Lomborg wrong again
The perpetrator of endless streams on environmental nonsense has struck again. Bjorn Lomborg asserts that becoming more energy-efficient doesn’t matter because we then just use more energy (“No, you can’t,” Dec. 13, page 9). While this well-documented “rebound effect” is undoubtedly true, Lomborg’s conclusions are wrong.
First, if our appliances had not become more efficient, then we would undoubtedly use more energy and therefore pollute more. Second, if many people, including me, did not attempt to minimize their energy use, we would use even more energy and pollute even more. Third, such messages send out the wrong signal, basically discouraging people from action because “whatever I do will make no difference.”
As the global economy grows, it needs more energy, especially as developing countries are trying to achieve a similar lifestyle to that of developed countries. If all of us were still using appliances from the mid-20th century, God only knows what our environment would look like. Therefore, we need to attack the problem from both sides: encouraging energy efficiency, but also making energy production sustainable and safe.
As the perpetrator of endless streams of nonsense about the non-existence of global warming and other environmental crises, Lomborg is single-handedly responsible for holding such developments back for years, if not decades. For him to now recommend green energy sources is disingenuous, to say the least.
Unless he recants all those anti-environmental diatribes published in several books and countless articles, nailing his colors to the mast of renewable energy, although welcome, seems to be another episode of his convictions “presenting an ever-shifting target” (“Global economy must be rebuilt,” Dec. 21, 2009, page 8).
What we urgently need to embrace is a comprehensive, integrated and sustainable strategy of global governance that supports massive investments into renewable energies, which are mainly solar, tidal and geothermal energy, as well as massive investments into energy efficiency. This needs to be combined with a circular materials economy, also called cradle-to-cradle, thus ending resource extraction and pollution of our environment.
Finally, we have to treat all living things with much greater care and respect, giving them enough space to maintain healthy ecosystems. Solving just one environmental crisis while ignoring the others is short-sighted and ultimately futile; for example, cutting down all the remaining rainforests in the next two decades may put as much carbon into the atmosphere as increased use of renewable energy may save — so we must act on all problems at the same time.
How much will such a program of enlightened global sustainability cost us? In the long-term, probably less than it will cost us to clean up the resulting mess of not implementing such a program. However, costs shouldn’t matter, because the world we want to live in is a “value judgment about what society thinks is important” (http://tinyurl.com/econ-growth-int). This is about quality of life, about intergenerational justice and essentially about our legacy to the future: a vastly impoverished world or a world full of life, diversity and joy — it is our choice.
BRUNO WALTHER
Taipei
When former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) first took office in 2016, she set ambitious goals for remaking the energy mix in Taiwan. At the core of this effort was a significant expansion of the percentage of renewable energy generated to keep pace with growing domestic and global demands to reduce emissions. This effort met with broad bipartisan support as all three major parties placed expanding renewable energy at the center of their energy platforms. However, over the past several years partisanship has become a major headwind in realizing a set of energy goals that all three parties profess to want. Tsai
An elderly mother and her daughter were found dead in Kaohsiung after having not been seen for several days, discovered only when a foul odor began to spread and drew neighbors’ attention. There have been many similar cases, but it is particularly troubling that some of the victims were excluded from the social welfare safety net because they did not meet eligibility criteria. According to media reports, the middle-aged daughter had sought help from the local borough warden. Although the warden did step in, many services were unavailable without out-of-pocket payments due to issues with eligibility, leaving the warden’s hands
Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told a news conference on Jan. 9, in response to China’s latest round of live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait: “India has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the region, in view of our trade, economic, people-to-people and maritime interests. We urge all parties to exercise restraint, avoid unilateral actions and resolve issues peacefully without threat or use of force.” The statement set a firm tone at the beginning of the year for India-Taiwan relations, and reflects New Delhi’s recognition of shared interests and the strategic importance of regional stability. While India
A survey released on Wednesday by the Taiwan Inspiration Association (TIA) offered a stark look into public feeling on national security. Its results indicate concern over the nation’s defensive capability as well as skepticism about the government’s ability to safeguard it. Slightly more than 70 percent of respondents said they do not believe Taiwan has sufficient capacity to defend itself in the event of war, saying there is a lack of advanced military hardware. At the same time, 62.5 percent opposed the opposition’s efforts to block the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.6 billion) special defense budget. More than half of respondents — 56.4
RSS