Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Catastrophic sea rises still in the offing.

Sea levels will rise much faster over the next century than had been expected even if governments are successful at controlling greenhouse gas emissions, scientists warned today.

Advances in the understanding of the mechanisms that control how quickly ice sheets melt have shown that sea levels are likely to rise a metre by 2100.

The estimate is almost double the projection of 20 to 59 cm made in 2007 by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Clinate Change (IPCC).

From Times on line.
And on the same page as this drivel, there's the

Green Rich List. 100 top eco-pioneers
How the world's wealthiest are becoming green

which says, to begin

Eco barons lead the way

THE global rich are going green as never before. This first Sunday Times Green Rich List shows that the enthusiasm among the world’s wealthiest for investments in areas as diverse as electric cars, solar power and geothermal energy is unaffected by the recession.

The Green List has unearthed 100 tycoons or wealthy families worth £200m or more who have made either serious investments in green technology and businesses or hefty financial commitments to environmental causes. In total, the Green 100 are worth nearly £267 billion.

This enormous sum demonstrates that many of the world’s richest tycoons and entrepreneurs have embraced environmentalism. Indeed, our list is dominated by America’s wealthiest financiers and entrepreneurs such as Warren Buffett (worth £27 billion) and Bill Gates (worth £26 billion).

Why do I find this type of high praise for millionaires going green, who can well afford the added cost of everything green, hypocritical?

It all smacks to me of "I'm all right, Jack. I can piss on the fire, my toast is cooked."

2 comments:

RebeccaH said...

The Green List has unearthed 100 tycoons or wealthy families worth £200m or more who have made either serious investments in green technology and businesses or hefty financial commitments to environmental causes.

Yes, but have they actually made a real difference to anything? I would think that's the correct question.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's just guilt?
but more like "I'm all right, Jack."

After all you'll find the, wealthiest people spouting the virtues of socialism.
Orion