I just finished reading an article (link here) from the McKinsey Quarterly that summarized a survey of CEOs.  The survey was about CEOs perspective on the social and environmental responsibility of corporations.  The bulk of CEOs surveyed believed that it is important for their companies to be socially and environmentally responsible in order to be successful going forward.  Juxtaposing this against the rhetoric of the recent election, I am having a hard time understanding why the government would want to continue to impose stricter regulation on companies who are trying to clean up their act?  It seems to me that political candidates are trying to exploit the public sentiment that CEOs can easily recognize by examining their bottom line.  What I am trying to say is that I think politicians are trying to take credit for what businesses are already trying to do because people are concerned about the environment and those politicians want to be perceived as the heroes.  Shouldn’t government be encouraging businesses to “go green” instead of punishing them for not?  It is all too reminiscent of the old carrot-and-stick idiom.