One of the biggest obstacles to cutting back sharply on
carbon-based fuel consumption lies with the economic interests of the producing
companies and countries. One approach to dealing with this and undercutting the
opposition is to simply buy the fuel (principally coal and oil) and leave it
underground.
All, really, we need to do is negotiate the price. Something that
should take into account the potential loss of jobs (perhaps these jobs too are
bought out as part of the deal), and the
fact that the fuel cannot be burned. Still, this is a problem that is far
easier to solve than the imposition of a world-wide system of regulation of
consumption.
A supply-side solution. And one far more certain to work, if the
current owners can be forced by the overwhelming majority of the rest of us to
sell. (Here lies the controversy, in the principle of fair compensation and eminent
domain. But if saving the planet cannot be considered a compelling reason to
invoke this eminent domain, then what can? Wars have been fought over less, and
might be fought again.)
It is an approach that has been tried by organizations like the
Nature Conservancy when it comes to the preservation of other natural resources.
It is an approach that could also be used to preserve the rain forests (we
could buy them too). It is an approach that conservatives could not object to
(the ultimate free-market solution). And an approach that seems worthy of
consideration, whatever else we might do.
