Academic

But the NYT editorial page goes ahead and does just that.  As I posted a few days ago, we cannot deny the benefits of automobile transportation to the developing world merely because those who have already benefited from affordable cars now realize the costs of automobile transportation.  I guess the NYT editorial board has decided that the benefits to living residents of India are not worth the costs to U.S. great-grandchildren.

The sad fact is that the world has changed since Americans celebrated the egalitarian breakthrough of the Ford Model T. We know now that gas-driven automobiles do terrible damage to the environment, and the notion of loosing millions upon millions of new carbon emitters on our planet is not something to celebrate.

How can we decide now, ex post, that the incalculable benefits of car ownership have not been worth the toll on the evironment? Put differently, suppose that there is a child in India today who could become a great scientist and make great strides in reversing environmental damage. However, this child needs to get an education and cannot get to the nearest university without a car.