Review by: Scott Handy, President/CEO, Cass County Electric Cooperative

Disclaimer: I work for an electric utility and we use coal to make electricity. My job is to make sure that my members will continue to have affordable electric bills as Congress debates what to do about global warming.

Cool It begins by stating that yes, it appears there is global warming happening, and yes, some of it is probably caused by human activity. Where Lomorg departs from the more popular doomsday scenarios is what he proposes we do about it. This book, and the documented research backing it up, is critically important as our Congress begins deliberation on the Waxman-Markey bill to “solve” global warming.

Lomborg systematically examines the well-spun faces of catastrophic global warming: rising seas levels, human deaths from heat, the impact of the Kyoto Protocol, dying polar bears, etc. He states the “facts” as reported in the media, then provides a statistical analysis showing that the bark is indeed far worse than the bite. His next step is to propose policy initiatives that can make a real difference, at far less cost and are far less disruptive than attempting to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through cap and trade programs and other punitive methods.

One of a number of typical scenarios Lomborg examines is what the fate of global warming’s poster children – polar bears – will be. If media stories are to be taken at face value, one gets the idea that polar bears are on their last leg. But, as Lomborg points out, polar bears are actually increasing in numbers, about 25,000 today compared to about 5,000 in the 1960s. Moreover, the estimated 15 annual polar bear deaths on the west coast of Hudson Bay attributed to global warming is a fraction of the 49 that are shot by hunters in that region each year. Lomborg states the obvious: if the concern is really about the fate of polar bears, wouldn’t it make more sense to stop hunting them instead of risking global economic catastrophe from a cap and trade policy?

What’s really important about this book is that Lomborg is not a global warming ‘denier.’ He acknowledges that it needs to be addressed. His policy proposals for doing that appear to be effective, economical, and far more common sense than attempting to apply a political solution to a scientific issue. This book is a ‘must read’ for anyone interested in a meaningful debate on global warming.

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.