Bill Gates says that capitalism cannot save us from climate change

[rangerrebew]

Bill Gates says that capitalism cannot save us from climate change
Posted 3 days ago by Louis Doré in people



The world’s richest man, Bill Gates, has said that the private sector is too selfish and inefficient to produce effective energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

While announcing his plan to spend $2 billion of his own wealth on green energy during an interview with The Atlantic, the Microsoft founder called on fellow billionaires to help make the US fossil-free by 2050 with similar philanthropy.

He said:

    There’s no fortune to be made. Even if you have a new energy source that costs the same as today’s and emits no CO2, it will be uncertain compared with what’s tried-and-true and already operating at unbelievable scale and has gotten through all the regulatory problems.

    Without a substantial carbon tax, there’s no incentive for innovators or plant buyers to switch.

    Since World War II, US-government R&D has defined the state of the art in almost every area. The private sector is in general inept.

    The climate problem has to be solved in the rich countries. China and the US and Europe have to solve CO2 emissions, and when they do, hopefully they’ll make it cheap enough for everyone else.

In recent years, China has surged ahead of the US and Europe in green investment, despite remaining the world’s most polluting country in terms of fossil fuels.

Between 2000 and 2012, China’s solar energy output rose from 3 to 21,000 megawatts, rising 67 per cent between 2013 and 2014. In 2014 the country’s CO2 emissions decreased 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Germany’s greenhouse emissions are at the lowest point since 1990, and the UK has seen a decrease of 13.35 per cent in emissions over the last five years, according to official quarterly statistics from the Department of Energy & Climate Change.

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/bill-gates-says-that-capitalism-cannot-save-us-from-climate-change--b1xNpbL8O_x

[Paladin]

"Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh was considerably perplexed during his Monday program, reacting to a news interview Bill Gates gave in which he said the free market could not create the technologies to curb greenhouse gasses.

“Did you see what Bill Gates did? Did you see what Bill Gates said? This is one of the craziest, nonsensical things I have ever in my life heard,” Limbaugh said, according to a transcript available on his website. “I understand why he said it. But it is just over-the-top unbelievable. Bill Gates says that capitalism cannot save us from climate change. Bill Gates says that socialism is the only thing that can save us from climate change.”

“This is just mind-boggling to me,” Limbaugh added.

For several additional moments, the pundit continued to react in utter shock at Gates’ comments.

“This is Twilight Zone territory for me. This is surreal. US-government has defined the State of art in almost every area? The private sector is in general inept?” he rhetorically asked.

Limbaugh went on to explain why he believes Gates holds his position.

“I don’t care what it is, these super wealthy people have a fear, or did at one time, of losing it. Not losing it. Not losing it, but having it taken away, having it taken from them,” he said. “And it is that belief of mine, that theory, which I have come up with to explain why people like Gates and Buffett and a number of these other super billionaires talk like Marxist liberals all the time. It is to keep people away from their money. It is to send the message, ‘Hey, we don’t threaten you, leave me alone. I’m spending all my money on philanthropy. I’m giving money to AIDS. I’m giving money to Africa. I’m giving money to global warming. I’m giving money to the arts. I’m giving money to support gay marriage and transgenders. Leave me alone.’”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/11/02/the-surreal-news-rush-limbaugh-read-that-he-couldnt-believe-over-the-top-unbelievable/

There may be some truth to Rush's analysis. During the madness of the French Revolution Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orleans, tried to pander to the radical Jacobins by adopting egalitarian rhetoric and practices: "He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité". But to no avail: "but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror." It's possible Gates, Buffet, et. al., are seeking to appease the Left in prevailing conditions and in a possibly worse future.

It won't work.

[Oceander]

Capitalism and free markets are the only things that could "save us from climate change" -  assuming arguendo that we need saving from supposed climate change.

[musiclady]

Capitalism and free markets are the only things that could "save us from climate change" -  assuming arguendo that we need saving from supposed climate change.

Hard to be saved from an imaginary crisis.......

[Oceander]

Hard to be saved from an imaginary crisis.......

True enough.  However, if we grant just for the sake of argument - to be charitable, dontcha know - that we need saving from this alleged climate change, then the only thing that can save us is the sort of ingenuity that only capitalism and free markets can elicit from us.

[musiclady]

True enough.  However, if we grant just for the sake of argument - to be charitable, dontcha know - that we need saving from this alleged climate change, then the only thing that can save us is the sort of ingenuity that only capitalism and free markets can elicit from us.

Absolutely agree.