Something is better than nothing

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote a piece for New York Times Magazine last week on the economics of climate change solutions (see article here).

It's a very good overview of the approaches our government is debating in regards to climate change policy, i.e. cap-and-trade vs. emissions tax. He also discusses the politics of inaction and pessimism surrounding these issues, laying out the economics of action vs. inaction. I find this very important considering that opponents like to talk of the prohibitive costs of the proposed policies to the US economy without considering the deferred costs that will occur without said policies. Lastly, Krugman throws his support behind immediate action on a large and fast scale. The technology and economic analysis are all ready to go, and now political will is all we are waiting for.

In the vein of pessimism that Krugman discussed, some responses to Krugman's article criticized him for not having realistic, attainable goals and for expecting too much from our political and market-place sectors. In assessing these criticisms, political blogger Kevin Drum of Mother Jones takes a tone that I find inspiring and spot-on. It's easy to say that it's too difficult to try these recommended actions, but what other choice do we have?

"I think it's too easy to be overwhelmed by the scope of the climate change problem. It's unquestionably fantastically difficult, and any sober look at human nature, developing country growth, and capital stock inertia suggests that we're going to have a very hard time meeting our most ambitious goals. But there really are pretty feasible ways of getting a lot of the way there, and if carbon pricing and other programs motivate the next Thomas Edison to invent something remarkable a year or a decade before it might have otherwise happened, who knows? That might get us the rest of the way.

And if it doesn't? Well, look: three degrees of temperature increase is still better then five degrees. Six inches of sea rise is better than 12 inches. A hundred million dead is better than a billion dead. This stuff is worth doing even if it's not perfect. After all, what is?"

- Kevin Drum, Mother Jones

To read the rest of Kevin Drum's post, click here.