How to improve agricultural productivity

2013-03-11 Electric cars have garnered a reputation as “zero emissions” vehicles --- but Bjorn Lomborg presents facts and figures that demonstrate the exact opposite. He shows that electric cars are hugely carbon intensive to manufacture. They have an extremely short driving distance, which means they are unreliable – so most consumers have not been interested in purchasing them (even with a generous tax credits of up to $7500).  Added to all of this, the cars barely differ from conventional cars as measured by their carbon emissions. 

Bjorn Lomborg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, argued that overblown fears of climate change are costing time and resources that are badly needed elsewhere. This event was part of the 2022 Steamboat Institute Energy Conference held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. 

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a plan to reduce plastic pollution, which will include a ban on single-use plastics as early as 2021. This is laudable: plastics clog drains and cause floods, litter nature and kill animals and birds.

Of course, plastic also makes our lives better in a myriad of ways. In just four decades, plastic packaging has become ubiquitous because it keeps everything from cereals to juice fresher and reduces transportation losses, while one-use plastics in the medical sector have made syringes, pill bottles and diagnostic equipment safer.