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Home
The
debate is over
Challenges to the Economic
Approach:
The Case for Market
Intervention
Free Market Strategies
Carbon
Taxes
Emissions
trading: Cap and Trade
Economic Adaptation
Further
Information
Comments & questions to:
awerth@macalester.edu
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The Debate is Over
The debate over the existence of human caused
global climate change is over. After years of denial and debate
over scientific authority and “proof” many have come to see it as a
serious issue. There are still skeptics, but if the 2007 state of
the union address is an indicator, the concept has become
mainstream. President Bush’s acknowledgement of the existence of
global warming was somewhat prophetic, if only because it meant that
the “inconvenient truth” could no longer be denied. The release
of the fourth report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
claimed that current global warming is unequivocal and human caused
with a 90% certainty . Part two of the report, detailing the
impacts on temperature and precipitation, indicated changes more
serious than expected. This build up culminated with Al Gore’s
visit to Congress where, armed with a plan and a fiery oration, he
implored Congress to take immediate and serious action. At the
present, Many bills confronting global warming have been proposed and
are being debated in the halls of Congress. There are many
variations, but all use some sort of emissions trading scheme or tax
regarding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The
subtleties of these different plans and the debate over their predicted
results has become significant.
As talk over cap and trade and carbon taxes grows,
the need to understand these two economic strategies to address global
warming has become essential. The surge of global warming bills
in Congress means that soon many individuals will have to make
decisions regarding the advantages of one mitigation plan over
another. Making informed decisions will hopefully
institutionalize a commitment to avoid the worst of the “climate
crisis” and make progress with minimum economic and social cost.
With that in mind, this site will begin with two common challenges for
this economic approach. This will be followed by an overview of
the case behind market intervention in environmental concerns.
From there carbon taxes and emissions permits, the two most prominent
mechanisms for confronting global warming and their possible
applications, will be described. Attention will be paid to the
unique challenges and advantages of each and where they have been
tried. These case studies provide a good basis to evaluate the
actual operation of these schemes and how they can help address the
impending challenge of our time: Global Warming.
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Last updated: 2/2/2006
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