Monday, August 16, 2010

Why Climate Change Doesn't Matter


The hacking and release of hundreds of emails from Britain's Climate Research Unit has recently given climate change skeptics a serious shot in the arm. There is now the apperance of, if not hard evidence pointing to some very important climate scientists hiding and falsifying research in order to sell the theory of man-made climate change. I suppose I do consider myself a bit of a climate change skeptic, but I'm not going to pretend to know enough about climate science to settle the issue here. The argument I want to make is that no matter where you fall on the climate change issue, the proposed solutions are almost certainly worse than the disease. Thus climate change, real or false, just plain doesn't matter in regards to policy.

We are living in an age where technology has made traditional pollution a much more minor issue than it was in the past. Our big cities actually have much cleaner air than they did in the 1970's and early 80's. The one thing that has remained constant, no matter how efficiently we burn our fuels is the fact that our automobiles and power plants are still pumping out tons of C02 gas. No matter where you stand, you have to admit that some very reputable scientists have built credible climate models that point to this C02 gas adding to a global greenhouse effect. This is certainly less than desirable. Some may be fudging some facts here an there, but there are too many good scientists supporting this theory for us to completely disregard their work.

Sadly, the problem isn't as simple as us deciding to either agree or disagree with these scientists. The very nature of a problem is that we should find a way to solve it, and this is a fine example of the cure being worse than the disease. We have a rapidly developing world at the moment. Millions of people in China and India are clawing their way out of abject poverty and building better lives for themselves and their families. Any solution to restrict C02 emissions enough to have an overall impact on the climate would have to be so draconian, it would by definition make the sorts of lifestyles being pursued by billions of individuals all over the world a virtual impossibility.

Ultimately, it will be nearly impossible for any government or world body to produce any regulations that will cut these emissions by 30-40%. But that isn't the main problem. The huge issue here that isn't often discussed is related to politics and human nature. The same sorts of people who have always attached themselves to collectivist laws and central planning have been drawn to the cause of global warming like hippies to a drum circle. These sorts do not care about the plight of the poor, or those who aspire to a better life. They want power to manipulate and plan our society. They are either naive utopian thinkers (borderline communists), or worse, just plain old power hungry autocrats and influence peddlers.

Even if global warming is real, I'd rather the world learn to deal with the outcome than give a few chosen bureaucrats the power to reorder our society enough to control that warming. We know for a fact that the earth has been warmer than it is now, and as far as I can tell that wasn't catastrophic for life on our planet. But the old saying "absolute power corrupts absolutely" really does apply here. There isn't a governing body on the planet that we should trust to solve this problem without huge impacts that would violate the basic human rights of people all over the world. So the next time you are arguing global warming with your liberal friends, please do not take the stance that global warming is false or a hoax. Neither you or the godless hippie know enough to answer that question.

The dialog we need to be having is not how it can be solved, but if we are willing to grant certain people enough power to solve it? If you want to win that argument, you need to attack it from a humanitarian or human rights perspective. If global warming is false, the issue will vanish over time... we can just hope we haven't given up all of our freedoms or damaged the engine of our economy too greatly in the meantime. If global warming is real, we should still let market forces determine fuel prices and the viability of new energy sources... anything else would be foolish utopian thinking. When push comes to shove, even most liberals aren't complete totalitarians, and we need to be making an honest argument about the things in this world that really matter. Those things are our basic freedoms, human rights, and the avoidance of tyranny.

We can probably learn to deal with the outcome of global warming, and healthy markets will make sure that the proper messages are sent and received when it comes to cleaner, greener energy. What we can't do in the time being is leave our children with a world where they do not enjoy the same basic freedoms that we take for granted. We can't trust anyone to plan our economic and personal destinies. This is exactly what global warming alarmists aim to do.