What to do About Climate Change.

So I think we’re all agreed that there is indeed something going on with the climate? I myself take roughly the Lomborg position, that it is, that we are at least partially responsible for it and then the real arguments start. What, exactly, should we do about it?

Kyoto, as we know, is extraordinarily expensive, hundreds of billions over the next century in order to delay the warming by 6 years. As the Copenhagen Consensus pointed out, there are other, better, things we could do with that money that would alleviate more human suffering. It might well be better to pay for the adaptation required rather than to try and stop the warming.

But let’s open up the argument a little more. Say we would, should be, willing to pay $500 billion to reduce  the warming by 1.7o Kelvin (this is more than Kyoto will provide and cheaper too). Would emissions reductions be the best way of doing that?

According to these guys, no it wouldn’t. Note that this is a technological solution that gets us more reduction in temperature change for less money than Kyoto. So, if it really is important that there not be such change, and that we ought to be doing anything and everything necessary to make sure ofthe outcome, why do we not have demonstrations, anguished editorials in The Guardian, pushing this scheme?

Is it because this would be a technological fix?

h/t EU Rota. You might also want to look at that link for his pondering on why on earth would Turkey want to join the failure that is the EU?

4 responses

  1. The real aim of Kyoto was to hobble the US economy, and if that failed to be able to blame the US for killing the planet. Therefore, any other solution will never be adopted.

  2. Climate change…youve been nobled tim, dont get sucked in to the green/left catch all language, what we are talking about is rapid human induced co2 global warming.
    Now when the UN takes mbh98 off the table and apologises for it, instead of hanging around waiting for some other evidence to turn up, we might be able to have a sane and clear discussion about it.
    http://www.friendsofscience.org/
    have some interesting videos to ponder

  3. e m butler Avatar
    e m butler

    I had the same idea but mine was cheaper… Shade the sunny side only ,then the night side could radiate as usual into space..Putting the ring all the way around would prevent the earth cooling at night…they call it global warming now since co2 prevents the earth from cooling..

  4. Rob Read Avatar
    Rob Read

    Design a self replicating robot with a solar panel and a mirror on top.
    Drop one in the sahara, wait.

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