Sweating Out Kyoto

It’s over 90 degrees as I sit here, and I’m thinking about energy, the environment, and leadership.  If you read my prior post on the subject, you know that I believe leaders are those who can convince people to cooperate toward a common goal, trusting that their goodwill will not be abused by those who are just out for themselves.  I said there was no leadership on energy.

We don’t have air conditioning because in this climate, unless you have it and become dependent on it, you only really miss it a few days a year a few years a decade.  And on those days, you are begged not to use it.  With energy scarce and the environment only capable of holding so much carbon, with with so many billions living in multiple dwellings without cross ventilation, with so many people who are old and without health problems, I’ve decided air conditioning is one amenity we can live without.  But somewhere in the west, I’m sure Dick Cheney, who considers conservation a “personal virtue,” has an air conditioned dog house.

The Kyoto accords, which the Democrats were unwilling to support and the Republicans gleefully opposed, were based on the idea that developed world was the cause of global environmental problems, and only the developed world should sacrifice to solve them.  Wrong on both counts.  Whereas the developed world has stressed the environment with high energy use per person, the developing world has stressed it with population growth.  And for 35 years, the developed world has harangued the developing world to cut back on that growth, and it has done so.  But when the United States was asked to stop increasing energy use, it refused.

Thus, there is no leader with enough guts, and enough credibility to convince people to modify their behavior, if they would not do so otherwise.  I don’t pretend that modifyin one’s behavior and developing new technologies is cost free.  But not doing so is also not cost free – it’s just that the cost is deferred, and socialized.  So here I sit, hoping that other people’s air conditions don’t cause a blackout that will stop my ceiling fan from working.

I’ve now been taken off probation for posting all those large spreadsheets which shows how NYC compares with the rest of the country on local government revenues and expenditures, public employment and payroll.  Thus, I can now attach the carpooling proposal described in an earlier post. I developed this idea to reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility in auto-dependent areas like Staten Island, but energy would also be saved.

I hope that all of you right wingers concerned about terrorism, and left wingers worried about global justice and the environment, are as hot as I am if you are as healthy as I am.  It’s not so bad.  If it were cooler, I might have to do laundry instead of relaxing and writing this.  As it is, I’ll just take it easy and conserve power.

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