The Climate Change Challenge and the Failure of Democracy (Politics and the Environment)
The Climate Change Challenge and the Failure of Democracy (Politics and the Environment) – Review
Written by a physician and a lawyer, this book requires to make a strong argument that liberal democracy is dangerous to the survival of the environment. They instead advocate a technocracy, a state ruled by experts. Their argument is very weak. At the onset, they acknowledge that totalitarian regimes have fared less well in names of carefully preserving the environment than autonomous regimes. Still they find fault because democracy lacks the ability of long-term planning. The main problem behind their argument is the lack of study of the creations of real free states. Their description of liberalism and democracy continues shallow throughout the book. They never answer the question why new democracies have better environmental records than their authoritarian counterparts. They still refer to Switzerland in their critique even though that open country has one of the best environmental records in Europe. Their alternative to a liberal democracy looks further like a mythical fairyland. It ignores the fact that people are usually motivated by egoistical demands. Humans are just not machines, who could rule a country as a compassionate leader in the greatest activity of the people. Authoritarian leaders around the world, furthermore, cannot ignore the orders of the people. They cannot act against their interest, especially not when it comes to economic growth. No tyrannical ruler, save in North Korea, can stop consumption. If they, however, would want a North Korea type government for the world, I’d rather be dead!