Uncertainty of Cap-and-Trade

EconoSpeak has a post with some basic S/D diagrams that lay out the economic arguments for tax versus cap-and-trade, which in large part hinge on uncertainty. The basic takeaway is that given the uncertainty about the ‘demand’ for emitting carbon dioxide, we’re better off with cap-and-trade, as it eliminates quantity uncertainty. The argument for a [...]

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Naomi Klein to Tackle Climate Change

Following up on my last post about carbon commodification, I’ve read that Naomi Klein (author of No Logo) is going to take on the free market approach to climate change in her next book:
The Toronto-based journalist and activist says advocates for market-based solutions like carbon trading will face-off against those who believe a longstanding “climate [...]

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Carbon as the Next Fictitious Commodity

A friend who works in energy consulting (specifically focusing on carbon offsets) has sent me a thought-provoking and troubling paper on cap-and-trade legislation and the weaknesses of the carbon market/offset system it creates. Larry Lohmann, the offer of the paper, casts a political economy lens on this system and critiques it in light of the [...]

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“Either Revolutionary or False”

In MRZine, Simon Butler reviews John Bellamy Foster’s new book, The Ecological Revolution: Making Peace with Our Planet. Butler begins,
The ecological crisis is not simply the result of poor planning or bad decisions.  Nor is it an unforeseeable accident.  It’s the inevitable outcome of an unjust economic and social system that puts business profits before [...]

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Caritas in Veritate, Chapter Four

Note: This post is the fourth in a series of posts on Pope Benedict XVI’s “Caritas in Veritate”. Also see posts on the Intro and Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Five, and Chapter Six and Conclusion.
In Chapter Four of Caritas in Veritate, Benedict’s primary aim is to address the issue of the environment. [...]

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The Happy Planet Index

The New Economics Foundation, a self-described “think-and-do tank,” has released its report (pdf) of the Happy Planet Index 2.0, which endeavors to measure the ecological efficiency with which countries achieve long and happy lives. Professor Herman Daly, a renowned ecological economist, writes in the foreword,
Economists like the concept of efficiency, and the Happy Planet Index [...]

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“Ecology, Capitalism, and Socialism”

John Bellamy Foster:

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Ecological Economics and the Crisis

Saturday’s NYT Op-Ed page (h/t Mark Thoma) brought an interesting article about an intellectual I had never heard of, Frederick Soddy.
A 1921 Nobel laureate in chemistry for his work on radioactive decay, he foresaw the energy potential of atomic fission as early as 1909. But his disquiet about that power’s potential wartime use, combined with [...]

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