NY Times uses football columnist to diss Al Gore on global warming
Ok, I exaggerate a wee bit, he’s also a scholar at Brookings.
Al Gore’s Outsourcing Solution – New York Times
Shorter Gregg Easterbrook
- Al Gore is a big fat phony, so let’s not listen to him
- China and India will emit a lot of greenhouse gases, so it is useless for the US to control itself
This guy should stick to writing about football, simple fact, the country that is the so called “leader of the free world” and that is currently the single largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has to take the lead, or at least participate in the discussion.
As my favorite economist Dean Baker points out, he even gets his facts misleading on China’s GDP using gross unadjusted GDP instead of numbers adjusted for purchasing power parity.
To be fair, he makes the valid point that a lot of gains are to be had by investing in India and China to make processes more efficient and hence reduce energy needs and emissions, but it’s not an either-or scenario. Even if India and China pass the U.S in emissions at some point in time, that still makes the U.S the third largest emitter, and if you look at both per-capita and aggregate consumption together, the U.S has to take major steps in addition to helping China and India with offsets and tech transfers. But you have to play the game!
Is Easterbrook saying the U.S can’t walk and chew gum at the same time? C’Mon!