On Climate Change, The Movement

To Fight Climate Change, Think Politics First and Often

Nathan Lobel, February 26, 2019 (Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment)

“In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that we have little more than a decade to stave off climate catastrophe…Punctuating a year of natural and political climate-related disasters, [it] sparked renewed calls for action…[Economists, environmentalists, and policy elites called for carbon pricing, but its theoretical utility has not translated to] the real and drastic emissions reductions that we so desperately need…[P]olicy popularity depends not on the real distribution of resulting costs and benefits, but rather on how those costs and benefits are perceived by the public. For that reason, political popularity will also vary in response to the extent, directness, and immediacy with which costs and benefits are experienced by various constituencies…

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…[Carbon pricing has] won the support of a diverse and impressive array of policy elites, including Nobel prize-winning economists…progressive heroes like Bernie Sanders, former Republican Cabinet officials like James Baker, and even oil companies like ExxonMobil…[But] the design of carbon pricing schemes often yield highly visible costs with few tangible present-day benefits…[and it] has had little political appeal…[C]limate advocates should re-center proven and popular policies that deliver present-day benefit with less visible cost, like clean air regulations, clean energy mandates, and investments in green jobs and infrastructure..New York Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey have included these elements in their Green New Deal…Failing to do so can impede the achievement of critical policy objectives…[and] we don’t have time to waste.” click here for more

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