Warm and Rich... or Cool and Poor?

John McClaughry's Ethan Allen Institute sponsored a worthy event last weekend.  We asked our friend -- and one of our favorite bloggers -- Ethan Shepard to drop in and send us an account of the proceedings.  His report:

    The simple question "do we want to be warm and rich or cool and poor?" cogently summarizes the "global warming" policy position advocated by Dr. Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. A Senior Fellow with CEI,  Lewis is an engaging intellectual who is extraordinarily comfortable with his knowledge and understanding of the global warming debate. Having mastered the facts and figures, he addresses his subject with an unassuming, modest, casual, reasoned approach. How refreshing. 
    Lewis is, unsurprisingly, no fan of Al Gore.
   

Yes, yes - the CEI is readily labeled a conservative think tank with "free market" enterprise interests at the core of its mission. No denying that. But Dr. Lewis embraces his "policy advocate" role with no apologies or embarrassment, distancing himself from "policy brokers" who do deny and or conceal their "special interests". Again, how refreshing. The distinction between policy broker and policy advocate speaks to intellectual integrity, a question not lost on any of the fifty or so prospective attendees at the Ethan Allen Institute luncheon hosted by John McClaughry this past Friday in South Burlington. (And again in Montpelier, Saturday at the Elks Club.)
  "Prospective" because Delta Airlines failed to cooperate in bringing Dr. Lewis to his appointed round on time. With a an impressive array of Vermonters attending the luncheon, notable even to this recluse, John McClaughry stepped in and stepped up, fluently summarizing the real science behind the global warming debate in a clear and concise conversational style; no table pounding or arm waving at all.  For me, quoting the work of Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, was proof that John had done his homework. Kudos.
  But the best part of Delta Airline's failure was the free beer and intimate cocktail atmosphere Friday evening with Dr. Lewis, John and Anne McClaughry, Art Woolf, and some special guests.  Here's where the engaging personality of Marlo Lewis was on display, along with his intimate and studied understanding of the issue.  He is not a "denier" of global warming but insists on critically evaluating the options. And they, again, are simply this: we can recognize that we have little real understanding of -- or control over -- climate change and do our best to mitigate the downside effects of global warming through a healthy and robust energy-based economy.  Or, alternatively, would could react to the questionable science by attempting drastic cuts in our carbon emissions,  forcing on ourselves an energy-starved, regressive economy that will unquestionably reduce our standard of living beyond what any person today can possibly imagine.
    Warm (maybe) and rich... or cool (maybe) and poor (without a doubt)?
    Tough decision.