Poverty Pollutes: Can we have our Earth Summit back, please?

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.

By September, the world’s 193 governments will meet in New York and agree on a set of ambitious, global targets for 2030. Over the next 15 years these targets will direct the $2.5 trillion to be spent on development assistance, as well as countless trillions in national budgets.

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.