A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming PoliciesYale University Press, 2008 M06 24 - 256 pages As scientific and observational evidence on global warming piles up every day, questions of economic policy in this central environmental topic have taken center stage. But as author and prominent Yale economist William Nordhaus observes, the issues involved in understanding global warming and slowing its harmful effects are complex and cross disciplinary boundaries. For example, ecologists see global warming as a threat to ecosystems, utilities as a debit to their balance sheets, and farmers as a hazard to their livelihoods. In this important work, William Nordhaus integrates the entire spectrum of economic and scientific research to weigh the costs of reducing emissions against the benefits of reducing the long-run damages from global warming. The book offers one of the most extensive analyses of the economic and environmental dynamics of greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change and provides the tools to evaluate alternative approaches to slowing global warming. The author emphasizes the need to establish effective mechanisms, such as carbon taxes, to harness markets and harmonize the efforts of different countries. This book not only will shape discussion of one the world’s most pressing problems but will provide the rationales and methods for achieving widespread agreement on our next best move in alleviating global warming. |
Contents
1 | |
30 | |
38 | |
FOUR Alternative Policies for Global Warming | 65 |
FIVE Results of the DICE2007 Model Runs | 80 |
SIX The Economics of Participation | 116 |
SEVEN Dealing with Uncertainty in ClimateChange Policy | 123 |
EIGHT The Many Advantages of Carbon Taxes | 148 |
The Stern Review | 165 |
TEN Summary and Conclusions | 192 |
Equations of the DICE2007 Model | 205 |
Notes | 211 |
References | 219 |
Index | 227 |
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Common terms and phrases
abatement costs alternative analysis assumed backstop technology baseline calculations calibrated cap-and-trade carbon cycle carbon emissions carbon price carbon tax Chapter climate change climate damages climate-change policy CO₂ CO2 emissions complete participation constraints consumption elasticity cost of carbon countries damage function DICE model different policies discount rate earlier Economics of Climate efficient emis emissions reductions energy environmental equations estimates Figure fossil fuels Fourth Assessment fraction future geophysical GHG emissions global emissions global mean global temperature increase global warming Gore proposal greenhouse growth impacts inefficient investments IPCC Kyoto Protocol Limit to 1.5 Limit to 2°C Low-cost backstop MAGICC major nomic Nordhaus optimal policy outcomes parameters percent period present value projections radiative forcing ratio real interest rate real return regions relative return on capital risk premium runs scenarios sigma sions social cost social welfare function Stern Review temperature change tion trajectory trillion U.S. dollars uncertainty utility variables
References to this book
Modeling Environment-Improving Technological Innovations under Uncertainty Alexander Golub,Anil Markandya No preview available - 2008 |