Thomas Friedman In Dallas: ET Will Save Us All

It’s appropriate that Thomas Friedman (at left) spoke in Dallas today as Hurricane Ike approached the Texas coast, because the New York Times columnist seems to think man-made global warming is causing all our weird weather. “We’ve introduced so much CO2,” Friedman proclaimed, “that we no longer know the difference between an Act of God and an act of man.” The author of the new book titled Hot, Flat and Crowded addressed a World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth luncheon at the Hilton Anatole, which itself was extra-crowded because of Ike evacuees. Friedman, clad for comfort in Green Chic–black slacks and a wrinkled, pale-green, button-down cotton shirt–told the big crowd that Dallas has a “wonderful green mayor,” the U.S. is mainly into “exporting fear” these days, and it’s going to take a “big government role” to jump-start the energy-technology (or ET) revolution that will help us all live happily ever. While he was here in Dallas, WAC honcho Jim Falk said, the Ross Perots Anatole’s Crows put Friedman up in grand style.