Don’t believe in climate change? You still need a carbon tax

…So let’s say that climate change really is bunk. Does that mean that we should forget about carbon taxes, the development of alternative energy, and all the other steps proposed to fight climate change?

Not at all. In fact, there is only one such policy – carbon sequestration – that would be without value if anthropogenic climate change is a mirage. In every other case, the policies proposed to fight climate change are not only sensible, they are essential, even if climate change is dropped from the equation.


Here’s a fundamental fact about modern life: We are addicted to oil. It is the lifeblood of Western economies. If the flow of oil slows even slightly, the whole planet feels faint. If it were to slow to a trickle – as it would if, for example, a war closed the Strait of Hormuz – we would fall to our knees.

It is hard to overstate how vulnerable this addiction makes us. For the sake of economic and political security, the entire developed world must adopt policies in an effort to “destroy oil’s strategic role.”

That’s not me I’m quoting. It’s none other than James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and national security adviser to Republican candidate John McCain.

Canwest