I’m about to tell you why non-ideological economists get so frustrated with global warming zealots (brace yourself): frankly, there are more pressing issues facing the world. I know, in the wake of NBC’s “Green Week” and Prius’ taking over the streets, it’s hard to believe. This isn’t to say that environmental preservation is not on the short list of world concerns. It is. And this isn’t to say that environmentalism is not a worthy cause. Again, it is. Unfortunately, some of the brightest minds in the world, who look at things from a perspective of costs and benefits, do not see the need for public tax dollars to be funneled vigorously into combating climate change. Just ask the Copenhagen Consensus.
Copenhagen Consensus's archives
Where Does Global Warming Rank in the Multitude of World Problems?
under: Deficits, Dollar, Energy, Game Theory, Individual v. Collective, Live and Learn, Taxes, Trust
Tags: AccuWeather, acid rain, Al Gore, CAFE standards, Cap-and-Trade, carbon credits, Climate Change, climate extremes, climate scientist, coal, Copenhagen Consensus, cost-benefit analysis, electricity grid, fossil fuels, global warming, global welfare, green technology, greenhouse gases, hybrid, natural gas, OPEC, plug-in electric vehicle, polar bears, polar ice caps, pollution, renewable energy resources, sulfur dioxide, Toyota Prius
The Market and Global Warming: Alternatives to Cap and Trade
Back in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church and some other unaffiliated snake oil salesmen, sold what were called indulgences. These indulgences offered penance for a variety of sins and could either commute or completely eliminate one’s arduous trip through Purgatory. Today, we have a similar situation; we have an entire market of carbon credit traders. Basically, you buy offsetting carbon credits (for someone, probably in a third world country, to plant trees or something like that) to make up for your “carbon footprint.”
under: Energy, Game Theory, Individual v. Collective, Taxes, Trust
Tags: acid rain, Al Gore, Bjorn Lomborg, Cap-and-Trade, carbon credits, carbon footprint, carbon indulgences, Catholic Church, China, Christianity, communism, Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Copenhagen Consensus, corn ethanol, Environmental Protection Agency, geoengineering, global warming, hacked emails, hackers, hemp ethanol, Heritage Foundation, indulgences, International Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, Iraq War, James Kynge, Joseph Stalin, Kyoto Protocol, lobbyists, Mao Zedong, Michael Kinsley, Middle Ages, nuclear power, oil, pollution, property rights, Purgatory, regulation, Richard Dawkins, Robert Murphy, salt water, Senate, Stephen Dubner, Steven Levitt, Tad Patzek, Three Mile Island, Time Magazine, tragedy of the commons
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