What is a common economic barrier to adopting sustainable practices as stated in the material?

• A. It is cheaper to pollute than to clean up
• B. It is always cheaper to implement green technologies
• C. There is no cost to polluting
• D. Clean-up costs are negligible

Answer: (A)

Pollution often carries costs that aren’t paid by the polluter. When environmental damages and cleanup are borne by society or others instead of the producer, the immediate production costs look cheaper if a firm keeps polluting. This creates a financial incentive to choose dirty practices over cleaner ones unless policies or market mechanisms require internalizing those environmental costs. The statement that it is cheaper to pollute than to clean up captures this common economic barrier: the implicit or externalized costs of pollution make sustainable options appear more expensive in the short term. The other ideas—green technologies are always cheaper, or there is no cost to polluting, or cleanup costs are negligible—ignore the real-world accounting of environmental and social costs that can deter adoption of sustainable practices.