Political leaders around the world have now spent more than two decades setting targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide that no one has any realistic hope of achieving.
In the United Kingdom, emissions are being reduced at a rate of 1 percent per year.
To meet the country’s target by 2022, that reduction will have to happen at a rate 4 to 5 times that.
Germany, which is building new coal-fired power plants, will also miss its 2020 emissions target.
Alternatives like solar and wind are simply not able to produce enough reasonably-priced, reliable energy that’s necessary for an advanced, industrial economy.
Over the past 40 years, worldwide carbon dioxide emissions have taken a significant drop only once.
That was during the depth of the global financial crisis in 2009.
For the most part, when carbon dioxide emissions disappear, so do economic opportunities.
Manufacturing jobs in sectors like the auto industry need dependable, affordable power – not the unreliable, expensive electricity that’s generated by wind turbines.
It’s also important to remember the overall social cost in the debate over carbon dioxide emissions.
Coal mining supports thousands of families, as do oil wells.
Governments must pay more attention to the impact their environmental policies have on workers and their families.
I’m Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.
For more on energy and environmental policy, visit www.fcpp.org.
