Obesity & Global Warming

This is an interesting article on obesity in The Washington Post on January 22. My first thought on the problem with obesity is how similar it is in cause and solution (and obstacles to solutions) to global warming. Both are caused, in part, by increasing economic wealth (in fact, they are interrelated, as people who drive more are more likely to be fat because they don't get enough exercise and people who are fat are going to drive more because it is difficult for them to get around by other means). The solution to them is similar too. People need to use less polluting energy sources and need to eat less fatty foods. They need to get more exercise and plant more trees. The entrenched industries for energy and food are going to resist any government action to move towards socially beneficial ends (where energy is cleaner and people are skinnier). The oil & coal (potato chip & cookie) industries are likely to be hurt in the short run if (and while) they adapt to cleaner (healthier) output. In the end, there will be new industries like wind-generated electricity and hybrid cars (and nuts and other healthier snacks, which the article said increased 21.9 percent between 2003 and 2004), but there will be a transition cost. Their is also a cost of doing nothing, but it is borne by such a wide consitutency that there is little collective power, especially compared to the industries that stand to lose from the switch to cleaner/healthier energy and food. However, with both energy and obesity, the end result of making the changes will be very beneficial to the country as a whole economically, socially and environmentally.