Selected Columns
More than one side to environmentalism
Czech President Vaclav Klaus' book "Blue Planet in Green Shackles," whose Japanese translation went on sale earlier this year, is extremely thought-provoking.
The president says that environmentalism is a political ideology based on a groundless theory of global warming that puts an enormous strain on people. He says rather than a science it is a new type of religion. The president claims it is similar to communism in that it forces a world view on others without allowing criticism -- the aim of both environmentalism and communism is to seize power. Environmentalism attacks the fundamental principles that exist at the root of a free society, Klaus says. This is an economist-type approach along the lines of Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek, who gave rise to neoliberalism.
Klaus says that environmentalism underestimates the problem-solving abilities of a market economy. Cost-benefit analysis is important. To say it plainly: Rather than placing all focus on reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, he feels people should think carefully about the cost.
Needless to say, Klaus declares in the book that he is opposed to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions and other projects like it. He says that it puts forward assertive targets that come at a huge cost, while there are no prospects of success. The framework of the protocol is nonsense, he says.
But that raises a question.
Recently Japan purchased greenhouse gas emissions rights equivalent to 40 million tons of carbon dioxide from an allotment that the Czech Republic had not used, probably paying over 50 billion yen. How does the Czech president view this?
An official involved in the deal said that Czech officials did not seem particularly pleased or thankful to Japan. Something seems amiss.
One could imagine how the president might respond: "I don't value the Kyoto Protocol at all, but if Japan wants to buy the credits I'm not going to stop it. Japan has signed the Kyoto Protocol so it is obligated to achieve its targets," he might say.
Last year Japan purchased 15 million tons worth of emissions permits from Ukraine for about 20 billion yen, but money from the deal went missing, causing a commotion. The old saying comes to mind: "Soon gotten, soon spent." This bad habit must not be dragged into the "post Kyoto" era.
Nonetheless, the Japanese government should release its official view on the merits and drawbacks for Japan's economy in its decision to cut greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels. The current situation of picking and choosing what is convenient based on scholars' calculations is pitiable. Klaus would laugh. (By Michio Ushioda, Expert Senior Writer)
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) June 4, 2010