Posts tagged…Emissions
Krugman loses his kool
Mon, Aug 04 2008
Is it my imagination, or is his NYT portrait looking a little crazed these days?
"The only way we’re going to get action [to cut carbon emissions], I’d suggest, is if those who stand in the way of action come to be perceived as not just wrong but immoral." extract from: NYTimes.com
This sort of shameful nonsense leads pretty soon to talk about 'patriotism' and 'moral majorities'.
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Read more…Argument for ‘least cost’ emissions policy
Thu, Jul 17 2008Paul Kelly's accurate assessment of the real 'diabolical dilemma'. Read the full article.
"[Overshooting on emissions controls] is a lethal risk for Rudd. His Government is a believer in multilateral idealism and the moral cause of mitigation. The truth, however, is that multilateralism is in serious retreat and idealism in climate change is the fraud of our age. Many senior Australian officials…
It’s not just China, India
Wed, Jul 16 2008Germany's Finance Ministry, too, is critical of a plan to cut emissions that is more gradual than proposed in Kevin Rudd's Green Paper.
"The ministry was particularly critical of the EU's goal to cut the quota of emissions trading permits by 21 percent, compared to 2005 levels, saying this would cost Germany both jobs and growth." extract from: Deutsche Welle
Whistling in an ill-wind
Tue, Jul 08 2008
David Stockwell wondered in an off-line message if there's a way for the 'ordinary Joe' to make some money from emissions trading. If he comes up with something, I hope David tells us about it (although he'd probably be wiser to keep to himself). I can think of a few possibilities but only one sure-fire opportunity…
It's a timely question from David. Profiting from government interventions in the…
You need a model?
Fri, Jul 04 2008I can't get a response out of the Garnaut Review website—probably overloaded—to download the Review report. But here's an extract from Prof Garnaut's address to the Press Club on a 'curious turn' in AGW 'dissent':
"The dissent took a curious turn in Australia in 2008, with much prominence being given to assertions that a warming trend had ended over the last decade. This is a question that is…
Climate Change, Trade and Competitiveness
Sat, Jun 14 2008The papers from a recent Brookings Institution conference on the trade, production and 'competitiveness' impacts of emissions controls and border-tax adjustments are now available (thanks to Simon Lester for the pointer). There's some evidence that border-tax adjustments related to 'carbon taxes' (at feasible rates) would be more trouble to administer and collect than they'd be worth.
Border-tax…
The net benefit of emissions controls
Tue, May 27 2008English mathematican Freeman Dyson, has reviewed Wm. Nordhaus' account of his economic models of emissions controls. Nordhaus claims that passive 'backstop' measures significantly outperform the catastrophists' preference for strangling carbon emissions. But, as Dyson points out, Nordahus has not considered the scientific merit of any of the controls he models and has not provided much detail of…
A foolish overreaction
Mon, Apr 07 2008Former UK Chancellor, Nigel Lawson, in the Financial Times.
"Over the past five years I have become increasingly concerned at the scaremongering of the climate alarmists, which has led the governments of Europe to commit themselves to a drastic reduction in carbon emissions, regardless of the economic cost of doing so. "("FT.com)
Solar-cycle link to cloud cover questioned
Fri, Apr 04 2008British scientists publishing this week in the Institute of Physics journal Environmental Research Letters cast doubt on the validity of a link between ionizing cosmic-ray radiation and low-level cloud cover. This is one of the mechanisms proposed for a solar-cyle link to climate variation. The paper is available here
The Garnaut Climate Review Interim Report—I’m not convinced
Fri, Feb 22 2008
My difficulty with the Interim report of the Garnaut Climate Change Review is that it is headed toward a recommendation that looks disproportionate to the climate risk.
Publicly available data on climate change does not seem to call for extreme measures such as a 70% to 90% cut in Australia's carbon emissions. This data has not been examined by the Garnaut team because it's not their business to…
The cost of the IPCC carbon target
Fri, Feb 15 2008
Italian energy economists report on the means of achieving the IPCC’s target of 550 ppm of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere by the second half of the 21st century. It implies a different world, poorer than we currently imagine, and visibly different too.
Click the image to see a larger version.
The full paper can be found here
“Given projected world population dynamics, this objective requires…
Best demolition of IPCC case on Climate
Thu, Jan 31 2008Dr Bob Carter, a geologist and paleontologist at James Cook and Adelaide Universities writes clear economical prose, provides good illustrations and extensive citations.
His paper The Myth of Dangerous Human-Caused Climate Change is a clever, very readable demolition job.