John Whitehead:
Cheer up, Earth Day is over ($):
Earth Day has traditionally been the occasion for apocalyptic predictions: global famines due to overpopulation, cancer epidemics from synthetic chemicals, cities destroyed by accidents at nuclear plants, species wiped out by deforestation, crippling shortages of energy. Humans, especially Americans with their technological hubris, were doomed to be punished unless they forsook gas-guzzlers, turned off the lights and toiled in their organic gardens — complete, of course, with compost heaps.
The current apocalypse, global warming, is a more realistic danger than the previous ones. But after all the past doomsdays that didn't arrive, a lot of people are understandably skeptical of the ecoprophets, especially when the prophets start prescribing the same old penance.
...
While Europeans have been reveling in their moral superiority in adopting the Kyoto Protocol, the United States has been pushing technologies that involve less pain but more gain, like new nuclear power plants and methods of sequestering carbon. America has offered to help India build nuclear plants and is working in China to generate cleaner electricity.
At first, I posted this without comment. But after a few slow and then slower laps around the track I decided that ... yikes! I'm no nuclear opponent but if this is the new climate change technology that we're in cahoots with Australia et al. about, then, I think, we (at least, those of us who are "deciders") have absolutely no idea what to do next.
And, aren't those "methods of sqeuestering carbon" simply redefining certain areas as carbon sinks that weren't defined that way before? <= potentially ignorant comment!
via www.env-econ.net
