“The economic effects of climate change are dwarfed by growth,” writes John H. Cochrane on his blog, “The Grumpy Economist.” He proceeds to point out: “Take even worst-case estimates that climate change will lower GDP by 5-10% in the year 2100. Compared to growth, that’s couch change. At our current tragically low 2% per year, without…
The Carbon Tax that Failed
It’s not been widely publicized, but the carbon tax in British Columbia has failed to bring about reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the province. That point is made by Kris Sims of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation in an article in the Asian Pacific Post. She writes: “Government documents show that emissions in B.C. have…
The Fantastical World of Carbon Offsets
In a tongue-in-cheek article in RealClearEnergy, Steve Milloy observes that Norway has figured out how to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions while still building up its oil and gas production by 40 percent, providing a lesson for the rest of the world. Norway is buying “carbon offsets” in the African country of Gabon, paying the Gabonese to…
What Exactly Will the SEC Do on Climate Change?
Speculation is growing about how the SEC, under the new chair, Gary Gensler, will address climate change. In the Insurance Journal, Ben Bain reports on the SEC’s possible actions: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may make corporations reveal more about climate risks in key regulatory filings, a push that Wall Street and the biggest…
The Coming War against Meat
“A small but highly influential contingent of liberal extremists in our media has fired the opening salvos” in a war against meat, says Gary Taustine in the New York Post. (Hat tip to John Baden). The first salvo was a New York Times article saying that the meat-packing industry was racist because its workers workers…
A ‘Massive Caveat’ for Solar Power
The dark side of solar power is solar panel waste, say three researchers in the Harvard Business Review. What they call “solar trash” presents “a massive caveat that very few are talking about,” write Atalay Atasu, Serasu Duran, and Luk N. Van Wassenhove. Official bodies are assuming that the waste (which is currently almost impossible…
Stretching ‘Sustainable’ Investing Far Beyond ‘Green’
The push for ESG (environmental, sustainable, and governance) investing has gone to extreme lengths, reports the Wall Street Journal (the story is behind a paywall). “Now billions of dollars earmarked for sustainable investment are going to companies with questionable environmental credentials and, in some cases, huge business risks,” write Justin Scheck, Eliot Brown, and Ben…