Free Enterprise and Global Warming

Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times columnist, who has been pushing for higher gas prices for the last several years, is promoting a new book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” No, the book is not about the oxygen bar at a ballerina convention. It is about, you guessed it, global warming, or “destabilizing climate change.” Proponents of global warming theories have had to change the branding because of recent scientific evidence that there is no warming actually occurring.

I confess I have not yet read the book, but I will, because Friedman’s last book, “The World is Flat,” was one of the most amusing books I ever read. Until his latest book makes it to a library near me, I will have to base my comments on hearsay, what Friedman himself says about his book. (Buying his he would not be Green.) Friedman seems to be an unassailable source, because on his website, Friedman proclaims himself to be “fearless, incisive, forward-looking, and rich in surprising common sense about the world we live in today.” I guess he forgot to mention modest.

He told David Letterman during his appearance on the show, that one of the chapters in the book is entitled, “China For A Day.” The concept is simple. If Friedman could become the tyrannical, human rights abusing dictator of the United States for just a single day, he could forever change the dynamic that underlies energy policy in the US. With an impish Robert Barone grin, Friedman says, “China for a day, but not two days.”

How reassuring!

It is an interesting notion. If we made Mahmud Ahmadinijad the dictator of the US for a day, we could forever end the threat of nuclear war. He would simply launch an all out nuclear war, thus replacing the threat of war with the reality.

But, back to the ballerina convention. Friedman is frustrated that the American public will not see the logic in his lifelong desire to see gas prices at $5 a gallon, at least. If the free market (UGH!) cannot establish and maintain that level, Friedman wants a tax to be levied to assure that gas will never again be cheap enough for people to actually be able to afford it. He reasons that prohibitively high prices for fuel will provide an incentive to move to greener sources of energy that cannot compete with gas on price.

No, I am not making this up. The only thing more remarkable about lusting after high gas prices is that the New York Times actually keeps running Friedman’s column. Maybe in New York City, nobody but cab drivers care about gas prices.

I am not a psychiatrist, but I can see that Friedman has a Freudian angst about free markets. In his mind, free market dynamics keeps getting in the way of what he calls “Geo-Greenism,” his name for the national energy strategy that will restore the competitiveness of the US, our image abroad, save the planet from overheating, make America “healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure,” at the same time, bring a second perfect NFL season back to the Miami Dolphins. OK, I made the last part up, but as long as we are dreaming, why not?

His theory is that, if the US leads the way to higher energy prices, the world will see that we are not only geniuses, but are leading the revolution “with the first Green President and a Green New Deal, spurred by the Greenest Generation.” Maybe this should be called the Irish Revolution, but Friedman has coined a new word, ET, Energy Technology, for his next technological revolution.

The hitch in Friedman’s giddy up is that being Der Führer of the US for a day is not nearly enough to start his Green Revolution. He needs to be the Emperor of the World for an indeterminate period of time. Anything short of that, and it just won’t work. Because of free markets. There’s that term again, but if countries like India, and, oh, yeah, China, don’t decide to risk their economies, political stability and futures on unproven theories about green house gases, they will gain a tremendous competitive edge on those that do.

In fact, many countries will probably see a Green USA as an opportunity to gain on the big boys. The choice that Friedman offers is crystal clear, economic prosperity or Green. And, the bet is based on odds that have yet to be determined, since Al Gore decided that the debate over global warming was over.

Friedman’s proposition nicely sums up the frustration that all global warming – oops, climate change – advocates feel. When gas prices are too low to launch a revolution, it is difficult to convince people to pay more, when they can pay less. Friedman and other Green Revolutionaries do not understand this phenomenon at all. They also have trouble understanding why truck drivers prefer black coffee over a double mocha caffeine free latte with artificial whipped cream.

But, don’t worry, Friedman’s next book will deal with that. It is to be called, “Lukewarm, Watery and Sweet.” In it, the award winning author suggests that caffeine laden coffee be raised in price to $5 a cup. That will teach those truck drivers to do things right. Friedman just can’t trust free markets to get the job done.