IQ2US debate about carbon emission Jan 15, 2009

"Here’s $2.5 trillion. You have 15 years to spend it. How do you distribute this money in a way that will achieve the most good for the world?"

Bjorn Lomborg just did a podcast with Freakonomics on his think tank's "Post-2015" project on the Sustainable Development Goals. It is the podcast for the #1 selling Freakonomics book, a #1-ranked podcast, with more than 5 million monthly downloads.

China's impressive economic development has led to terrible outdoor air pollution. At the same time however, indoor air pollution has declined substantially, and fewer people now die from air pollution in China because of less poverty and access to modern energy.

Lomborg writes in China's biggest English-language publication China Daily (500k+ copies) that with increased wealth, China can afford to protect more nature and reduce pollution.

Air quality has improved dramatically in rich countries over the past century. Yet air pollution is still a huge problem, especially in the developing world. It kills about 7 million people each year, accounting for one out of every eight deaths globally. But the most deadly air pollution comes from inside people's houses, because 2.8 billion people still use firewood, dung and coal for cooking and keeping warm, breathing polluted air inside their homes every day.