Climate Change Ponzi Scheme

How to ward off a Madoff-like moment with intergenerational extortion

SEBASTOPOL, CALIF.–A Ponzi scheme is a simple fraud. Each generation of investors is paid out by the next generation of investors. Eventually this system collapses, because the new generation of investors can’t cover the transaction of the previous generation. That sounds very much to me like the climate change situation we have right now.

Every generation so far has expected the next generation to absorb its carbon investment into the atmosphere. Speaking not just as a scientist but as a new father, I’d wager that the next generation–my son’s generation–faces a Madoff-like moment when the system collapses, the environment collapses, and very likely we’ll have a whole load of civil unrest and other nasty consequences.

Funny enough, we understand the global climate system better than we understand financial markets. We can see this eco-Madoff moment coming, but it doesn’t look like we are willing to take measures to ward it off. Much like Madoff’s investors, we’re soothed by numbers backed by scanty auditing and happy to soak up the “benefits” of continuing our CO2 heavy lifestyle. We’re not eager to pay the cost of say, additional regulation or restrictions that might rein in the excesses and stop this Ponzi scheme from running amuck.

So here’s the idea I will give my son for dealing with this situation: intergenerational extortion.

Forbes