Global Warming Thoughts

At first I thought the recent column by Robert J. Samuelson was your standard issue tree-hugger bashing article. But the July 25 article, which appeared in The Washington Post, actually has some good points.

Firstly and most importantly, it's almost vain to talk about reducing greenhouse emissions when our human population is skyrocketing. As Samuelson says,

"Even if California achieved its 2020 goal (dubious) and the United States followed (more dubious), population and economic growth elsewhere would overwhelm any emission cuts."

You tell'em, tiger. It's amazing that all these global warming groups talk about compact fluorescent light bulbs and other ways to reduce energy use, but they RARELY mention population. You can get a Prius, insulate your house, give up meat, and install a wind turbine in your front yard, but if you have a bunch of children your savings will be offset -- especially in America where little children are super consumers.

So, I don't want to bore anyone so I'll get right to the chase. Here are three things that Mr. Samuelson says that Congress can do to REALLY help:

• Gradually increase fuel economy standards for new vehicles by at least 15 miles per gallon.
• Raise the gasoline tax over the same period by $1 to $2 a gallon to strengthen the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and curb driving.
• Eliminate tax subsidies (mainly the mortgage interest rate deduction) for housing, which push Americans toward ever-bigger homes. (Note: If you move to a home 25 percent larger and then increase energy efficiency by 25 percent, you don't save energy).

I especially like the third point, and it's something I hadn't thought about before. Each day, all over America, air conditions are cooling millions of square feet of excess space. Americans have to have their trophy house, "bonus room" and an extra thousand square feet. What an incredible waste of energy. I'll take my modest 1,500-square-foot home any day. I have a few friends and relatives that have huge open spaces over their living rooms. What is the point? Why heat and cool a bunch of space that serves no purpose? That's just nuts.

Okay, you have to read the entire article to understand the last post. You can read it here, at least until they take it down. Now, for the grand hoorah:

"Prius politics is a delusional exercise in public relations that, while not helping the environment, might hurt the economy."

Well said, Robert. You are an all right guy.