Last month, I bookmarked this CNN.com article about a Mercedes-Benz concept car inspired by tropical boxfish. Well, maybe "inspired" isn't the right word, because that thing is butt ugly.

But the fish car might become appropriate in a few decades when, as the Great Prophet Al Gore predicted, Antarctica melts and we're all underwater. Scary! We've got to stop ManBearPig global warming now!

But wait, what's happening? Many parts of the US are now experiencing record cold weather. What the hell? How can there be record low temperatures all over when the planet is supposed to have a fever?

I tried to Google for an explanation, but most results I get seem to be of the "Haha! Al Gore is a dumbass!" variety, posted by gloating conservatives who don't "believe" in global warming. I'm sure I'll be able to find some politically neutral scientific analysis if I look hard enough, but I'm lazy.

All I know is that if global warming continues, poor countries like the Philippines will be the hardest hit. Rich countries can, I don't know, build dikes or big boats or something. Things would be much worse for people living in mud huts.

So what should we do to avert the impending disaster? In an ideal world, everyone will work together to stop pollution and save the earth. Yay! Unfortunately, in practice, being green requires a different kind of green: money. Lots of money. Rich countries can afford to pay the premium and implement stringent environmental policies, but to impose the same standards on developing countries would likely stunt economic growth. You think the Industrial Revolution would have happened if the Europeans back then were concerned about carbon emission levels?

Besides, being extra nice to Mother Earth would mean nothing if your neighbors don't do the same. Conversely, you can pollute as much as you want as long as your neighbors are willing to clean up your mess. In the end, it's almost like a prisoner's dilemma--no matter what others do, it would be more advantageous to not cooperate with environmentalist efforts.

As politically incorrect as it may sound, the right thing for small poor countries like ours to do is to say "screw the environment" and concentrate our resources on improving the economy. If the big rich countries somehow manage to reverse global warming and save the planet from Al Gore's Waterworld Apocalypse, great. If not, at least we would have enough money to buy us some Mercedes fish cars.