The Google Gapminder tool that everyone’s raving about shows up some interesting truths about the correlation between carbon dioxide emissions and Good Things. Take, for instance, CO2 emissions and life expectancy or CO2 emissions and infant mortality. The inconvenient truth is that affordable energy use is key to mass improvements in public health and welfare (one of the reasons why CEI’s ad campaign last year tried to point out the connection between CO2 use and life). Restrictions on CO2 emissions without an equally affordable alternative endanger public health and welfare. I hope the President remembers that tonight.