Bjorn Lomborg: US needs to start fracking for energy independence

John Kerry's private jet trip across continents to accept a climate award shows that we will never fix climate change with 'just manage with less' slogans.

Kerry is really honestly showing us that you can’t just ask people to cut back on flying, cut back on driving, cut back on heating and cooling the house. Dealing with climate change is a lot harder than the slogans would suggest. And even if we all stopped flying and switched to electric cars, the climate impact would be very small. 

Something was conspicuously missing from California’s primary this month. In the state that built its political identity around fighting climate change, the issue barely registered.

Voters fixated on affordability and housing. About 44% named the cost of living, jobs and inflation as the state’s most important problem, with just 1% citing climate change.

Even Tom Steyer, the billionaire who made his name funding climate activism, ran a campaign centered on lowering household costs.

Smart Solutions to Climate Change: Comparing Costs and Benefits

23 December 2010 TIMES Higher Education

Sweating over the heating bill Steven Yearley finds that cost-benefit analysis is of limited use when it comes to saving the planet Suppose the international community took climate change seriously and committed a quarter of a trillion dollars a year to the problem for the next decade: how would they best spend the money? (...) Read it online Book review Smart Sol 2010 Dec 23 Times Higher Education.pdf