How To: Destroy a Planet Part II

As a regular reader of Paul Krugman's blog and NY Times column, I've grown somewhat enamored with the Nobel laureate. So much so that I've developed a bit of a heterosexual man-crush. But my being smitten is not what's important right now. Moving along...

Krugman is vastly knowledgeable about a number of issues, most of which are very close to my heart. I must admit I have very little interest in international economics, which is the Princeton economist's forte. But I do have a lot of interest in politics, particularly with respect to health care and social security, as I'm a firm believer in the importance of insuring the welfare of this fine country's populace. Poverty is, after all, a despicable thing. I also have a lot of interest in climate change, and this is a topic that Krugman addresses often and with great care. Case in point: Krugman's recent column, titled 'The Truth, Still Inconvenient.'

This is a very well written and thought out essay, but there is one point in particular that I would like to emphasize. Krugman indicates that climate change deniers are guilty of a certain degree of irresponsibility. After all, if climate change is indeed a myth, then the worst that could happen is that we uselessly spend a fraction more money than normal on trying to be more responsible citizens of our planet. On the other hand, if the multitude of research studies prove to be correct and climate change is a real and dangerous phenomenon, then the climate deniers have committed an egregious act of purposeful obfuscation that could be absolutely catastrophic. So you can kind of see how the consequences of these scenarios are not really equally balanced.

I know that I am certainly biased and may be oversimplifying the situation, but I think the overall idea here is most definitely accurate. But hey, this is something I've already discussed in a previous post. It's difficult to stress, though, how important this idea is: it's all about the consequences of one's actions, and it seems to me that staunch climate deniers have done a very poor job weighing the consequences of their actions.