by Wayne Mclaughlin

Created on: October 04, 2008   Last Updated: May 12, 2011

Global warming caused the housing crisis. More accurately, the myth that GW is man-made has been the canard used by opponents of carbon-based energy development. When discussing how we ran out of money to pay the mortgage, a two part premise must be laid down before we begin to grope for solutions and try to predict when it will end.

Number one, it is specious to debate over the various data that purports to foreshadow climate change because there is nothing we can do about it. Man made GW has none, zero, nada scientific basis. Gore's own scientists told him that Kyoto would lower global temperatures by 0.07 degrees centigrade by 2050. Carbon dioxide can only absorb eight percent of the infrared spectrum and water vapor absorbs 20 times the infrared of carbon dioxide.

Number two, no one even has a concept of an alternative that can come within an order of magnitude of the cost of carbon-based fuels. The proof of this two part premise is quite easily developed. Prosperity progressed unhindered until crude exceeded $35/barrel. If we replaced all imported crude with electric cars, it would nearly double the load on our electric grid and the equivalent cost would equal four dollars per gallon using ten cents per kilowatt hour. These are calculations easily made from available data and are based on undisputed physical principals.

Therefore, the question is are we going to accept a permanent reduction in our standard of living in pursuit of an ideological myth or are we going to develop our long neglected energy infrastructure in the best interests of our population?

Young families have gotten on the property value escalator with a minimal investment in a new home since World War II. It has worked well and has been the major source of wealth building for most of the middle class. Erosion of wealth is a direct result of OPEC depredations and reached critical mass in 2006 when the aggregate of personal savings went negative. The slope of this curve and the slope of the run up in crude prices run in perfect inverse.

After exhausting credit cards and home equity loans, the monthly mortgage payment was the last casualty. Fingers pointed at "greedy" lenders, "dead beat" borrowers and neglectful regulators is a lot of huffing and puffing productive of nothing. Public pontifications on the "housing crisis" is like listening to someone who came in in the middle of a whodunit trying to figure out the identity of the killer.

Learn more about this author, Wayne Mclaughlin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.