How will reducing greenhouse gas emissions affect the American economy?
My Goodness! My variables were very pessimistic. For instance "How likely is it that national policies that make carbon fuels more expensive will stimulate technological innovation that raises energy efficiency or makes renewable energy alternatives less expensive?" I think the exact opposite is true. Higher prices mean higher profits, and suppression of alternate energy. That's all we've seen and that's all we're going to see. We wouldn't still be using petroleum if anything else were true. My predicted outcome was 2.989% growth versus the "business as usual" (do nothing) outcome of 3.0% growth.
Should and will President Obama act on these 'Plan B' climate suggestions?
The Presidential Climate Action Project has made suggestions as to how President Obama can use his executive authority to achieve his goal of 17% greenhouse gas emissions cuts by 2020 despite congress failing to pass a climate bill. So far the President has not backed off this committment despite congress' failure. 1) Create a national roadmap to the clean energy economy for state and local governments to follow. According to the Center for Climate Strategies, if all 50 states adopted a set of 23 energy and climate policies, they could cut emissions 27% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, about nine times deeper than the cuts the President has proposed. At the same time, those 23 policies would boost GDP by $134 billion, save consumers $5 billion and create 2.5 million new jobs. 2) Challenge the United States—currently a pathetic 22nd in energy efficiency among the major economies—to become the world’s most energy-efficient industrial economy by 2035. 3) Push Congress to modify the surface transportation reauthorization bill next year such that it gives more funding for mass transit than building roads. Currently more funding goes to building roads. 4) Stop subsidizing fossil fuels. According to the IEA, phasing out these hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies over the next decade would achieve more than 30% of the cuts in carbon emissions necessary to keep rising atmospheric temperatures at no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. 5) Make ecosystem restoration a central strategy in climate mitigation and adaptation. http://www.climateactionproject.com/plan... What do you think of these suggestions - should and will President Obama act on them?