James Pinkerton

America’s carbon clash

US voters and the US elite have each reached a settled view on climate change. Unfortunately, it’s not the same view

issue 10 November 2012

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? In US energy issues today, the irresistible force is broad public support for more energy consumption; the immovable object, on the other hand, is elite opposition to that energy consumption, specifically hydrocarbons.

Four-fifths of American energy comes from fossil fuels, and so that accounts for a huge force of folks accustomed to driving their cars, heating their homes, and powering their workplaces by burning oil, natural gas or coal. Yet all that energy consumption — and the 5.2 billion or so metric tons of CO2 that it emits annually — is generating immovable opposition among green-influenced elites.

US public opinion is clear enough — it wants more energy, and more consumption. Last autumn, Gallup asked an open-ended question: ‘What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?’ A full 72 per cent cited economic problems, including 2 per cent who lamented high fuel prices.

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