BIO

Cliff Mason is the author of Millennial Money. He is the Senior Writer of CNBC's Mad Money with Jim Cramer, and has been that program's primary writer, in cooperation with and under the supervision of Jim Cramer, since he began at CNBC as an intern during the summer of 2005. Mason was the author of a column at TheStreet.com during 2007, which he describes as "hilarious, if short-lived." He graduated from Harvard College in 2007. It was at Harvard that Mason learned to multi-task, mastering the art of seeming to pay attention to professors while writing scripts for Mad Money. Mason has co-written two books with Jim Cramer: Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich and Stay Mad For Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer). He is 100% responsible for any parts of either book that you did not like. Mason has also had a fruitful relationship with Jim Cramer as his nephew for the last 23 years and will hopefully continue to hold that position for many more as long as he doesn't do anything to get himself kicked out of the family.

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Dec.19

5:05 PM ET

Friday, 19 Dec 2008

War On Climate Change Over—And It Won

Posted By:Cliff Mason

Topics:Environment | Energy | Barack Obama | Stock Market

Sectors:Oil and Gas

Kiss the future goodbye! This week's 33% decline the price of oil is great news for minivan driving soccer moms and suburbanites of all races, colors and creeds. But it's terrible news for the fight against global warming. In fact, with crude at $33.87 a barrel, I think it's safe to say the war against climate change is over. Climate change won.

Environmental activists talk a good game, but the truth is, the only reason "green" anything became viable over the last couple of years was the high price of oil. We didn't all of a sudden become more altruistic and decide to save the world. Al Gore may have won an Oscar and an Nobel, but the real reason alternative energy gained steam was that old-fashioned energy got too expensive.

Cheap oil means that green energy projects, solar, wind, you name it, can't compete economically against fossil fuels. And while we may be burning less oil for now--crude is cheap due to weak demand--it's low price means we won't invest as much in the cleaner, greener alternatives we need to help stop global warming.

For a while there, it really looked like high oil prices would solve the problem of climate change. People were driving less and buying cars with better gas mileage, companies were investing in alternatives. Now the real incentive for all that environmentally friendly behavior is gone.

Maybe Barack Obama will throw a lot of money at green energy projects, maybe he'll subsidize the heck out of them. But he's going to need to spend a whole lot more on those projects than he would have if oil were still at even $50 a barrel.

I believe global warming is a serious problem. I don't know how bad it could make things, but the cheaper oil gets, the more I believe the most alarmist predictions about what could happen to our planet. And if anyone saw the movie Waterworld, that future is both horrendous and incredibly boring.

We need more than just investment in green infrastructure. We need a tax on gasoline, or better yet, a wholesale carbon tax, so that oil becomes expensive again. Only this time the excess profits will go to the government, the people, not the oil companies. That's the only way to deal with climate change, unless of course the economy recovers and the price of oil comes roaring back. But I just don't see that happening anytime soon. Do you?