G8 Nations Leaders Make Insane Agreement on CO2 Emissions

The G-8 nations, consisting of the United States, Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada met and agreed upon drastic reductions in the emission of CO2. They set a goal for developed nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. They called upon the rest of the world to cut their emissions by 50% by then. This is primarily about reductions in CO2, which is more of benefit to the world as plant food than it is any harm. In fact, compared to the long term of world history the CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere at the start of the Industrial Age were very low and much too low to be optimal for plant growth. This extremely low CO2 concentration has served as the very poorly chosen reference point for CO2 concentrations minus the effect of man. Yet without man, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have almost always been higher than they were in 1850 and than they are now. Declaring a cut in energy use so drastic that the 80% reduction goal for CO2 emissions can be met in order to reduce plant growth and to prevent a possible, but not assured, increase of temperature of 0.5 C, is insane.

A big deal is being made of the fact that the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which includes the G8 nations and Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, and South Africa is going to agree that global warming should not be allowed to exceed 2 C. Of course natural forces have often made the world more than 2 C warmer than it is now, though this has not happened in recent human history terms. But, it is totally implausible that the next 100 years will see a rise in temperature of more than 0.5 C due to man-made CO2 emissions, so this declaration by the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate is meaningless.

The G8 also made pledges to assist developing countries to adapt to global warming. There will be many false claims of global warming effects to get such aid, but any damage done here will be small potatoes compared to that done by stunting the G8 nations economies with the massive energy taxation and the foolhardy redirection of money, employment, and skills into many forms of alternative energy which have never been able to compete in the free market with fossil fuels, despite much effort in the past to help them to do so. The lesson has been clear. When and if, fossil fuels become expensive enough, other forms of fuel will be developed, but this has never happened despite constant predictions that it would. As with corn-derived ethanol, the politicians will refuse to recognize the inefficiencies of wind generators, solar power, and biomass energy, with the consequence that huge resources will be wasted on them at the expense of everyone not working in those specific industries.

But all this drastic and unnecessary destruction of the greatest economies in the world is not enough for Oxfam, an international aid charity. That group is calling for CO2 emissions decreases of 40% by 2020 and wants the G8 to pledge much more money to help the poorest countries deal with "climate chaos." Some people are clearly of other worlds!

Of course, I would say the same of Obama and the other leaders of the G8 nations. They are all disconnected from this world. All of them have enough access to information and are supposed to be intelligent enough that they should easily be able to make the judgment that man's emissions of CO2 are not going to cause catastrophic global warming. If it is not going to be catastrophic, then there is simply no rationale for interfering with the private sector's use of energy to produce goods and services as efficiently as possible. There is no reason to impose government will upon the people in how they use energy either. It is a very valid concern for many that they and their family should be safer on the roads in a heavier vehicle. For Obama to put many thousands of Americans to death in road accidents in the name of a false global warming hysteria is simply an evil act. [It is a curious fact that everyday I see Obama stickers on SUVs. Apparently, his supporters rarely note where his policies would interfere with their own personal choices.]

It is incumbent upon a President of the United States of America to have a great deal more wisdom than Obama is showing himself to have on this issue. This is not a surprise, however, since he has shown himself to be wrongheaded on issue after issue. This man is clearly not an observer of the facts of this world. Perhaps we really do need to see his birth certificate. No, not so much to find out if he was born in Kenya or in Hawaii, as to see if he was born on a planet of another solar system. Admittedly, there is a more plausible explanation for Obama's and the other leaders of the G8 nations actions: they lust for power over the private sector of their economies and energy taxes, use restrictions, and subsidies are a very powerful way for them to attain more tyrannical powers.

State GDPs

In the last post on the G8, I presented the gross domestic products (GDP) of the nations with the 15 largest GDPs. Back in the heyday of the USSR, that country had separate representation of several of its "provinces" in the United Nations. If the United States were to have a similar separate representation of some of its states in the Gn, where n is some integer, California would certainly be represented and if the cut-off is maintained at the level of the GDP of Turkey as I suggested, then so would Texas and New York be represented. The GDPs in 2007 of the top ranked states, according to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis, are:

1. California $1.813 Trillion
2. Texas $1.142
3. New York $1.103
4. Florida $0.735
5. Illinois $0.610
6. Pennsylvania $0.531
7. Ohio $0.466
8. New Jersey $0.465
9. North Carolina $0.399
10. Georgia $0.397
11. Virginia $0.383
12. Michigan $0.382
13. Massachusetts $0.352
14. Washington $0.311
15. Maryland $0.269
16. Minnesota $0.255

20. Colorado $0.236

29. Oklahoma $0.139

32. Kansas $0.117

50. Vermont $0.025

I have included the top states through Maryland where I live and through Minnesota, where I was born and which is of interest to my mother. Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas are included because family members live in those states. Vermont is added best it is the state with the smallest GDP, which may be attributable in part to its real name the Socialist People's Republic of Vermont, once governed by Howard Dean, now chairman of the Democratic National Committee. A note to Barack Obama: There are only 50 states, not something in excess of the 57 states you claim to have campaigned in!

Florida's GDP is a bit smaller than that of Australia or Iran, but a bit bigger than that of Taiwan. The Illinois GDP is a bit smaller than that of Poland, but rather larger than that of Saudi Arabia. Pennsylvania ranks a bit behind Saudi Arabia, but ahead of Argentina. Ohio and New Jersey match of well with South Africa and Pakistan and ahead of Egypt. North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia are smaller than Egypt in GDP, but bigger than Belgium. Maryland's GDP is smaller than that of Hong Kong and Nigeria, but larger than that of the Czech Republic or Norway. The GDP of Oklahoma exceeds that of Kuwait, or Morocco, or New Zealand. The Vermont GDP is a bit smaller than that of Cambodia or that of Botswana! But even Vermont can take heart, since its GDP is larger than that of Georgia. The nation of Georgia, not the state of Georgia.