Sir Richard, what a shame

The cult of global warming doom-sayers keeps growing, and it has claimed one more scalp:

Branson to lobby Canberra on climate

September 22, 2006

BRITISH tycoon Sir Richard Branson has said he will pressure the Australian government to sign the Kyoto agreement.

Sir Richard's Virgin Group today made a 10-year, $3.9 billion commitment to renewable energy initiatives.
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"The world has a very serious problem, it's ill and it's going to get iller unless we do something radical," Sir Richard said.

When will these people realise that scientific facts and evidence, represented by millions of people in the free market pursuing the optimal outcomes, is far superior than an authoritarian approach which uses fear and hysteria to lobby governments to regulate their economies ?

At least so far, he is only wasting his own money. Good luck to him, I hope he develops more efficient and cost effective energy sources. If not, then the rest of us poor proles can keep on burning up cheap fossil fuels for our 'selfish evil' reasons (like staying warm, well fed, and travelling to work in cars)

There is no scientific consensus that shows we are making the planet "iller".

But wait, theres more from this immensely wealthy individual:

"I think if you happen to be lucky enough in your lifetime to become a successful entrepreneur, extreme wealth goes with it and therefore extreme responsibility goes with it," he said.

"Capitalism has it's faults and one of it's faults is that a lot of wealth ends up in the hands of very few people, and those people have the responsibility to use that wealth constructively and for the benefit of society."

What an idiot. Its actually a strength of capitalism that wealth ends up in the hands of those who succeed. If it weren't the case, then Richard Branson would have never taken huge entrepreneurial risks in his life, there would be no incentive for reward. It astonishes me that someone who should be in a position to appreciate free and unhampered markets holds such an uninformed opinion of them.

Firstly, by looking around, he should be able to see that the vast majority of Brits and Americans hold incredible amounts of wealth by historic standards. The entire society benefits from capitalism and wealth creation.

Secondly, having an unequal distribution of wealth is not necessarily such a bad thing. Even if the top 1% of succesful entrepeneurs have a huge amount of wealth, they also benefit society. The pursuit of wealth and success is a positive force. Richard Branson's Virgin corporation employs thousands of staff, pilots, hostesses, admin, management, PR and marketing employees. Thousands of new jobs are created and the wealth of his company spreads through the community.