Bob Inglis’ call to rely on a carbon tax as the main weapon to fight climate change is based on the idea that price signals, or the “power of free markets,” are central to the solution to climate change. Paradoxically, ensuring that price signals connect meaningfully with the energy consumer often requires government regulation, mandates, [...]
This post provides notes and further explanation for the main post, Free market perspective already dominates the climate policy debate. Note 1 (on the equivalence of cap and trade to a carbon tax): Sebastian Rausch and his colleagues at MIT write that, “A cap and trade system with fully auctioned permits is equivalent in impact [...]
As Grist’s David Roberts might remind us, Bob Inglis’ recent climate change commentaries are a throwback to an era when policy and appeals to self interest had a role in national politics. A year after reasoned debate abruptly surrendered to unhinged anti-environmental sentiment, Bob Inglis’ perspective is barely heard by the most vocal members of [...]
Following the White House’s surprise announcement delaying a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, Bill McKibben posted this blog for tarsandsaction.org on November 10, 2011. It is re-posted here with permission. Um, we won. You won. Not completely. The president didn’t outright reject the pipeline permit. My particular fantasy–that he would invite the 1253 people [...]
Former U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis (R – SC) once again provoked organized climate change denialists with his recent essay, “Conservative Means Standing With Science on Climate” (Bloomberg Businessweek; a similar essay appeared in USAToday). Responses to his essay have been surprisingly muted; energy lobbyist Mark McKenna offered a superficial riposte, ClimateProgress simply re-posted the piece [...]
Earlier today, the U.S. Senate solidly rejected an effort to place the recently finalized Cross-State Air Pollution Rule on ice. By a vote of 56 to 41, Senators defeated a resolution offered by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) that sought to block implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Starting [...]
In the past few weeks, new information has become publicly available about two important pending rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One rule would set the first-ever, national standards for greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Know as the greenhouse gas New Source Performance Standard (GHG NSPS) rule, EPA announced on October 29 that [...]
Each year, starting in 1989, an annual report titled, “Our Changing Planet” has been produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and submitted to Congress. The USGCRP also conducts the National Climate Assessment (NCA), which has been previously completed in 2000 and 2009. The assessment serves as a “status report” on the latest [...]
President Obama recently announced the cancellation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to update weak and scientifically unsupported Bush-era ozone standards. The President based this unfortunate decision on the newly popular idea that protecting human health and the environment is bad for the economy. The President bought into this rhetoric from Tea Party elites despite [...]
Here’s one truth: climate science is real. Here’s another: every one of us contributes to the climate crisis and every one of us has the ability to help solve it. These simple truths inspired the Climate Reality Project: today’s 24 hour, multi-media event developed by former Vice President Al Gore to draw the world’s attention [...]