Suppose Al Gore is Right

Even if Al Gore is right, we are confronted with a rather stark set of choices:

First, no climate mitigation strategy as yet proposed will make a dent in warming (that’s assuming it’s anthropogenic). Second, wealthier nations tend to fare much better and to adapt better when confronted with any sort of extreme weather conditions, climate change, or related effects. [Note: even Bangladesh fared better during Sidr, for example, than it would have thirty years ago.] So, this comes down to draconian mitigation vs. local adaptation, even if the greenhouse effect is occuring and it’s caused largely by humans.

I highly recommend this article and others by Indur Goklany (pdf) on the question of adaptation, opportunity costs, and other strategies to deal with climate change. I prefer Goklany’s work to that of Lomborg, for example. While the latter has done more to quiet the alarmism, the former is more nuanced and not as concerned with offering centralized (UN-style) solutions to problems around the globe.
-Max Borders