Saturday, October 24, 2009
Bjorn Lomborg writes from the impoverished island nation of .vu (Vanuatu), poster-boy for how big nations don't care if small nations literally sink into the sea: The View from Vanuatu on Climate Change. He doesn't quite spell it out, but for those who follow Lomborg the point is fairly straightforward, rather than spending trillions impoverishing everyone by instituting artificial caps on industry with taxes and regulation -- curbs likely to accomplish very little if anything at all -- continue to increase wealth and help the people of Vanuatu by...helping the people of Vanuatu, directly (or by helping them help themselves).
...Torethy's life would not be transformed by foreign countries making immediate carbon cuts.
What would change her life? Having a boat in the village to use for fishing, transporting goods to sell, and to get to hospital in emergencies. She doesn't want more aid money because, "there is too much corruption in the government and it goes in people's pockets," but she would like microfinance schemes instead. "Give the money directly to the people for businesses so we can support ourselves without having to rely on the government."
Vanuatu's politicians speak with a loud voice on the world stage. But the inhabitants of Vanuatu, like Torethy Frank, tell a very different story.
