Newsom’s Climate False Alarms

Economically Speaking Is Climate Change A Priority? by DAVID KESTENBAUM

December 15, 2009 Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, is roaming the halls of the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen. While Lomborg believes climate change is real, he thinks the approach being taken to fight it is doomed to failure. Lomborg also famously led a team of economists who ranked climate change low on a list of priorities when compared to things like combating disease. Needless to say, Lomborg is not a popular figure at the talks. Listen to the interview online

Chancellor Phillip Hammond was slapped down by Downing Street last week for warning that reaching net zero carbon emissions could cost the UK £1 trillion and require cuts to funding for schools, hospitals and the police force. Climate change needs a response, but Mr Hammond is right to highlight the cost – and in fact, he is likely to be underestimating the real price-tag.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO Saving Planet? Global warming is not a current threat but a future one. It will cause more heat deaths, flooding and lower agricultural productivity in hot areas. But it will also result in longer growing seasons, more precipitation and fewer cold deaths in most places. Attempts to terrify people about climate change have backfired. Political posturing by celebrity activists and scientists has undermined years of important work on the matter.