OPINION: Best Way to Reduce Carbon Footprint is to Die

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In an op-ed published today in the Washington Times, Dr. Keith Lockitch, PhD in physics and a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center, points out that as environmentalism continues to grow in prominence, more and more people are trying to live a “greener” lifestyle. Yet, Dr. Lockitch asks, “Why is it that no matter what sacrifices people make to try to reduce their ‘environmental footprint,’ it never seems to be enough?”

According to Dr. Lockitch, “nothing you do to try to lighten your ‘footprint’ will ever be deemed satisfactory” because “whatever you do to reduce your impact on nature in one respect will simply lead to other impacts in other respects–like some perverse game of green whack-a-mole–and will be attacked and condemned by greens.”

But, Dr. Lockitch explains, “Everything we do to sustain our lives has an impact on nature. Every value we create to advance our well-being is produced by extracting raw materials and reshaping them to serve our needs. Every good thing in our lives comes from altering nature for our own benefit.

“From the perspective of human life and happiness, a big ‘environmental footprint’ is an enormous positive. This is why people in India and China are striving to increase theirs: to build better roads, more cars and computers, new factories and power plants and hospitals.

“The only way to leave no ‘footprint’ would be to die.”