> You know, if someone had proposed that the US spend billions of dollars and years of scientific effort to, I don't know, end global warming, do you think the GOP ... oh, wait, someone already did and the GOP torpedoed it for "putting too much of the burden on the US." >>>>>>>>> Marginal Cost vs. Marginal Benefit If I thought that without a cut 30% of the US Carbon Emissions in the next 10 years we would likely start losing some of major cities, then I'd consider it. As it is, I think that the global warming problem likely has a much larger timeframe than that, and that the same marginal benefit to global temperatures can likely be achieved through much cheaper cuts 10-30 years from now, thanks to advances in technologies. Then again, if missile defense would require the same cost as a 30% reduction in US Carbon Emissions over the next 10 years, I probably wouldn't support missile defense either. My rationale for missile defense is this: Let C = Cost of losing a city roughly the size of say, Charlotte Let N = Percent Likelihood of a rogue State acquiring a nuclear-tipped missile with range to reach the USin 10-20 years. Let L = Percent Likelihood that said rogue State would launch said missile at the US. Let B = Cost of Building Missile Defence in next 10 years. In my estimation: C * N * L > B Based on C being a couple trillion dollars, B being $0.5 - $1.0 tril, and N*L being fairly high, for reasons previous discussed. Of course, the above equation should also add a term "X", such that the left-hand side is now (C*N*L) + X, where X is the cost of the USA of not having a missile defence once the first rogue state acquires a missle capable of hitting the US. (i.e. attempting to build a missile defence that would render a rogue state's nuclear weapon would likely be a strong provocation for that State to use the nuclear weapon before it is rendered useless. Thus, the US might be prevented from building MD while nuclear missiles proliferate to rogue States around the world - leaving the US paralyzed.) JDG ===== John D. Giorgis [EMAIL PROTECTED] Takoma Park, MD __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Spot the hottest trends in music, movies, and more. http://buzz.yahoo.com/
