There are those who think tax incentives are a great way to promote telecommuting, and those who consider it "social engineering" and hate the very thought All …OK, I’m embarrassed. Earth Day came and went with nary a mention from yours truly.It isn’t that I hate the environment. Far from it — while I’ve never had the urge to actually hug a tree, I’ve spent many a peaceful hour reading and snoozing in their shade, and I find them scenic besides. [ See this year’s list of Green 15 winners. | Keep abreast of green IT news and developments by subscribing to the free weekly InfoWorld Green Tech newsletter. ]So to make it up to you:I’ve been writing about telecommuting the past few weeks (you’ll find the articles in the Keep the Joint Running archives). In case you haven’t been following, it turns out there are five forms of telecommuting: ad hoc, scheduled, mobile work, remote workforce, and virtual enterprise. Only the last two result in clear and tangible savings, because ad hoc and scheduled telecommuters come into the office on a regular basis and need all the comforts of away-from-home when they’re physically on site. Because they need both off-site and on-site support and facilities, they cost their employers more than full-time on-site workers.And companies that would like to make more use of a remote workforce generally can’t (read: shouldn’t) try to accomplish it in a single step. They should start out by turning full-time on-site employees into scheduled telecommuters, so the entire enterprise can “learn its way into” the full-tilt boogie.Without a doubt, increased use of telecommuting is good for everyone. The most obvious social benefits: It reduces the need for highway construction and maintenance, as well as other components of society’s physical infrastructure.It reduces the use of fossil fuels.It makes it easier for the disabled to participate in the workforce.Which leads to a question of public policy — something I usually avoid in this space, but it’s Earth Day, so why not? Since telecommuting is good for everyone but in the short term increases costs for employers, we seem to have two choices. We can either provide subsidies, most likely in the form of tax credits for employers who encourage employees to telecommute, or we can “let the market take its course”–which is to say take no concerted societal action and hope employers will take the long view and make it happen anyhow.Detractors of the activist approach will probably criticize it as “social engineering.” Detractors of the let-the-market-do-what-it-likes approach will probably criticize it as a failure of leadership.[ Want help taking your IT organization to the next level? Check out Bob Lewis’s Keep the Joint Running webinar. Its 15 one-hour sessions will give you a whole new, entirely practical take on how modern IT needs to function and integrate into the enterprise. ] Not that anyone will pay much attention, but what the heck: What’s your take on this? Should the government take steps to encourage telecommuting or ignore the situation and wait to see what happens? Scroll down to the Talkback section and post a comment.Happy Earth Day! Earth is, after all, my favorite planet to live on and, I trust, yours as well.– Bob Technology Industry