Why A Progressive Energy Policy? Because An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure

In a post yesterday, I tried to tie together the work that certain humanitarian groups perform together with our need for a progressive energy policy. The connection? Both are rooted in a viewpoint of the future, along the lines of the old adages: “A stitch in time saves nine” and “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Just like preventing gang membership is a great deal less costly and deadly than mopping up after the damage has been done, a forward-looking energy policy that curtails our addiction to fossil fuels will be a far easier pill to swallow than dealing with droughts, famines, dead oceans, extreme weather events, and potentially hundreds of millions of climate refugees.

If you’re at all compelled by this logic, you may be interested in this presentation of El Nido, the Los Angeles-based organization I mentioned in that post, which looks at the world of gang membership as follows: The cost to society of the average criminal gang member is approximately $2 million. If we can spend less than that (in El Nido’s case, a tiny fraction of that) to get that kid through school and into an honest, productive life, we have a huge bargain.

You may want to check out slide #8 for some of the most shocking ROI calculations you’ll ever see.