Too much can never be said of the great climate change policy farce. As many parts of the world suffer through harsh cold spells, record snow and deep-freeze conditions, governments and politicians continue to pursue hilariously contradictory policies to make the world colder still. Or so they claim. What's really going on is another matter. Consider the latest news on oil and coal.

In the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan and other countries, there is official endorsement of carbon taxes and carbon trading to raise the price of carbon-based energy so as reduce emissions. How bizarre, then, to read the statement signed by finance ministers from these same nations calling for lower oil prices.

Oil prices, said the G7 finance ministers following their meeting in Tokyo over the weekend, are too high. The ministers of the G7 governments that want to raise oil prices through taxes at home called on the IMF to "conduct further research" to find out why prices are so high. High oil prices are bad for growth and development.

The most absurd call from the ministers, in the context of their own official carbon policies, was the following: "We encourage OPEC and other oil-producing countries to raise production, and reiterate the need to enhance refinery capacity and improve energy efficiency." More oil output, more capacity. What happened to the great Pigovian carbon tax push?

Even more bizarre was this: "It should be avoided to artificially lower domestic energy prices through fiscal measures, as it works against market-based adjustment of energy demand, and raises gas emissions." The G7 here stands against "artificial" oil price fixes via fiscal measures--the same G7 that advocates artificially higher prices via fiscal measures. The G7 doesn't want to "work against market-based adjustments"--except, presumably, in cases where it does want to work against market-based adjustments.

You couldn't caricature this stuff it's so obviously loopy.

The world is also heading into a climate storm over coal. As we know, coal is bad; it unleashes a lot of carbon. The United States is blocking coal development at home. Canada is shutting down coal plants--or trying to. But China--it's set to become the global coal king. The Wall Street Journal reports China's burgeoning demand, with two new coal plants coming on stream every day, is driving prices sky high. Japan is boosting its coal demand. The New York Times reported the other day that China's coal mines have been ordered to increase production. Britain also needs to keep using coal

The United States in particular seems ready to shoot itself in the economic foot over coal to save the planet--when it looks like it will just be saving the Chinese economy.

Under carbon cap-and-trade schemes, imposed globally, how much carbon would the U.S. and Canada have to buy to offset the coal and oil consumption increases now underway all over the globe? Maybe the IMF could look into that as part of its research.

Terence Corcoran