Lomborg in the WSJ

Speaking of Lomborg, here are some excerpts from a book review he wrote about Thomas Friedman's book in the WSJ...

In his latest dispatch on the state of the world, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded," Thomas L. Friedman makes it clear that he wants to improve conditions for mankind....But because of climate change (hot), ever-more people (crowded) and higher material aspirations of all in a competitive global economy (flat), he believes that the world's growth is leading us toward catastrophe.

Mr. Friedman, a columnist for the New York Times, describes this threat in the grimmest of terms....Relentlessly, Mr. Friedman spins toward an extreme answer: We desperately need a green revolution involving a rapid reduction in CO2 emissions....

Let's be clear. Global warming is real and man-made. I take as my starting point the findings of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Denying climate science is foolish. But so is denying climate economics, the costs of which could run into the hundreds of trillions of dollars. Depressingly, Mr. Friedman throughout "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" simply does not talk seriously about the costs of his proposed solutions. He also fails to weigh those costs against the benefits, and he doesn't consider the threat of global warming in the context of other significant threats to the world's well-being....

Mr. Friedman is a smart guy, and he has interviewed a lot of interesting people for "Hot, Flat, and Crowded." The problem is that they are essentially all on the same side of the issue. His sources are mostly climate campaigners, politicians who've made climate a big issue and businessmen who would gain a lot from regulation. Not surprisingly, they fundamentally agree on the size of the problem and its solutions....

Underlying Mr. Friedman's argument is a deep consideration for the world's poorest people. He talks about how global warming will dramatically add to the many burdens of the poor, including disease and hunger -- global warming, in a sense, is the straw that will break the camel's back. But instead of focusing on removing this single straw at extreme cost, maybe we should remove some of the great loads from the camel's back at much lower cost. In other words, if we want to help real people, let's tackle malaria, famine, the lack of clean water directly. It is a shame Mr. Friedman ended up selecting the worst solution to the least solvable challenge....