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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GDP and Its Shortfalls

Nate Silver (of election projection fame) has an excellent post demonstrating the shortsightedness of harping on GDP numbers, in this case with regards to climate change. He takes to task Jim Manzi, whose argument is that even pessimistic assumptions point to a 5% reduction in GDP from global warming down the road. Silver endeavors to [...]

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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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Dammit, Paul! We don’t talk like that in public.

Paul Collier, an economist, has an article in Guardian UK today that makes a case for climate change. It’s not what you might think. The headline says enough to draw my attention:

I don’t buy economists’ case for fighting climate change- the orthodox rationale fails to chime with most people’s ethical motivation for action to save [...]

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What Answer Does Economics Have to Deep Ecology?

I mean, of course, other than “la la la la la I can’t hear you la la la la la”. This article about Arne Naess, a philisophical forefather of so-called “deep” ecology, got me thinking about this question. Dot Earth, an NYT blog, has reactions to his work from a number of environmentalists and ethicists, [...]

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