Joseph P. Kennedy may have been a bootlegger and Wall Street swindler, but he was sharp as a tack and energetic, and he got things done.  The political dynasty he spawned never equaled him in craft, despite achieving high office.  As they say, the blood tends to thin over the generations in families with great wealth and power.

Of course, that is a metaphor.  It is the experience of growing up amid material (and usually other) indulgence that weakens the mind and the will.

That is how to explain the following gibberish from Caroline Kennedy (our ambassador to Japan)’s daughter, Tatianna Schlossberg, found worthy by The New York Times:

How Lowering Crime Could Contribute to Global Warming

It sounds simple: If something has a big carbon footprint and you get rid of it, you eliminate those carbon dioxide emissions. Right?

But it’s not always that easy. In a recent study published in The Journal of Industrial Ecology, researchers at the Center for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey in England estimated the annual carbon footprint of crime in England and Wales, and found that reducing crime could actually cause society’s overall carbon footprint of society to increase.

The findings illustrated the rebound effect, which describes how reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in one area can lead to more emissions in the aggregate, because of direct or indirect effects. It’s something that policy makers have often been encouraged to consider when they set out to reduce emissions.

Crime is one example where a rebound in carbon emissions could be an issue, according to this study. While there is an energy cost to operating prisons, the study notes, inmates generally consume less than an average citizen in the country, so fewer prisoners might mean higher overall energy consumption.

If only some way could be found to imprison everyone, we’d be so much better off.  Oh, wait…

Hat tips: Weasel Zippers, Open Blogger, AOSQ and Tammy Bruce