Today is Earth Day, and there is a great deal of good news. Politicians love to take credit for cleaner air, cleaner water and reduced resource use. The reality, however, is very different. The solutions that make a real difference come from free-market innovation that is often opposed by politicians.

Here are three quick examples.

Car2Go – Reducing Cars and Congestion

Car2Go offers cars you can rent by the hour rather than owning a car yourself or in case you need another car for a short time. The environmental left, however, fought Car2Go.

The taxpayer-funded Ecoconsumer complained that Car2Go’s convenience might get people off transit “If a new transportation option is resulting in people getting off public transit...that could be a problem.”

Now, a new study for the City of Seattle finds that the availability of Car2Go has removed about 9,000 cars from Seattle as people decide to use car sharing instead of buying a car. That didn’t require tax increases or new regulation and the risk is assumed by the company. Far from being a risk to the environment, Car2Go has been a success.

Nest – Helping Cut Energy Use

Cutting energy use is a central focus of the environmental left. The tools to cut energy use, however, come from technological innovation.

Take, for example, Nest, a system designed by engineers from Apple that adjusts to your energy use patterns and allows you to control your thermostat from your home. And it saves money and energy. Nest claims, “a home with its product will save $173 per year in electricity and heating costs compared to a home with an unprogrammed thermostat.”

Another study on the Olympic Peninsula of smart meters that allow users to automate energy savings, found a 10 percent reduction in energy costs and a 15 percent reduction in peak demand.

Simple, consumer-driven technologies make the real difference.

Barefoot Power – Solar Panels for African Villages

For some African villages, electricity is hard to get. Families light fires to heat the house and provide light to read. That comes with a cost. Indoor air pollution has serious health impacts.

Barefoot Power, however, has a small solar panel that attaches to a light and can recharge mobile phones that many use to pay for products. The distribution, however, is not through the government but through a market system. A group of women travel from village to village, selling the panels and collecting money.

Solar panels sold by a business using a market-based system is doing what politicians cannot.

These are just three small reasons we say “Every Day is Earth Day in a Free Market.” Happy Earth Day.