‘Green jobs’ are not what the Biden administration is claiming they are, says Noam Scheiber in the New York Times. “The Green New Deal, first introduced in 2019, sought to ‘create millions of good, high-wage jobs.’” President Biden repeated the promise in March, says Sheiber.. “’My American Jobs Plan will put hundreds of thousands of…
The New Trade in Non-Production (of Carbon)
The pressure to “do something” about global warming has created exotic new programs that emphasize reducing output. You might think of them as markets in non-production. I will explain them. Carbon offsets. Companies that produce or use fossil fuels are trying to reduce their “carbon footprint” but still continue their business. They are purchasing “offsets”—that…
‘Wild Horse Annie’ Rides Again
Once again, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is faced with opposition to its way of dealing with wild horses on public rangeland. For many decades, wild horses and burros have proliferated on public lands—descendants of escaped horses going back as far as the years of Spanish exploration, plus horses lost or abandoned by settlers…
The Grumpy Economist Considers Climate Change
“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…