The new pollution

CAIRO, Egypt – Flying in and out of Cairo International provides a pretty sight. A massive, opaque brown cloud blankets the city and spans for miles.\nI know that to certain Americans, global warming just isn’t a problem. But living in the world’s most polluted city is giving me a not-so-nice preview of what we Westerners and our slam-bang capitalism have in store for our kids.\nThe Bush Administration’s case for global warming is not just wrong – it’s logically inconsistent. It doesn’t even have an argument. Let’s look at its view concisely: The administration believes that global warming is not as serious as the repercussions that would follow from market inefficiencies due to new environmental standards. \nWhy is this inconsistent with the world we see every day? Because we live in a world full of market inefficiencies. It’s called “compromise.” And you know what? That’s okay!\nLook around: smokers choose not to eat at that restaurant because it’s smoke-free. There’s a move to eradicate poppy fields from Afghanistan when the crop accounts for a huge chunk of the country’s gross domestic product. Everything from legal labor unions to in-state student discounts demonstrates the prevalence of such market inefficiencies all around us.\nShall I go on? Because if we were to go on the logic President Bush is using – the market trumps all – we’d be living in some frightening real-life version of an Ayn Rand novel, where those friendly United Auto Workers guys are thrown in jail, no one’s ever heard of public education or health care and the middle class is a thing of the past.\nWhat’s next? Privatized air?\nGet serious, people – look at the world we live in. We make efficiency sacrifices, like those above, all the time – why is the environment exempt? If carbon emissions continue on at this rate, huge cities will be under water. Period. Biology comes before economics, and there are completely responsible ways to deal with the problem. We absolutely must continue with the development of a global market for pollution emission permits. It’s the most cost-effective solution to a problem that we flat out have to deal with. \nAnd contrary to what Rush Limbaugh might tell you, ignoring the problem is simply no longer an option.\nThe United States refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, calling its targets arbitrary and too costly for compliance. If these targets aren’t the winners, keep looking – Kyoto isn’t perfect, but it’s a much-needed step in the right direction.\nConservatives are reasonable in wanting to be cost-effective on this. But they’re completely wrong in pretending global warming doesn’t exist and conducting, quite literally, business as usual. If Bush is this concerned about pinching pennies, one would think he wouldn’t be dropping an estimated $2 trillion in Iraq.\nThe best use of our money? Come on.\nGlobal warming is not a hippie thing; It’s an “I do not believe 2 + 2 = 5” thing. Stop playing the Al Gore blame game; take some responsibility and recognize that this problem needs to be addressed. \nNobody wants Cairo air.