How AGW serves the goals of the socialist left

Many have opined that when the Soviet Union fell, homeless socialists eventually ended up in the environmental movement. It is certainly evident that the environmentalist left has been decidedly anticapitalist in its sympathies.

Perhaps nowhere has this tendency been more evident than in the manufactured AGW crisis. Observe carefully, and I think you'll see that the vast majority of remedies proposed involve the economic dismantling of the countries that were allied against the advance of Soviet communism. Absent an economic rollback, "Plan B" appears to be the good old fashioned transfer of wealth to "developing" countries, as illustrated by this May 28 Reuters article:

Rich must pay bulk of climate change bill: Oxfam

Coping with the ravages of global warming will cost $50 billion a year, and the rich nations who caused most of the pollution must pay most of the bill, aid agency Oxfam said on Tuesday.

The call, barely 10 days before a crucial Group of Eight (G8) summit in Germany which has climate change at its core, is likely to make already tense negotiations even tougher.

The United States, which Oxfam says must foot 44 percent of the annual $50 billion bill, is rejecting attempts by German G8 presidency Germany to set stiff targets and timetables for cutting carbon gas emissions and raising energy efficiency.

"G8 countries face two obligations as they prepare for this year's summit in Germany -- to stop harming by cutting their emissions to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius and to start helping poor countries to cope," said Oxfam researcher Kate Raworth.

"Developing countries cannot and should not be expected to foot the bill for the impact of rich countries' emissions," she said, echoing the position of the developing world.

[...] Oxfam has created a global warming adaptation financing index based on the responsibility, equity and capability of each nation.

It said after the United States, Japan owed 13 percent of the bill, followed by Germany on seven percent, Britain just over five percent, Italy, France and Canada between four and five percent and Spain, Australia and Korea three percent.

The highlighted text sounds awfully like... From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. Marx would be proud.

This Reuters article has another interesting detail in it, but I'll save it for the next post.