USA Today: Lomborg: Obama energy policy hurts African poor
Bjorn Lomborg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center

“…If Obama spends the next $10 billion on gas electrification, he can help lift 90 million people out of poverty. If he only uses renewables, the same $10 billion can help just 20 million-27 million people. Using renewables, we will deliberately choose to leave more than 60 million people in darkness and poverty. … The only way to sustainably tackle global warming is to dramatically increase investment in green R&D which will eventually make green energy so cheap everyone will want to switch. But right now, we have a moral responsibility to help lift as many people out of poverty as possible. Our development aid should be used to help 60 million more people out of poverty, not as a tool to make us feel virtuous about facile, green choices” (2/8).