That's what we're afraid - somebody who wants to slow down our economy in the name of protecting the environment.

Barack Obama has appointed Carol Browner to be his global warming czar. It looks like he's appointed a true believer.

According to a story in the Washington Times, Mrs. Browner was:

one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.

By Thursday, Mrs. Browner's name and biography had been removed from Socialist International's Web page, though a photo of her speaking June 30 to the group's congress in Greece was still available.

Socialist International, an umbrella group for many of the world's social democratic political parties such as Britain's Labor Party, says it supports socialism and is harshly critical of U.S. policies.

The group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, the organization's action arm on climate change, says the developed world must reduce consumption and commit to binding and punitive limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

People view the socialist label as somewhat of a pejorative, except of course if you are proud of being a socialist. In this case the overseeing group she was a part of calls itself "Socialist International."

An effort to deliberately slow down economies to address greenhouse gases will make people poorer which will cost lives and I wonder if it will really reduce the greenhouse gas emission problem because poorer countries are usually worse polluters than advanced, economically developed countries. Again, ideas have consequences; one's we often don't want.