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The 2,500-plus scientists on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued their report last Friday on how to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. And far from throwing up their hands in despair, or whining that stabilizing global warming emissions will do unacceptable damage to the economy, the IPCC working group defined the policy principles that will take us from the danger zone to a sustainable world in one generation. I think it's well worth capsulizing their main points, especially since climate science fatigue syndrome can set in even before we actually try to solve the climate crisis.
First, the IPCC said global warming can be stopped and eventually reversed, but only if a price is put, and put very soon, on carbon emissions. That price is affordable. More than $20 trillion will be invested in global energy infrastructure between now and 2030. The additional costs of altering those investments to reduce GHG emissions ranges from negligible to 5-10 percent. That's likely to be a lot less than the economic damage done by following a business-as-usual scenario. Indeed, investments in new energy tech, energy efficiency and environmental engineering will create jobs, income, profits and environmental goods (such as restored ecosystems, tropical reforestation and flood protections) that could offset losses.
Second, voluntary measures and setting free energy entrepreneurs won't get us where we need to go. The report is absolutely clear about this: governments must play the major role with well-defined, robust, long-term incentives that spread a culture of innovation.
Third, we mustn't put all our eggs in one policy basket. Worldwide, governments are already using a wide range of policies to stabilize global warming pollution, including regulations and standards, carbon taxes and charges, tradable permits, voluntary agreements, subsidies, financial incentives, research, development and deployment programs and information and education. Governments need to pay special attention to removing barriers to innovation, such as the perverse subsidies given to fossil fuels that make alternative energies non-competitive. We need to act now to develop technology to capture and store carbon emissions on a large scale.
Finally, the best approach is for nations to adopt a diversified portfolio of policies and address all major sectors: electricity generation, transportation, buildings, industry, land use, tropical reforestation.
The Bush administration's reaction to the IPCC report was sadly predictable. Marc Kaufman reported in the Washington Post that the White House immediately issued a statement rejecting mandatory controls on emissions. "It would, of course, cause global recession,' said James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
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