A very good op-ed discussion today about climate change in the NY Times, with Paul Krugman and James Hansen.
In essence, Krugman argues that cap and trade has worked before and should therefore work again with respect to carbon emissions. Hansen argues that cap and trade doesn’t do enough, and that a carbon tax is the only way to make fossil fuels obsolete over time.
There’s a bit of irony both ways: Krugman, an economist, is saying that politics make a carbon tax impossible and that cap and trade can achieve the goal of reducing emissions. Hanson, a climate scientist, argues that unless fossil fuels are made more expensive there won’t be enough incentives to make alternatives economically viable.
And they’re both right. It does come down to the perfect (taxation) being the enemy of the good (cap and trade), provided you assume (as Krugman does) that the Congress will do something soon to set up a cap and trade system.
Gorilla isn’t so sure: “I doubt the Senate will go along with anything that upsets Big Coal and Big Oil! Doing nothing about climate change is the default option until things get really bad: see health care reform!”
