Environmental Talk

Future carbon cops?

In a recent article, Robert Tracinski wrote about some disturbing features of the global warming movement in contrast to previous movements that attempted to exert political power.

He mentions two points that set climate change activists apart from some of their predecessors.

Regarding the first point, Tracinski notes:

In making the parallel to Communism, President Klaus cited the use of environmentalism as a justification for global central planning. But it is not just the vast scale of the controls proposed by environmentalists that is so revealing; it is also the detail. There is no aspect of life too trivial or intimate (as Sheryl Crow infamously reminded us) to fall outside of this new ideological regimentation.

Secondly, Mr. Tracinski points out that,

… this global warming police state has one big advantage over Marxism: it makes a virtue of the chronic shortages and privation that were such a mortal embarrassment to Communism. This time, [they] won’t have to explain away the lines at the stores, the decade-long waiting lists for tin-can automobiles, even the scarcity of decent toilet paper. These are not failures of the system: they are the goal of the system. They are all necessary to reduce our “carbon footprint.”

The article is powerful and thoughtful. Mr. Tracinski makes some well-reasoned points but also urges us to ask further questions about the goals and objectives of those who would look to control our lives.

There are many good, decent people out there who are committed to living their lives in a more sustainable way and who are looking to convince others of the merits of this type of approach without imposing their views on others. I like to think some of them are friends of this blog.

The danger lies when we attempt to use force in place of reason and political power in place of persuasion.

As Mr. Tracinski sums up:

No, we haven’t arrived at a green dictatorship–we’re nowhere near it. But with all of the environmentalists’ talk about the long-term consequences of our actions decades or centuries from now, we should subject their agenda to the same scrutiny. What ideological direction are they taking us, what kind of political and economic system are they seeking to impose–and what will happen to our liberty and prosperity, the day after tomorrow?

global warming, climate change, carbon cops, political power, Sheryl Crow, green dictatorship, liberty, prosperity