Over the last week issue of climate change has dominated the news.
The Stern Report concludes that if we (businesses, governments and individuals) act now make the right choices we can avert the dire consequences of climate change.
The report argues that the cost of action to reduce greenhouse gasses is about 1% of global GDP each year. If we rise to the challenge we can have economic prosperity and preserve the planet.
In the past radical environmentalists have argued that we must make a stark choice between a consumer economy and destroying the environment or radically changing the way we live our lives and returning to some sort of pre industrial subsistance way of life.
Today there are those who deny that there is an overwhelming scientific consensus about the effects of greenhouses gases and who instead argue that it is a grand plot by politicians to provide an excuse to squeeze more tax out of us and interfere even more in our lives.
Unless you are a scientist it is difficult to truly know what is what. However I do feel that if we tackle greenhouse emissions we win either way. If the scientists are right and we rise to the challenge, then we will have saved the planet for future generations. If the scientists are wrong then we will have prevented the unnecessary waste of huge amounts of energy through investing in more efficient technologies. I for one am happy to pay the price.
No comments:
Post a Comment