The G8 Political Nonsense

Again we see a case where you wonder whether politicians are really stupid or whether they're just liars and con-artists. I personally think it may be a little bit of both.

First the G8 say that they're worried about rising prices for energy and food commodities. Completely ignoring of course how it is their governments' policies which have created these problems in the first place, by massive central bank inflation, by preventing drilling (See Joseph Farah's column on this) and subsidizing ethanol.

Then they say that global carbon dioxide emissions should be reduced by 50% until 2050. Making this kind of pledge for 2050, a year when none of these leaders are going to be in office and most are in fact likely to be dead, is very easy of course. It is also nonsensical since they won't personally be in anyway accountable for it. They might as well have pledged to cut it by 99% by the year 2550.

And more importantly, there is simply no way this goal can actually be reached, unless 1) Some new really revolutionary technology suddenly appears 2) We see a massive increase in global poverty 3) Billions of people are eliminated.

While alternative number 1 is by all means desirable, it seems highly unlikely, which leaves with alternative number 2 and 3, both of which I find highly undesirable. And not only should it be seen as highly undesirable for any sane person, it also contradicts their first point. Why complain if higher food prices lead to starvation? Fewer people mean less carbon dioxide emissions! And why complain if higher transportation costs leads to an economic downturn? An economic downturn reduces carbon dioxide emissions!

The whole reason why the high prices of energy and food is a problem is the same reason as to why the goal of reduced carbon dioxide emissions (given the absence of some implausible technological breakthrough) is not sound: it will lead to less human well being.