This was the week of Dr. Bjorn Lomborg. An article on the New York Times (‘Feel Good’ vs. ‘Do Good’ on Climate) and an appearnce on the Colbert Report. All of this because of a new book he wrote 'Cool it - The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide To Global Warming'.

The book, according to his website, is "a groundbreaking book that transforms the debate about global warming by offering a fresh perspective based on human needs as well as environmental concerns." Dr. Lomborg does not deny global warming. He just don't think it's the most urgent issue and also think we put too much money in the wrong solutions (Kyoto protocols for example). Besides his criticism on the current approach to global warming and its expected results, he thinks we should first focus on more immediate threats such as malaria, AIDS, polluted drinking water and malnutrition.

I understand and agree with some of its criticism on the Kyoto protocols, but I definitely don't agree with the idea that the focus on global warming prevents us from dealing with other urgent issues. These issues (malaria, polluted drinking water, etc.) were critical before anyone started talking about global warming. The lack of success in resolving these issues are caused by the same main problem that brought on us global warming - the illnesses of the modern world. Maybe fixing these illnesses can help us solve all of these threats all together.. how we do it? well, that's a discussion for another post in ther near future :-)

Anyway, it's always interesting to read new ideas, so check out his book, and of course his appearance at the Colbert Report, one of my favorite shows!

This green book review was original posted at the Eco-Libris blog.

More resources:

1. ‘Feel Good’ vs. ‘Do Good’ on Climate, New York Times

2. Dr. Lobmorg's website

3. The book on Amazon.com

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