Beat Your Greens - Brief Article

It's time to save the Earth from environmentalists, says James Freeman. 'The smartest guy [he] knows' has just written a book. Its called Hard Green by Peter Huber, and it 'explains with clear logic what so many of us have felt in our guts'. Namely, that 'burning oil and smashing atoms are good for the environment', that encouraging solar power would lead to environmental disaster' and that 'biotechnology is saving the Earth.' Yes, it's true. Because, 'if you want to save the planet, you have to use the efficiencies that come from technology'. Take agriculture. 'Trendy organic farming' is all very well, but without the efficiency that pesticides and genetic engineering provide, we simply don't have the land to grow enough food. As for energy production, since the average New Yorker consumes 55 watts per square metre of land per day, solar panels, which only produce 22 watts per square metre, just won't cut the mustard. The only answer is oil. 'By digging down into the ground, by using the stored, concentrated solar energy of fossil fuels, we avoid clearing the land.' Of course, nuclear power, which extracts enormous amounts of energy from tiny uranium atoms, 'is the most environmentally friendly resource of all'. Environmentalists should be told where to go. As far as I'm concerned, says Freeman, 'there's no limit to growth in sight'.

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