November 10, 2008

The Maldives Swap

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THE MALDIVES SWAP….The Maldives — average elevation: 150 cm above sea level — wants to buy some land in another country as an insurance policy against global warming:

[Newly elected president Mohamed Nasheed] said Sri Lanka and India were targets because they had similar cultures, cuisines and climates. Australia was also being considered because of the amount of unoccupied land available.

“We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades,” he said.

Instead of setting up a sovereign wealth fund to purchase the land, perhaps Nasheed should just buy a credit default swap that pays off if the Maldives are inundated. Since Republicans don’t believe that global warming exists, they should be eager buyers for the other end of the swap.

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

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ONE MORE QUICK THING:

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As we wrote over the summer, traffic has been down at Mother Jones and a lot of sites with many people thinking news is less important now that Donald Trump is no longer president. But if you're reading this, you're not one of those people, and we're hoping we can rally support from folks like you who really get why our reporting matters right now. And that's how it's always worked: For 45 years now, a relatively small group of readers (compared to everyone we reach) who pitch in from time to time has allowed Mother Jones to do the type of journalism the moment demands and keep it free for everyone else.

Please pitch in with a donation during our fall fundraising drive if you can. We can't afford to come up short, and there's still a long way to go by November 5.

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