Monday, December 7, 2009

The Government is Far More Dangerous Than Climate Change

Unlike some on the right, I accept the scientific evidence that climate change is occurring, and that human production of greenhouse gasses is a contributing factor. I'm highly skeptical of the dire predictions of disaster -- about which there is far less consensus -- but I accept that there is a certain degree of threat. And I'm in favor of reasonable measures to reduce contributing emissions. But whatever the threat of climate change, it is dwarfed by the menacing heavy hand of big government.

The reason the most developed areas of the world produce the most greenhouse gasses, is precisely because those emissions reflect the scale of economic development, progress and wealth. It is not possible to drastically cut them back without inflicting grave economic damage, retarding or reversing progress, and destroying wealth. And furthermore there is no evidence that such cuts will have a major impact on the climate change problem. It has never been done, and we are in the realm of pure speculation. It is very unclear exactly how much of climate change is driven by human factors.

Yet there are those in government, and many advising them, that want to take drastic measures that will massively increase the power and scope of government interference with the lives of ordinary citizens. Most of them are not taking a sober look at the climate change problem, considering all opinions, and looking for reasonable, conservative measures that won't cause more harm than good. Instead they are behaving with the fervor of religious fanatics belonging to a doomsday cult. They have to "do something" to "save" the planet. Their proposed "solutions" to global warming, from cap and tax, to regulating greenhouse emissions, to the massive wealth transfer programs are far more dangerous than any threat posed by climate change. There are few things more dangerous than a government that thinks it has the right to seize more power for the public good, whether the public likes it or not.

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