Kyoto Krusade

Kyoto, a political football from the beginning, has devolved into a modern day Children's Crusade, with some opportunist hangers-on. It's entered the catechism of environmentalist romantics on their holy mission to save Mother Earth from satanic humanity, and of the international Hard Left as a wonderfully convenient weapon against capitalism generally, and against the U.S. specifically.

This is just what the world needs, yet another coalition of mindless innocents and cynical manipulators marching forth under the banner of yet another Morally Good Idea. Bjorn Lomborg has had the bad taste to actually analyze the data and policy implications, and he's paid the price, professionally and personally, for arguing that the Idea here is neither good nor moral. Below is an excerpt from Bjorn Lomborg's article in today's Telegraph, Save the world, ignore global warming.

Byron

Even if everyone (including the United States) did Kyoto and stuck to it throughout the century, the change would be almost immeasurable, postponing warming by just six years in 2100.

Likewise, the economic models tell us that the cost is substantial. The cost of Kyoto compliance is at least $150billion a year. For comparison, the UN estimates that half that amount could permanently solve the most pressing humanitarian problems in the world: it could buy clean drinking water, sanitation, basic health care and education to every single person in the world.

Some of the world's top economists – including three Nobel Laureates – answered this question at the Copenhagen Consensus last May, prioritising all the major requirements for improving the world. They found that dealing with HIV/Aids, hunger, free trade and malaria were the world's top priorities. This was where we could do the most good for our dollar. Equally, the experts rated urgent responses to climate change at the bottom.