Exploring Climate Change

Climate policies must benefit people as well as the environment. Fixating on scary stories about climate change leads us to make poor decisions. One CTV news reporter posted an article recently titled, “Here’s what the era of global boiling means for Canada.” The media outlets have become activists, reinforcing the extreme language against the backdrop of these wildfires. Imposing higher taxes to alter weather patterns is not resonating positively with the public, causing it to become a point of contention. Can we at least admit that it is as much a political issue as it is an environmental one?

 

Differing perspectives on its causes and consequences spark heated debates worldwide. Right now, there is nothing even close to a consensus on the scope of the problem or the best way to solve it.  Am I the only One?

 

Greta Thunberg is the poster child for this movement, but I’d like a more credible spokesperson than this.  She is very likely to live a longer, more prosperous life than her parents or her grandparents and be less affected by pollution or poverty. Maybe we need to dial back the panic, look at the science, face the economics and issue rationally. Am I the only one that would like to hear a healthy debate about climate change and what to do about it?  We should tackle it intelligently and stop exaggerating. 

 

 “Global warming is real – it is man-made, and it is an important problem. But it is not the end of the world” Bjorn Lomborg writes in his book False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic costs us trillions, hurts the poor and fails to fix the planet.”   One of the points in his book Lomborg explains that the elite use only a small portion of their large incomes on energy, so even dramatic price increases matter much less to them. Therefore, it is easier for the rich to argue for high energy taxes. In fact, financial benefits from climate policies (like subsidies given to a homeowner for erecting a solar panel or insulating a house or driving a Tesla) overwhelmingly go to the richest.

 

In False Alarm by Bjorn Lomborg, he writes, “The science shows us that fears of a climate apocalypse are unfounded.  Global warming is real, but it is not the end of the world.  It is a manageable problem, yet we live in a world where almost half the population believe climate change will extinguish humanity. “

 

Overspending on bad climate policies means underspending on effective climate policies and opportunities to improve life for billions of people.  Healthy debates light the path to understanding. Ultimately, the course we take, whether to unite in proactive preparation or not, rests in the hands of our political leaders and their approach to addressing this pressing issue.