Note: This is most of a recent Martenson Report that I am making public after numerous requests to do so. Normally I reserve such reports for at least several months before general release. I’ve only left off my conclusions about what this all implies about the future. One member from Germany (thank you Michael!) has translated this piece into German and that appears as a downloadable attachment at the bottom of the article.
Preamble: I normally avoid writing on Global Warming/Climate Change as a topic for discussion because it tends to be a heated topic for many people on both sides, which can work against collaborative solutions. This article is not about global warming and/or the science behind it, and it is not my intention to discuss those ideas here.
I want to point out that a massive discrepancy exists between the official pronouncements emerging from Copenhagen on carbon emissions and recent government actions to spur economic growth.
Before and during Copenhagen (and after, too, we can be sure), politicians and central bankers across the globe have worked tirelessly to return the global economy to a path of growth. We need more jobs, we are told; we need economic growth, we need more people consuming more things. Growth is the ever-constant word on politicians’ lips. Official actions amounting to tens of trillions of dollars speak to the fact that this is, in fact, our number-one global priority.
But the consensus coming out of Copenhagen is that carbon emissions have to be reduced by a vast amount over the next few decades.
These two ideas are mutually exclusive. You can’t have both.
