Climate Change: We Have No Solution Yet

Any report warning of global warming or climate change should carry the disclaimer, “we now lack the technologies to stop it,” argues Robert J. Samuelson in the Washington Post. The economics column reflects the widespread impatience over scientific research and response on a complex problem that affects every industry and every part of the globe. Samuelson accepts that climate change is real, and his column comes on the tail of a US report that maintains the consequences of climate change are in play. Yet carbon emissions continue to grow, especially those from emerging economies rapidly expanding and improving standards of living. “The most obvious idea is a carbon tax to help finance government and stimulate energy-saving technologies and new forms of non-carbon energy,” Samuelson writes. “If these technologies went global, the gap between rich and poor countries would narrow.” The globe has a good understanding of policies and technology that might stem climate change. Refusal to act is self-defeating. – YaleGlobal