Friedman on Green life
Tom Friedman's essay yesterday in the NY Times magazine is lengthy, but accessible and a good read. His basic argument is that environmentalism is at heart a national security issue. When oil producing countries can't count on oil for funding, they're more reliant on the needs and desires of their people. Yet the costs of energy efficiency remain high. So, ultimately, Friedman concludes that we need to make the cost of carbon emission a real economic force in the marketplace, taxing carbon emissions and letting markets do the rest.
I'm not enough of an expert on the issue to comment, but it's a compelling argument. Given my family's current downsizing campaign, any move toward decreased consumption of anything sounds good. And the economic consequences of our current oil dependency are undeniable. In any case, it's worth the time to read this piece, I think.