What a wondrous waste of two decades this has been on climate change
So now we’ve the new, new demand about climate change hot off the press from The Guardian:
While this scientific reality should dominate discussions at Cop30, history tells us that polite incrementalism and political kowtowing will prevail. Vague statements of future ambition will continue to delay the urgent need for concrete immediate action. Until our leaders have the courage to put a price on carbon to bring the era of fossil fuels to a definitive end, we are adding more and more carbon to the atmosphere, compounding the physical catastrophe now unfolding all around us.
Just to head off at the pass those who want to say that climate isn’t changing, climate always changes, it’s not a problem if it does and so on. This following argument applies to if climate change is happening, if it’s us doing it and if it’s necessary to do something about it - then the answer is to put a price on carbon.
As the 1,200 pages of the Stern Review tell us. As with the work of Bill Nordhaus that led to his Nobel. As with what we’ve been saying for decades. As, in fact, everyone sensible has been saying. Put a price on the externality of the carbon emissions and leave markets - and if you like, the simple greed of capitalism - to sort it all out.
As we’ve also been pointing out those decades this isn’t going to be expensive either. The UK already has carbon taxes in the £30 to £40 billion range annually. The correct carbon tax on the UK’s circa 500 million tonnes of emissions is in the £30 to £40 billion range ($80 per tonne CO2-e). Our current expense is badly distributed, that’s all.
The Stern Review even, at some length, points out that you don’t allow the social inadequates to gurn over their slide rules as they plan society for us to achieve this task. You interfere the once with prices in markets - that crowbar of the carbon tax - and leave well alone. What have we actually done? Given all the power to the social inadequates gurning over their slide rules. Which is why we’ve got Drax rated as emissions free and someone suggesting we pay well over £200 per MW for floating offshore wind.
Still, given that this is politics we all know that the right thing is the last thing anyone will try. But we can hope, eh, if even The Guardian is now getting it right?
Tim Worstall