Chapter 14 · Resources
Putting It All Together: A Long-term Policy to Address Climate Change
Decisions under uncertainty, long-term targets, free riding, and the costs of acting and of not acting.
Uncertainty
One of the arguments most frequently advanced by those opposed to action on climate is that we don’t know enough to take action now. This raises a more general question: how do we make decisions in the face of uncertainty?
Dessler on decisions under uncertainty
This YouTube video briefly lays out the argument made in Chap. 14.
youtube.com ↗
Error avoidance in scientific assessments
In the uncertainty discussion, we talk about the two kinds of errors you can make — e.g., a jury in a criminal trial can incorrectly convict an innocent person or incorrectly acquit a guilty one. These errors are sometimes referred to as type I and type II errors.
ametsoc.org ↗
Philosophy of climate change
The climate problem is a philosophical minefield. For an overview, I definitely recommend Gardner’s book, which is listed in the additional reading section. Climate change brings up so many difficult questions. For example, is it ethical to have kids given the fact that the kids (and the kids’ descendants) will cause additional climate change?
The 2°C target
One of the most important parts of any climate policy is the long-term goal. Most policies today focus on 2°C warming, but there is some argument whether this is the right target.
Climate policy: Ditch the 2°C warming goal
Victor and Kennel, Nature 514, 30–31, 2014.
nature.com ↗
The difficult, the dangerous, and the catastrophic
Luers and Sklar, Earth’s Future, 2, 114–118, 2014.
wiley.com ↗
Another scientific critique of targets
It argues that, whatever target you pick, your near term actions are pretty similar, so we should stop arguing about 1.5°C vs. 2°C vs. 2.5°C.
nature.com ↗
Global Calculator
The British Government has a pretty cool climate calculator that you can use to figure out how hard it is to keep warming below 2°C.
globalcalculator.org ↗
C-LEARN
A web-based program for calculating the climate impacts of various policies.
vimeo.com ↗
Free riding
The costs of climate change
The Stern Review
Discusses the costs and benefits of addressing climate change, as well as the cost of doing nothing about it. The report concludes that we should be taking immediate action.
lse.ac.uk ↗
Climate Casino
For an alternative view, see William Nordhaus’ book. This book also concludes that we should be taking action to address climate change, but less strenuous action than Stern.
yalepress.yale.edu ↗
Risky Business
What are the economic risks of climate change to the U.S.? Glad you asked. This 2014 report by three successful businessmen that span the political spectrum argues that climate change is already costing the U.S. a ton of money.
riskybusiness.org ↗
CBO analysis of a carbon tax
A detailed analysis of the impact of a carbon tax on emissions and the economy.
cbo.gov ↗
The health benefits of renewable energy
This analysis folds in the health benefits of switching to renewable energy, which are considerable.
nature.com ↗
Carbon pricing: good for you, good for the planet
One of two more estimates. Both present very optimistic views of the cost of climate mitigation.
blog-imfdirect.imf.org ↗
The New Climate Economy
The other one.
newclimateeconomy.report ↗