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I wasn’t sure whether to reblog josephweisenthal or insomnambulance on this. I’m going with Joe, less because of the other’s balls-out “Suck it, Granola” anti-environmentalism than because unless you’re writing for thisrecording, titling your post with “In Which We…” (or “I”) is Already Over.
Joe:
(via clusterstock)
Is Green Tech Dead With Oil At $25?
Joe Weisenthal | Dec 6, 08 2:24 PM
Now that $25 oil is the new $200 oil, there’s concern that any strides we might have made towards cleaner fuel were all for naught, and that green is dead until oil spikes again. Many people even find the drop in oil prices unfortunate for that reason.
I certainly think just exactly that. But for a different perspective, let A Dismal Science (via his tumblr, insomnambulance) pick up the thread:
Lots of people are saying this is a bad thing, particularly Green activists, but Fuck Them. I don’t drive to work with a tankful of sunshine and happiness, and right now lower gas prices are a big, fat disposable income boost. I can use this money to invest, to buy products, to pay for services, etc. This is great for our economy.
Not to belabor the point (or to dignify that oh-so-persuasive “Fuck Them”), but these “rational economic” arguments miss the basic fact that, on the track we’re on, we are all going under. We are now looking at climate change that will disrupt agriculture and food supplies globally, alter coastlines, increase the severity of deadly hurricanes, kill ocean life, spark political instability, terrorism and warfare and, by some (OK, very alarmist) estimates, cause massive population decline by the end of this century. Is that going to be “great for our economy”? How will that affect your ability to buy goods and services with all that money saved at the pump? Or your investments?
You have to laugh, or cry, when melting polar ice allows us to “drill, baby, drill” in previously inaccessible parts of the Arctic for more oil.
Cost-benefit analysis of fuel efficiency and alternative energy is great, but do you argue about the economic merits of calling the fire department when your house is burning down?
See also: Why $5 Gas Is Good for America, Spencer Reiss, Wired, Dec. 2005.
