The Green Economy: Pro and Con

This morning Tom Friedman proclaimed that he had drawn the only correct lesson from the Gulf oil spill: we need to green the economy, tax carbon emissions, and promote new green technologies. Link here.

Which means that Friedman thinks that the spill proves that we should do what he has always been saying that we should do. It's nice to be smart enough to be able to find evidence that proves you were always right.

In the great debate over greening the economy, Friedman represents the pro side.

For the con side, I recommend that you have a look at Christopher Horner's article on Pajama's Media. Horner has managed to acquire a confidential report, prepared by and for the Spanish government, that analyzes the results of Spain's green economy initiatives. He offers some commentary, a translation of the report, and a link to the original Spanish version. Link here.

Contrary to the gossamer visions of Tom Friedman, Spain's experience with a green economy has been very, very costly. These environmentally friendly policies have produced higher unemployment and have helped send the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.

Thus, Horner and the Spanish government adequately represent an opposing point of view.

In a better world, both points of view would be debated in Congress and in the news media. Alas, we do not live in a better world. But fortunately, we do have the blogosphere to provide us with what the mainstream media finds unworthy of attention.