Is Fighting Climate Change Bad For the Economy?

One of the many false claims - and there really are a lot of false claims - made by the denier industry is that it would be bad for the economy if we did anything about global warming. Stop and think about that for a moment. That is like saying it is bad for the economy to put out house fires. If the house burns to the ground, the house and all of its contents will have to be replaced, thus creating jobs. If people get killed, so much the better because that will open up some jobs somewhere for someone else. So, every time the fire department puts out a house fire they are putting lots of people out of work.

You might think I'm being over the top in making that comparison to the denier industry and you would be right. The denier industry is much worse than what I just alluded to. The fact is, the world economy is suffering hundreds of billions of dollars, even trillions of dollars, in damages worldwide and it is estimated that as many as 400,000 people are dieing each year due to climate change. This is not some figure that is estimated for 100 years from now. This is what is going on right now, every year. And, that casualty figure does not include the number of people that become ill or injured, just the ones that die.

If you find that line of reasoning offensive, all I can say is that you should. And, you should find it offensive that the denier industry is saying global warming is good for us and everyone that listens to them is buying into it and repeating it. But, that's the point here. They are saying it and people (contrarians) are believing it. It makes me wonder what kind of horrible sickness do they have? Some kind of Ebola virus of the logical thought process, but it doesn't kill your body, just your ability to think logically - Ebola Denier.

All you have to do to see just how ridiculous the denier industry is on this issue is to look at who profits and who loses with global warming:

Winners: The Koch Brothers, Saudi Arabia, the coal industry, ExxonMobil, Venezuela, Iran, Islamic terrorists

Losers: Anyone having to pay for groceries, anyone having to pay for insurance, anyone having utilities they have to pay for, anyone that is concerned about getting a job, anyone living in a low-elevation area, farmers, ranchers, anyone that can get sick from diseases, anyone vulnerable to wildfires, anyone that is subject to the weather

Which one of those groups do you fall in? Then, if you are a contrarian, ask yourself - Why do you cling to your disproved beliefs? You are one of the losers, and you still want to believe what the billionaires are telling you? Apparently, they don't have enough money and you have too much. Take out your checkbook and write them a check.

The fact is, we can fight climate change and grow the economy at the same time. Again, stop and think about it. If we are spending money and doing work to fight global warming, where is that money going and who is doing the work? Is it really that hard? If we are spending a lot of money to fight global warming, the money has to go somewhere, it has to be spent on something. The purchase of products and services to fight global warming means someone has to make those products or provide those services. And, every time we talk about hard work to fight this problem, someone has to be doing the hard work. In both cases, we are creating jobs.

But, the denier industry will tell you that people will lose their jobs. And, this time they aren't lying to you. There are people that will lose their jobs if we fight global warming: The Koch Brothers, coal industry executives, oil industry executives, Islamic terrorists, government officials in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran. 

Now, I think, we can all see why so much money and effort is being put into preventing anyone from doing anything about global warming.

Here is an interesting report on the effects on the economy from fighting global warming.