Pope Francis Demands The World Implement Carbon Pricing

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Pope Francis has demanded governments of the world punish the poor with regressive carbon pricing, to prevent an allegedly imminent anthropogenic climate catastrophe.

Pope to oil execs: We don’t ‘have the luxury’ to wait to fight climate change

Inés San MartínJun 14, 2019

ROME – Speaking to oil company executives, Pope Francis on Friday said that climate change “threatens the very future” of humanity, adding that the “doomsday predictions” can no longer be met with disdain.

“Time is running out!” Francis said. “Deliberations must go beyond mere exploration of what can be done, and concentrate on what needs to be done. We do not have the luxury of waiting for others to step forward, or of prioritizing short-term economic benefits.”

“The climate crisis requires our decisive action, here and now and the Church is fully committed to playing her part,” he said.

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“Such a transition involves managing the social and employment impact of the move to a low-carbon society,” Francis said. “If managed well, this transition can generate new jobs, reduce inequality and improve the quality of life for those affected by climate change.”

On carbon pricing, the pontiff said that humanity is called to use natural resources “wisely,” and their use can only be considered ethical when the economic and social costs of using them are transparently acknowledged and “are fully borne by those who incur them, rather than by other people or future generations.”

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Read more: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/06/14/pope-to-oil-execs-we-dont-have-the-luxury-to-wait-to-fight-climate-change/

The evidence that cheap energy creates more economic opportunity than renewable energy is overwhelming.

Compare the moribund economic performance of Europe with the ongoing explosion of wealth and opportunity in the USA. While I am not denying the value of other Trump policies, there is no doubt that a significant factor in the ongoing boom in the USA is the shale gas revolution which started under President Obama, and President Trump’s efforts to keep it going, Trump’s efforts to eliminate regulatory obstacles to cheaper energy.

If a “managed” transition to renewables actually was a national economic opportunity, there would be no need for carbon taxes or other interventions, people would embrace renewables of their own free will. Renewable Europe would be the global economic leader, not the USA.

That “short term economic opportunity” his holiness sneered at has transformed lives. People in the USA who would otherwise have only known grinding poverty and want now have jobs, they now have real hope for a better future, better access to healthcare, and better educational opportunities for their kids. When oil, gas and coal finally run their course, decades or more likely centuries from now, the good all that “short term” money has done will remain.

Pope Francis’ profound economic, political and scientific ignorance on climate issues, and his apparent contempt for economic opportunities, short term or not, in my opinion has real potential to cause harm. For shame, Pope Francis.