A new survey of economists New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity finds 94% believe the U.S. should join climate agreements to limit global warming. The Institute’s Michael Livermore commented that “we found that economists really see climate change poses a lot of risk to the economy.” According to the survey, most economists accept the consensus from natural scientists that the planet is warming and humans are to blame. Also, the survey found:

• 91.6% wanted a tax or “cap and trade” system, where polluters buy and sell emission permits, instead of regulation, to cut greenhouse gases.
• 84% agreed the effects of global warming “create significant risks” to the economy, particularly to agriculture, fishing, insurance and health.
• Of the 94.3% who favor the U.S. joining climate agreements to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, 57% say greenhouse-gas cuts should come “regardless of the actions of other countries.”

Even more interesting, yesterday Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said:

”The green economy is coming. We can either follow or lead. And those countries who follow will pay a price. Those nations who lead in creating the new green economy for the world will make money.“

The take-away from this is that whether or not you ”believe in“ global warming, the rest of the civilized world does. And they are rapidly investing in the green economy. So our opinion about the reality or causes of global climate change are irrelevant… unless we want to ”follow“ the rest of the world, we need to get going green! From a competitive standpoint, not doing so would be disastrous to the US economy and ultimately, its strength and security.

Today I released Version 2.1 of DeliciousSQLExport. Nothing earth-shattering, just a couple of bug fixes related to dates and some minor user interface improvements.