Captain Planet for veep

No Time to Think

CENTRAL to Gore's catastrophist world view is global warming--"the most serious crisis we have ever faced." The theory behind global warming is that carbondioxide gas released by the burning of coal and oil will trap heat from the sun, causing the earth's atmosphere to warm up by an average of 9* F. by the end of the next century. And this crisis is allegedly so serious that we don't have time to think about it: we must act now. But as Lucian demonstrates (p. 45) Gore's figures are at least three times too alarmist.

Gore has lent credibility to infamous doomsters such as Jeremy Rifkin, Paul Ehrlich, the Worldwatch Institute's Lester Brown, and climatologist Stephen Schneider by showcasing their testimony in congressional hearings. He ignores the views of, e.g., economist Julian Simon, food and agriculture expert Dennis Avery, and MIT climatelogist Richard Lindzen. In fact, Gore wants to shut off debate over whether we actually face an ecological apocalypse. He flatly asserted in Time magazine's "Planet of the Year" issue (Jan. 2, 1989): "That we face an ecological crisis without any precedent in historical terms is no longer a matter of any dispute worthy of recognition." He claims that globalwarming skeptics are "hurting our ability to respond," and declares that press attention to the skeptics "undermines the effort to build a solid base of public support for the difficult actions we must take soon."

Gore also implies that 98 per cent of atmospheric scientists believe we face an impending climate catastrophe. However, a recent Gallup poll found that of those scientists actively involved in global climate research, 53 per cent do not believe that global warming has occurred and 30 per cent say they don't know, leaving only 17 per cent who believe global warming has begun. Even a recent Greenpeace poll found that 47 per cent of climatologists don't believe we face the risk of a runaway greenhouse effect, while 36 per cent said a runaway greenhouse effect was "possible" and only 13 per cent thought it was "probable." Not exactly a solid scientific consensus for catastrophe.

To confront global warming, Gore proposes a "Global Marshall Plan" that would radically transform the world's economy. He would establish a United Nations "Stewardship Council" modeled on the UN Security Council to oversee international ecological agreements. Since carbon dioxide emitted by burning fossil fuels is the main culprit in global warming, Gore calls for a carbon tax in the United States. He also favors international "carbon emission credits," which would limit the amount of carbon dioxide each country would be permitted to emit. Implementing these proposals would not be cheap. A U.S. Department of Energy study concluded that achieving the relatively modest goal of capping C02 emissions at 20 per cent of 1990 levels would require a $500per-ton carbon tax. Such measures would cost $95 billion per year and reduce U.S. economic growth rates by 1.4 per cent.