Net-zero climate policy offers much pain, little gain

2011-11-14 Seeming Green Bjorn Lomborg

COPENHAGEN – When Denmark’s new government ministers presented themselves to Queen Margrethe II last month, the incoming development minister established his green credentials by rolling up to the palace in a tiny, three-wheeled, electric-powered vehicle. The photo opportunity made a powerful statement about the minister’s commitment to the environment – but probably not the one he intended. (...)  

Activists constantly talk about the existential threat climate change poses and the deaths natural disasters inflict—but they never quite manage to total up these deaths. One reason is that it’s easier to bend the data about disaster frequency than to bend death statistics. Death tolls tell a very clear story: People are safer from climate-related disasters than ever before.

CLOUD CONTROL  Drastic and immediate cuts in carbon emissions, as advocated by most of the green lobby, are an expensive way of doing very little good. They would reduce growth and especially hurt the world’s poor. But there is another, better way There is a disturbing tendency among many in the climate debate today to deride as "deniers" anyone who does not advocate making huge and immediate carbon cuts. The framing began nearly a decade ago with discussions about the science of climate change.