On the road to Liberty

Barun Mitra, co-author of Climate change and sustainable development (released 29 November 2004), writes "Not surprisingly, Kyoto does not sound convincing to the world's poor. For what this present debate over climate change has done is to divert attention from the core issue of mankind ó poverty." Mitra discusses a salient economic lesson from history ó "increased consumption stimulates efforts at improving efficiency, which in turn contributes to conservation, economic and environmental... The Kyoto protocol seeks to reverse this relationship by focusing on reducing consumption through punitive taxes and so on, which will not ultimately help conservation goals." My article titled Save the planet and the third world will pay was published In Sunday Times on December 5 2004. The Kyoto protocol was finally ratified a few weeks ago. It seeks to promote energy efficiency and alternatives to fossil fuels, and insists on reductions in the emission of greenhouse gas...

Does Anita Roddick warm her home with cow or buffalo manure? No? Then why is the Body Shop owner telling poor rural Indians that they should choose outdated and dangerous energy sources instead of the modern electricity that she and many of her do-gooder counterparts in organisations like Greenpeace use? I ask this question in the article titled Stop energy eco-imperialism was published by the International Policy Network on 20 October 2002. Does Anita Roddick warm her home with cow or buffalo manure? No? Then why is the Body Shop owner telling poor rural Indians that they should choose outdated and dangerous energy sources instead of the modern electricity that she and many of her do-gooder counterparts in organisations like Greenpeace use? Though British consumers have yet to make dung warming stoves the 'must have' heating source this season, Greenpeace and The Body Shop's Choose Positive Energy campaign, urges developing countries to 'Choose Positive Energy' s...