01 May 2020
Paying the Price of Global Warming
Apologists for the ineluctable carbonization of earth’s
atmosphere point out that the world’s poor are the ones who disproportionately
bear the burden of reducing our reliance on hydrocarbon fuels for energy production. This beggar-thy-neighbor excuse for
justifying commercial behavior that threatens life on our planet results from
the refusal of those who have benefited most from fossil fuel exploitation to
pay a fair price.
We have not been paying the real cost of using these fuels to
spur economic growth. The possible loss
of the unique environment of the Galapagos Islands to rising sea levels is a
recent example. The uproar of France’s
“gilets jaunes,” against a wrong-headed policy of directly taxing those forced
by circumstances to use fossil fuels to earn their livings is a clear
demonstration that people are tired of allowing economic front-runners prey on
less fortunate members of society by taking advantage of their admittedly
short-sighted use of what is not good for them in the long run.
But we are not impossibly dropped between a rock and a hard
place. And the solution will not require
educating the majority of the population on the evils of using carbon-based
fuels. We only (?) need to educate the
energy industry that its profit has to be restricted without raising the price
of its products.
Yes, that means control—giving up part of the cherished free
market in order to save life on the planet.
A limit is necessary on everything eventually, and this one is critical. The rules of the economy do not stand
alone. We as humans created them in
order rationally to organize ourselves.
That means that we can and must change them when it proves
necessary.
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