Related to this is Jim Manzi’s post on the EPA’s carbon-emissions cap Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking:

“You can find the $2 trillion estimate right there in a table on page 101. As you work your way through the analytical assumptions, however, you find that (i) this assumes a 3% discount rate, which is nice work if you can get it, and (ii) even more amusingly, counts the benefits attributable to the whole world, not just residents of the United States. At this discount rate the report estimates the total economic benefit of avoiding one ton of CO2 emissions to be $40. How much of this the U.S. portion? $1. So more than 95% of the “benefit” in this cost-benefit analysis accrues to people outside the U.S. who aren’t paying the freight.”

Something else stuck out when I read the ANPR. It states, “GHGs become well mixed throughout the global atmosphere so that the long-term distribution of GHG concentrations is not dependent on local emission sources. Instead, GHG concentrations tend to be relatively uniform around the world . . . as a result of this global mixing, GHGs emitted anywhere in the world affect climate everywhere in the world.”

While we’re doing the regulatory whack-a-mole over here — and the slow bleed-out of our liberties which goes along with it — whether or not it has any effect whatsoever is entirely dependent on other nations and decisions completely outside our control; we’re sacrificing to kill the vermin, they’re happily multiplying them.

It seems Islam has no monopoly on martyrdom. Which brings us to the final point, which the Enviros know in their gut: to save the world, we’ll have to rule the world. Americans (I almost wrote ‘Westerners’) won’t sacrifice when other nations can free-ride and counter our efforts — I hope.

Of course, the only other option is a global leviathan. I wonder whose power will be called upon to underwrite it. . .