24 February 2014
Who’s At Fault for Climate Change? It Doesn’t Matter.
There are many ways that the world’s richest communities can react to even the observed (as opposed to the modelled) warming of our global climate. We can diminish our habits that pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We can invest in finding less harmful substitutes for those technologies. We can learn to live with the consequences.
But refraining from restricting the consumption of fossil fuels by the world’s poorest countries because it deprives them of the benefit of hydrocarbon-fueled economic growth is a red herring. As we in advanced economies increasingly rely on alternative energy sources which cause less environmental damage, we can make them affordable for the nations that need them to spur their development.
It’s all a matter of cost. Regardless whether climate change is man-made, cyclical, or caused by factors we don’t yet understand, it will be expensive to deal with if we want to preserve an ever-improving future. The piper has to be paid so we can keep dancing.
There are many ways that the world’s richest communities can react to even the observed (as opposed to the modelled) warming of our global climate. We can diminish our habits that pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We can invest in finding less harmful substitutes for those technologies. We can learn to live with the consequences.
But refraining from restricting the consumption of fossil fuels by the world’s poorest countries because it deprives them of the benefit of hydrocarbon-fueled economic growth is a red herring. As we in advanced economies increasingly rely on alternative energy sources which cause less environmental damage, we can make them affordable for the nations that need them to spur their development.
It’s all a matter of cost. Regardless whether climate change is man-made, cyclical, or caused by factors we don’t yet understand, it will be expensive to deal with if we want to preserve an ever-improving future. The piper has to be paid so we can keep dancing.
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