Let’s begin with the obvious: It’s hard to believe that Canada will suffer from rising temperatures. It’s cold much of the year in Canada (average annual temperature, averaged across the country, is 22F.) But the Canadian government says climate change will hurt the nation’s economy by reducing labor productivity (even though it will increase tourism)….
Tag: Climate Change
Your Taxes at Work: Is This a Word Salad?
Another Biden administration funding plan: $250 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for climate planning and environmental justice. Writes Michael Brady of Smart Cities Dive: “The CPRG [Climate Pollution Reduction Grants] program aims to help state and local governments develop comprehensive climate plans that reduce climate pollution and maximize benefits, ‘especially for low-income and disadvantaged communities,’…
Tyler Cowen and Alex Epstein Debate Fossil Fuels
Economist and “Marginal Revolution” blogger Tyler Cowen takes issue with points in Alex Epstein’s 2022 book Fossil Fuels. Cowen believes that it is time to begin changing from fossil fuel use to other energy sources. “We do have to adjust.” Writes Cowen: “[I] really do think we need to deviate from the world’s recent course…
Australian Agriculture Making Millions on ‘Carbon Farming’
The Australian outback has become a hotbed of carbon farming—raising and maintain trees that supposedly absorb carbon. The goal is to create “carbon credits” for companies that can’t reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. But the Australian government is buying most of them. Write Michael E. Miller and Frances Vinall in the Washington Post: “Here in…
A Weak Defense of ESG in Investing
Two writers on the Harvard Business Review blog claim that ESG (that is, adding environmental, social, and governance criteria to investment decisions) is not bad when you stick to the straight and narrow: identifying material risks from non-financial criteria. “To us, ESG is simply about identifying material risk factors that matter to company profitability and…
Bill Gates: My Family Has a Negative Carbon Footprint, So Private Jets Are Okay
Microsoft founder Bill Gates explained to the BBC that it’s not hypocritical for him to fly private jets. He funds Climeworks, a business that does “direct air capture that far exceeds my family’s carbon footprint.” Furthermore, he told the BBC, he spends “billions of dollars on . . . climate innovation.” Gates was interviewed in…