Monday, November 10, 2008

Al Gore's action plan for the new economy


The high priest of environmental reform explains his plan for transforming the energy industry in the US. A more holistic approach to the problem is provided by two Stanford economists. I must admit I do not know much about the state of this debate and remain skeptical to both sides. However, I cannot but feel that there is a tradeoff between economic growth and changing our whole energy infrastructure to go environment-friendly. To me there are two conflicting imperatives at work: a moral and an economic one. I totally respect both, but in times of economic crisis and when millions of people rise above poverty in the developing world the latter (at least temporarily) is of higher importance.

However, it is true that if we manage to wed Keynesianism (all those grids and factories that Mr. Gore talks about) to environmentalism that would be a miracle of human ingenuity. But will it work? Please leave comments and send links to seminal books/articles on this.

Update: The Economist runs a tirade against Obama's Green New Deal. Skip the article and go to the comments section where an actual discussion takes place. Once more, the readers are much wiser than the editors.

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