On the whole I try to stay out of global warming discussions because I’m not well informed about it and don’t have much to offer. With that preamble, let me bring up this comment by Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic.
As someone who lived under communism for most of his life, I feel obliged to say that I see the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity now in ambitious environmentalism, not in communism. This ideology wants to replace the free and spontaneous evolution of mankind by a sort of central (now global) planning. (read more)
Those are some strong words!
I am reminded of NASA administrator Michael Griffin’s recent controversial comments,
To assume that [global warming] is a problem is to assume that the state of Earth’s climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn’t change… I think that’s a rather arrogant position for people to take. (read more)
The two men raise a thought-provoking point that deserves consideration, at least on some level-
What is best for the earth (a constantly evolving and changing entity) may not always be what is best for society (as we know it today).
Hmm…now what does that mean???