The Objective Standard Blog
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Caps on Fossil Fuels Would Be Devastating by Alex Epstein
The UN Secretary General echoed a common sentiment Monday when he claimed that the failure to take dramatic action in response to global warming would bring "devastating" consequences. But the truly devastating thing about the global warming issue is the proposed response to it: a severe cap on carbon emissions. The supposed "crisis" of manmade global warming is completely overblown. Even if the United Nations’ incredibly speculative projections of an 8-degree warming occurred, they would easily be dealt with by industrialized people with ample energy, transportation, sunscreen, air-conditioners, and sturdy houses.
But this ability to cope with any negative weather patterns depends on utilizing our most plentiful, practical sources of energy–including fossil fuels. Yet this is precisely the value that drastic caps on fossil fuels would destroy. Such a cap would stunt development of every facet of industrial civilization through energy shortages and higher energy costs in the industrialized world–it would deprive the Third World of the ability to generate desperately needed energy. Nothing could be more devastating than that.
Copyright © 2007 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.
Posted in: Business and Economics, Environmentalism, Individual Rights and Law
- Next Post: Congress Should Not Dictate Mental Health Benefits
- Previous Post: Reject the Latest Push for Net Neutrality
Email Updates
To receive TOS updates, click here.
Featured Posts
- Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand's Morality of Egoism
- The Little Dictators
- How to Solve America's Terrorism Problem in 5 Easy Steps
- Government Intervention: It's Not Just Bad for Business
- Altruism: the Morality of Logical Fallacies
Topics
- Announcements (135)
- Ayn Rand and Objectivism (85)
- Business and Economics (171)
- Education (42)
- Environmentalism (44)
- Events (91)
- Foreign Policy and War (179)
- Healthcare (69)
- History (35)
- Individual Rights and Law (280)
- Philosophy (114)
- Psychology (5)
- Religion (112)
- Science and Technology (47)
- The Arts (31)
Blog Archive
- Recent Posts
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
The Objective Standard Blog is powered by WordPress.
