Capital- ists are often accused of placing profit over planet. If they do, it’s only because poverty is a much more certain killer than climate. Global warming apocalyptists tell us that if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels there might be consequences a hundred years from now. Capitalists know that if we stop burning fossil fuels, the economy will go into an immediate recession. It’s all about priorities.
Big profits lead to a prosperous nation. A prosperous nation leads to less hunger, better working conditions, and longer, better, happier lives. It is no accident that most modem famines and sweatshops are in nations based on the writings of Karl Marx.
The planet is a much nicer place because of oil companies. I’d hate to live in a time without central heating and air conditioning. Thanks to petrochemistry and gas-fueled farm equipment, the world is better fed than anytime before in history. Thanks to the airlines and the automobile industry I can see more of the Earth in a month than most medieval explorers got to see in their whole lives. I like that.
Prosperity also leads to less pollution: the richer the nation, the cleaner the environment. Only the wealthiest people can afford luxuries like waste treatment plants and catalytic converters. If you really want to see people swimming in their own excrement, all you need to do is travel to one of the few remaining “People’s Republics.”
The legislation most environmentalists request the government to impose will affect my ability to travel, and eat, and afford the things I need. Right now I have a choice to bum petroleum or not. The environmentalists of the world want to limit that. It is not the environment I oppose, but the infringements on my freedom. If you count the casualties over the past century, you’ll find that Marxism is more deadly than nuclear power. Nuke plants count their casualties in hundreds; Marx counts his in the millions.
