For Effective Climate Policy, the First Step is the Hardest
After more than three decades of trying, Austria moves to tax carbon.
Writing
My columns, essays, books, as well as research and teaching materials like case studies.
We Need to Talk About Geoengineering
Although climate change is primarily caused by excess greenhouse-gas emissions, there are many links in the chain between economic activities and the real-world effects of planetary warming. Each of these can be addressed in different ways, and all options should at least be on the table.
Is it economists' fault?
Biases inherent to the way economics is typically practiced by consultants is slowing meaningful progress on fighting climate change.
Costly tipping points
New research shows significant economic costs of climate risks.
How I Greened My Prewar Co-op
A climate economist overhauls his leaky, 200-year-old co-op.
Conservative climate science
Climate science and economics are inherently conservative, and that may be a factor in Monday's highly-anticipated IPCC report.
The planet needs more New Yorkers
The best thing New York and other cities can do for the climate is to let more people live there.
Nightmare Climate Scenarios
The economist Martin Weitzman got scientists and politicians to think about the worst-case outcomes of global warming. We’re seeing them happen right now.
Cheaper solar PV is key to addressing climate change
The rapidly dropping price of solar power has transformed how we think about clean energy. But it needs to still get a whole lot cheaper.
Economics Needs a Climate Revolution
With its fixation on equilibrium thinking and an exclusive focus on market factors that can be precisely measured, the neoclassical orthodoxy in economics is fundamentally unequipped to deal with today's biggest problems. Change within the discipline is underway, but it cannot come fast enough.
Fear of Geoengineering Is Really Anxiety About Cutting Carbon
Research into unproven technofixes isn’t a replacement for eliminating emissions, even if the debate over geoengineering is stuck on that concern.
Germany's climate election
There is plenty of debate and acrimony, but there is indeed debate about policy solutions.
A To-Do List for the New Climate Activists on Exxon’s Board
After a week when three oil giants were forced to face climate urgency, a guide to what concrete change might look like.
The Climate Tipping Point We Want
The green transition comes with costs; but they are well worth it, and they pale in comparison to the costs of inaction. The ever-falling costs of renewables have not eliminated the politics of climate change. But they certainly have made our choices much easier.
Carbon Taxes Cut Emissions, Not Jobs or Economic Growth
It’s easy to see why infrastructure spending would cut emissions, while creating jobs. Carbon taxes appear to do the same.
Why the Biden Administration Should Propose Carbon Tariffs
Assessing tariffs based on the carbon content of goods is complicated, but will lead to stronger climate policy and better economic outcomes.
Infrastructure means jobs
Jobs vs. environment is an old trope whose time has passed.
Recalculate the social cost of carbon
The science is ripe to update estimates of CO2 emissions costs. Calls to scrap the calculation are misguided.
How to Judge Biden’s Climate Record
To assess the effectiveness of climate policies, don’t look at today’s CO₂ emissions, instead focus on the trajectory.
It’s Too Late for Big Oil’s Pivot to a Carbon Tax
The American Petroleum Institute is considering endorsing a carbon price. That’s a big shift, but a carbon price alone is not good climate policy.