So, unilaterally we are going to solve the problem of global warming, it this the stupidest thing you're heard yet. We're going back to horse and buggies and France and Iran are going nuclear...what are we nuts!!!
Al Gore must be freekin' crazy, we're gonna go it alone? This must be a joint effort of all countries to be effective (presuming of course, global warming from co2 is for real). --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradh...@...> wrote: > > From NPR this morn, listen at: > > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105834436 > > Pushing Innovation, Not Regulation > > "Personal computers didn't take off because there was a tax on > typewriters, he says. And the Internet didn't sprout up because the > government made telegraphs more expensive. > > > "So is there a better way to do this? Well, we think that there is. > It's very simple: It's that we need to make clean energy cheap > worldwide." > > China will never stop burning its massive reserves of coal unless > there's something cheap to replace them, he argues. And the United > States isn't likely to stop burning coal, either, he says. > > Shellenberger and Nordhaus argue that the best way to develop those > clean technologies is to increase federal energy research tenfold, and > to create a project akin to the Apollo mission to the moon. But a > massive increase in federal energy research spending is not a popular > idea at the moment. > > "There's this idea that the government shouldn't be involved in > technology, the government shouldn't be picking winners and losers," > Shellenberger says. "Which is sort of a funny thing to say. It's kind > of like, well, why not? And when hasn't the United States government > been involved in picking technology winners and losers?" > > He points to the computer industry as just one example of something > that came into being because of deliberate federal investments." > > Tapping Into Americans' Love Of Invention > > Nordhaus and Shellenberger weren't always technology advocates. They > met as young adults, trying to save redwood trees on the California > coast. Working as pollsters and strategists, they spent a lot of time > figuring out what motivates people. That led them to rethink how to > frame global warming as an issue. > > "The things that will drive or not drive action have nothing to do > with how well you understand how fast the polar ice caps are melting," > Nordhaus says. > > A sense of doom or shame only motivates a small segment of the public > and puts off the rest, he says. Instead, their research shows that > people are motivated when the issue is presented as an opportunity to > revolutionize energy technology. > > "In fact, not only is it popular, but voters get excited about it," > Shellenberger says. "If you go and talk to folks in the Rust Belt, in > Ohio, or you talk to people in Silicon Valley, you talk to people in > New York, Americans love that. And they love that, I think, for > reasons that are really specific to the national character, which is: > That's what Americans do; we invent stuff. That is so much part of who > we are. It just seems crazy that we wouldn't put that at the center of > our policy agenda." >
