Money, Money Everywhere But Not for Global Warming
by David Sassoon - Sep 22nd, 2008
in
I will tell our citizens and continue to remind them that the risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risk of the package, and that, over time, we’re going to get a lot of the money back.
President George W. Bush, 9/20/2008
No, he wasn't talking about action to address climate change, alas, though those would be the right messages. He was talking about his proposal for a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.
Let's review. Climate skeptics,delayers and deniers -- like the President and his cronies far and wide -- say that reducing greenhouse gases will ruin the economy. We cannot afford it. But with every passing day, we seem to be able to "afford" so many things that the day before were unthinkable. Here's a list off the top of my head. The latest $700 billion isn't the half of it.
- $700 billion bailout of Wall Street
- $85 billion bailout of AIG
- $200 billion bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- $30 billion bailout of Bear Stearns
- $700 billion for the Iraq War (direct costs only)
- $152 billion for the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008
That's almost $2 trillion. Seems like we can afford just about anything, doesn't it? (Except healthcare, groceries and gasoline, but that's another story.)
But somehow, we can't afford even the smallest baby step on climate action. Case in point, one more time: the extension of tax breaks for the clean energy industry. It would cost a mere $17 billion, spread out over 10 years, but Washington has failed to deliver.
You can learn a lot about a people by observing what they spend their money on. The same is true for collections of people, called countries. What do you say about a nation that spends its largest sums on a heinous war and an endless string of bailouts?
And not a plug nickel for the warming climate?
Oh, I forgot. We can't afford it. It will ruin the economy.
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