Monday 14 March 2016

My interview in "Building a consensus on climate change? Not so easy, after all" in Macleans

Here is the link to an article by John Geddes "Building a consensus on climate change? Not so easy, after all", Ottawa bureau chief at Maclean’s, who does a good job of distilling my point that while carbon pricing is the most economically efficient GHG reduction policy, it is willful blindness to assume that economic efficiency is the only criterion when trying to implement climate policy. If regulations are more politically acceptable, especially for doing the heavy lifting, then put some intelligence (even economic intelligence) into designing market-oriented regulations that are relatively economically efficient.



One might notice by the way, that in the first two weeks of March Trudeau failed to get provinces to agree to even a small carbon price (that would have virtually no effect on emissions - such as $15 or $30 per tonne of CO2)) and then went to Washington and quickly signed an agreement with Obama to dramatically reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. No mention of emissions pricing. It will be regulation." 

The Paris climate summit

This article appeared in Policy Options in November 2015.
The Paris climate summit
Canada has consistently failed to deliver, but it’s not too late for us to make a major contribution at the climate summit in Paris.
The other day I heard an environmental advocate argue that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needed to make an ambitious commitment at the UN Paris climate summit (COP 21) to atone for all the “climate fossil” awards won by our previous prime minister. I’m not so sure.
Remember when newly elected President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize? He hadn’t yet done anything. Apparently the Nobel committee bestowed the award simply because he was not George W. Bush. In the same vein, Trudeau will be welcomed because he is not Stephen Harper.
I am not saying, of course, that Trudeau should just go to Paris and smile. But to make a real contribution, he will need to be brutally honest about why UN negotiations have failed for over two decades and equally honest about why Canada’s emission reduction efforts have also continuously failed.

Want an effective climate policy? Heed the evidence

This article appeared in Policy Options in February 2016.
Want an effective climate policy? Heed the evidence
Carbon taxes and caps may be most effective in economic theory, but smart regulation will produce better climate policy for our political reality.
Wisely, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resisted the temptation at the Paris climate summit in December to double down on Stephen Harper’s 2030 target for Canadian carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. While future emissions promises are easily made, effective climate policy is devilishly difficult. To have any chance, Trudeau needs to stay wise — which starts by avoiding advice from technology and policy advocates who themselves avoid inconvenient evidence from leading climate policy research and real-world experience. What does this evidence tell us?
For one thing, it’s a mistake to expect a big contribution from energy efficiency. For three decades, governments and utilities have made efficiency the focus of their emissions reduction efforts, with negligible results. Yes, energy efficiency is always improving, and we can slightly accelerate that trend. But humans require energy for basic needs and, more important, we keep inventing frivolous devices that use more. (Need evidence? Stroll through your local big-box store.)