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Building a Green Economy -- Krugman

Discussion in 'Free Speech Alley' started by Indiana Tiger, Apr 8, 2010.

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Indiana Tiger Founding Member

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Very good (long) article on the economics of climate change by Paul Krugman. Below is the intro:

If you listen to climate scientists — and despite the relentless campaign to discredit their work, you should — it is long past time to do something about emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. If we continue with business as usual, they say, we are facing a rise in global temperatures that will be little short of apocalyptic. And to avoid that apocalypse, we have to wean our economy from the use of fossil fuels, coal above all.

But is it possible to make drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions without destroying our economy?

Like the debate over climate change itself, the debate over climate economics looks very different from the inside than it often does in popular media. The casual reader might have the impression that there are real doubts about whether emissions can be reduced without inflicting severe damage on the economy. In fact, once you filter out the noise generated by special-interest groups, you discover that there is widespread agreement among environmental economists that a market-based program to deal with the threat of climate change — one that limits carbon emissions by putting a price on them — can achieve large results at modest, though not trivial, cost. There is, however, much less agreement on how fast we should move, whether major conservation efforts should start almost immediately or be gradually increased over the course of many decades.

In what follows, I will offer a brief survey of the economics of climate change or, more precisely, the economics of lessening climate change. I’ll try to lay out the areas of broad agreement as well as those that remain in major dispute. First, though, a primer in the basic economics of environmental protection.
Click to expand...

Read the rest here: Climate Change - Building a Green Economy - NYTimes.com

Indiana Tiger, Apr 8, 2010

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HalloweenRun Founding Member

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I think Paul Krugman is great! Thanks for posting. I missed the NYT this morning.

hwr

HalloweenRun, Apr 8, 2010

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Sourdoughman TigerFan of LSU and the Tigerman

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You know what I find interesting is all the attention global warming and a green economy receives.
Tonight there is a asteroid that will buzz by the earth, my understanding is that it will closer than the moon.
That is more of an immediate threat and it goes unnoticed!

Sourdoughman, Apr 8, 2010

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shane0911 Helping lost idiots find their village

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Sourdoughman said: ↑

You know what I find interesting is all the attention global warming and a green economy receives.
Tonight there is a asteroid that will buzz by the earth, my understanding is that it will closer than the moon.
That is more of an immediate threat and it goes unnoticed!
Click to expand...

Exactly, how many would know the relevance of 1950 DA?

shane0911, Apr 8, 2010

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locoguano Founding Member

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Green economy = Do things more expensively than China and India = More lost jobs

locoguano, Apr 8, 2010

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HalloweenRun Founding Member

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Sourdoughman said: ↑

You know what I find interesting is all the attention global warming and a green economy receives.
Tonight there is a asteroid that will buzz by the earth, my understanding is that it will closer than the moon.
That is more of an immediate threat and it goes unnoticed!
Click to expand...

Well that is more the beauty of Newtonian physics. Predictable. The deal with global warming, or lack thereof is the unknown...and regardless of which "side" you are on, there are a bunch.

hwr

HalloweenRun, Apr 9, 2010

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SabanFan The voice of reason

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HalloweenRun said: ↑

I think Paul Krugman is great!
Click to expand...

I cancel out your "great".

SabanFan, Apr 9, 2010

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martin Banned Forever

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i have never read one word from krugman that wasnt 100% preposterous. he is a lying idiotic self-serving scoundrel.

martin, Apr 9, 2010

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shane0911 Helping lost idiots find their village

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nm

shane0911, Apr 9, 2010

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red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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locoguano said: ↑

Green economy = Do things more expensively than China and India = More lost jobs
Click to expand...

China and India do not compete with our coal-burning power plants, you know.

red55, Apr 9, 2010

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