In a column about “the environment” the other day, George Will quoted yours truly, and has received a lot of grief ever since for relying on a notorious know-nothing. See here (“Will Outsources Climate Change Falsehoods To NRO’s Steyn”), here (“Steyn is not, as you might imagine, a climate scientist”) and here (“Mark Steyn, a man with no apparent education or expertise on climate science”).
It’s true that I have no education or expertise in . . . well, anything, really. So let’s go to a man who does — New York Times honcho Thomas Friedman:
This bill’s goal of reducing U.S. carbon emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 is nowhere near what science tells us we need to mitigate climate change. But it also contains significant provisions to prevent new buildings from becoming energy hogs, to make our appliances the most energy efficient in the world and to help preserve forests in places like the Amazon.
Here is a picture of Thomas Friedman’s house.
Well, obviously, being a renowned expert, Thomas Friedman, like Al Gore and the Prince of Wales, needs a supersized carbon footprint. But you don’t — you can get by beating your laundry on the rocks down by the river with the native women all day long.
“Environmentalism” is a government restraint on economic advance and, therefore, social mobility. In other words, it’s a way to ensure you’ll never live like Tom Friedman.