In general, economists like William Nordhaus. He understands the role of prices, has highlighted the value of innovation, and received a Nobel Prize in 2018 for tackling the costs and benefits of global warming. That work revealed that the costs of trying to mitigate global warming too severely can outweigh the benefits. But David Henderson,…
Category: The Environmental Blog
Are Cloth Totes ‘Environmentally Friendly’?
In the past there was a debate over whether cloth diapers were really environmentally better than disposable diapers. The answer: not in areas where water and energy are scarce, because rewashing cloth uses more resources (water and heat) than do plastic and cellulose production and landfill disposal. Now the New York Times poses another environmental…
The West Is a Fire Plain. Get Over It.
Guest author Randal O’Toole has a degree in forestry from Oregon State University and has spent several decades studying forest policy. He is the author of six books, including Reforming the Forest Service, and author of The Perfect Firestorm: Bringing Forest Service Wildfire Costs under Control, a Cato Institute Policy Analysis. Every summer, smoke from…
Search for Profits Will Spur Adaptation to Climate Change
Let’s suppose that global temperatures keep increasing. Can we adapt? Yes, says UCLA professor Matthew E. Kahn, writing for PERC Reports. “As millions of U.S. households and billions of people around the world seek new solutions to adapt to climate change, there is a huge market for firms that can devise products that help people…
A Warning to Republicans on Climate Change
Ben Zycher has a message for Republicans: The Democrats have the facts about climate change all wrong, but they still hold the moral and so-called “scientific” high ground. Republicans and other conservatives should not dismiss their claims but understand and explain why they are off-base. Zycher, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, writes…
Only Union Shops, Please . . . for Electric Vehicles?
The Biden administration is counting on most electric cars being made in union shops, says Bruce Yandle in RealClearEnergy. That is the case even though the best-known EV maker is, of course, non-unionized Tesla. Yandle, a distinguished adjunct professor at the Mercatus Center, says: “Top leaders from Ford, GM, and Stellantis (formerly Fiat-Chrysler), along with…