policy to conserve energy’ came out into the open that it was just an ephemeral event. What negative factors effect on the ultimately result? If we solve this enigma, we can naturally recognize that increasing the prices of gasoline and electricity wouldn`t the most effective way to conserve energy for the government.
First clue is conditions of income. If we consider some conditions of incomes, we could not convince that increasing the prices of oil and power always lead to diminish of energy use. In the 1980s, as the economy of South Korea developed, the people`s incomes and the standard of living improved as well. While the people had more incomes, the high cost of energy use was no longer burden for them before. The citizen even willingly spent money for energy use to maintain and improve their standard of living even though the price was not cheap. This case reveals that policy which imposed high cost of energy use would not effective in a certain developed country. In such a condition, it is of course possible that the people would diminish the energy use if the government imposed an exorbitant tax to use energy. Unfortunately, who has ever been such a brutal policy could destroy family finances by use of energy to live?
Not only that we could also consider the necessity of energy use. If there is a certain industry to use gasoline and electricity inevitably, high cost of energy use policy would not be a significant factor effect on diminish usage of energy. In South Korea, a whole lot of factories were established during the 1980s. In such a condition, high costs of energy usage policy could not lead to conservation of energy because the factories used energy to manufacture regardless of its price and there were any alternative ways to manufacture products such as utilizing other energy. It indicates that if there is an area where needs use of gasoline and electricity regardless of its price, the policy impose a high cost of energy use would not be a most successful way to conserve energy.
To conclusion, despite of the possibility that high cost could diminish of energy usage, we could not convince that it is a most effective way to conserve energy. Of course, it is certain that there is a moment when the increasing the costs of oil and power is to be a most effective way to conserve energy. The problem is the moment is a specific and contingent timing. Only by ignoring the condition significantly effect on the usage of energy such as income level, degree of necessity, and any other variables could one conclude that increasing the price of gasoline and electricity is the most effective way to conserve energy for government. |