Heightened Risibility

Has the war in Ukraine and a reliance upon Russian fossil fuels prompted western European nations to reconsider their respective energy strategies? Bjorn Lomborg, a Hoover visiting fellow and environmental researcher, discusses ways for developed nations to reduce energy independence and battle climate change without necessarily devastating economies and lifestyles.

The latest global climate summit in Poland has generated familiar predictions of doom and disaster from environmental activists. Climate change seems to freeze our capacity for critical thinking: we are too eager to believe the problem is far worse than science shows, and – conversely – that our solutions are far easier than reality dictates.

For three decades, climate campaigners have fought to make fossil fuels so expensive that people would be forced to abandon them. Their dream is becoming reality: Energy prices are spiraling out of control and will soon get even worse. Yet we are no closer to solving climate change.