How to solve global warming? Plant a tree.
An article from the Pacific Research Institute makes some interesting points about the global warming issue and its eventual resolution.
The difficulty of shifting an entire economy from fossil fuels was demonstrated by the Department of Energy when it found that even if the nation got 140 million cars converted to some alternative fuel by 2020, it would only reduce fossil fuel use of 5.4 percent. The most important thing could be what the mayors agreed to as their World Earth Day measure - planting trees and improving green space.
The United States has been doing that on a massive scale, adding a million acres of forest a year since 1910. This coincides with the mechanization of agriculture. As Clemson economist Robert McCormick has noted, richer nations plant trees rather than destroying them. Developed nations may produce more emissions, but they also take more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than poorer nations do. McCormick predicts with continued economic growth that “the growth rate of net carbon emission per person will soon be negative in the United States.”
Ultimately the solution will be the actions of those taking positive steps, planting trees and inventing more energy efficient machines, rather than negatives steps, i.e., curbing the use of fossil fuels. Read the entire article here.