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Earth Chats: Bill McKibbenIf we don't slow global warming through growth control, we'll have to fight its disastrous effects.


Posted Monday, April 21, 2008, at 5:26 PM ET

(Continued from page 5)

Population is in some respects a global problem that requires a global solution. We should do everything we can to help those who already have immigrated legally and do all we can to help those countries that are struggling with poverty but, isn't it environmentally destructive and counterproductive to use the U.S. as a safety valve for those countries that refuse to control their own population growth?

Bill McKibben: You can find many of my views in a book of mine called Maybe One. If single-child families were as common as two-child families in America, we could still have historically high levels of immigration and see pop. plateau in this country. the main point of the book was: if you're worried about your child being a crazy 'only', stop worrying—they turn out just fine. (and the biggest reason Americans give for having two kids is so the first won't be a single child)

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Ann Arbor, Mich.: While the U.S. long has been the world's greatest source of carbon dioxide, data now suggests that China soon will surpass us (and potentially already has) in this area. Given that economic growth and rising standards of living correspond with greater energy consumption, and that China appears to have adopted coal generation for its electricity needs, what can the U.S. do to help mitigate the effects that economic development in Asia will have on global climate change?

Bill McKibben: That's why they call it global warming.

We can't scapegoat China (see post from a few minutes ago explain why). But we can help build a global Marshall Plan that will give us some chance of reasonable burden-sharing

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Washington: Proponents of increased efforts to reduce carbon emissions often talk about the new jobs such efforts would create. Opponents argue that those efforts would destroy jobs, as industries with high carbon emissions would shut down. Please do not repeat either of those arguments. In general, the number of jobs in the economy is determined by macroeconomic factors; shifts in industries might move jobs—which can be awful for those who cannot transition—but the total number of jobs does not change.

The real question is what we want people to be doing: Every person working to reduce pollution is someone who can't be a teacher or a doctor. Is the reduction in pollution worth dedicating extra resources to that effort? Similarly, a coal miner produces both power (a benefit) and pollution (a cost). Is the net benefit positive enough and large enough to justify the resources devoted to coal mining?

Bill McKibben: If we don't get global warming under control, all we're going to be doing is deal with the consequences. Brazilian emergency rooms last week were admitting 80 dengue patients an hour in many regions—my guess is there wasn't much basic health education underway. So I think trying to prevent more such change is the wisest strategy in every way

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Bangor, Maine: In many countries where desertification is growing and lack of water has been and may be a continual problem, can large-scale greenhouses run off of solar panels, and can wart be recycled to grow some fresh vegetables or other food from seed or is the problem just too large? Quite frankly, the lighter jiffy 7 and containers are cheap and light to ship, as are the panels, etc., for greenhouses, and since ancient times some "garden" vegetables and foods have been grown in pots indoors. The problem is water. At least the seed, the peat pellets, soil, etc., is not like money or shipments of grain that suddenly can disappear without anyone knowing—either the greenhouse goes up and everything is there or you know it went elsewhere. If nothing else, wouldn't it supplement or ease some of the famine, etc., and teach how to grow and replant? Or is it too late?

Bill McKibben: Some interesting ideas here—I don't know the technical specifics, but do know that water is key. (And the warmer it gets, the more evaporates).

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Los Altos, Calif.: Do you support nuclear power as a way to de-carbonize our energy supply? How do you explain your anti-growth views to people in developing nations?

Bill McKibben: I think developing nations do need to grow. Los Altos, I'm not so sure about. I think that markets should decide, given a strong carbon sigal, whether nuclear power makes sense or not. My bet—it's pretty far down the cost curve. But I'm willing to be proved wrong by markets

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Hayden, Idaho: I believe the nation as a whole (through the Congress) should have a strong voice in controlling or steering growth, so as to avoid explosions of urban growth in desert areas like Las Vegas where water is in such short supply. State and local governments are unable to deal with the political pressures to get the job done. Why not provide incentives or tax limitations to direct growth in less sensitive areas, such as the Dakotas or the Midwest? Do you agree?

Bill McKibben: An interesting idea and one I've never heard before. I think the bigger problem in the years ahead is going to be how to deal with people streaming out of the desert southwest because they've become such difficult places

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Rockville, Md.: Greetings. People are learning and getting more sophisticated—even the president specified "cellulosic ethanol" in his speech on energy. But many argue from a position of generalization with stuff like "biofuels are evil." How can we get the discussion to an educated level, rather than just shouting slogans at each other?

Bill McKibben: I guess we need discussions like this one. Thanks to all for taking part.

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Bill McKibben is the author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, the Atlantic, Harper's, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, Outside, and Grist.
Photograph of Bill McKibben by Toby Talbot/AP Photo.
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