The message is clear. Global climate change must take its place alongside those threats -- conflict, poverty, the proliferation of deadly weapons -- that have traditionally monopolised first-order political attention. (Kofi Annan, AFP, 11-15-06)
A global externality can best be dealt with by a globally agreed tax rate. This does not mean an increase in overall taxation, but simply a substitution in each country of a pollution (carbon) tax for some current taxes. It makes much more sense to tax things that are bad, like pollution, than things that are good, like savings and work….(Joseph Stiglitz, Miami Herald, 11-15-06)
Hard Rain Journal 11-16-06: Annan and Stiglitz Urge Leaders to Face Risk
By Richard Power
Global warming is the number one national security issue of our time (well, it is tied with nuclear proliferation), and it is the one about which the least has been done.
Here are two powerful statements of principle and practicality, one from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz:
UN chief Kofi Annan demanded that world leaders give climate change the same priority as they did to wars and to curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Annan made the appeal as he launched a three-day gathering of environment chiefs, tasked with stepping up action against global warming. In his valedictory speech to the annual meeting, the UN secretary-general painted a sombre tableau about the effects of climate change, especially on impoverished countries that were least to blame for it. And he lacerated the fast-shrinking minority of politicians or scientists who still denied there was any threat as "out of step, out of arguments and out of time." Climate change imperils agriculture through drought and coastal cities through rising sea levels, poses a health threat by spreading mosquito-born disease and could lead to billion-dollar weather calamities, said Annan….Annan declared: "The message is clear. Global climate change must take its place alongside those threats -- conflict, poverty, the proliferation of deadly weapons -- that have traditionally monopolised first-order political attention." Bob Egelko, Climate Change Is as Serious as WMD: Annan, Agence France Presse, 11-15-06
Some suggest that because we are not certain about how bad global warming will be, we should do little or nothing. To me, uncertainty should make us act more resolutely today, not less…
To an economist, the problem is obvious: Polluters are not paying the full costs of the damage they cause. Pollution is a global externality of enormous proportions. The advanced countries might mean Bangladesh and the disappearing island states no harm, but no war could be more devastating.
A global externality can best be dealt with by a globally agreed tax rate. This does not mean an increase in overall taxation, but simply a substitution in each country of a pollution (carbon) tax for some current taxes. It makes much more sense to tax things that are bad, like pollution, than things that are good, like savings and work….
Although President Bush says he believes in markets, in this case he has called for voluntary action. But it makes far more sense to use the force of markets -- the power of incentives -- than to rely on goodwill, especially when it comes to oil companies that regard their sole objective as maximizing profits, regardless of the cost to others….
The good news is that there are many ways by which improved incentives could reduce emissions -- partly by eliminating the myriad of subsidies for inefficient usages. The United States subsidizes corn-based ethanol, and imposes tariffs on sugar-based ethanol; hidden in the tax code are billions of dollars of subsidies to the oil and gas industries.
Most important, price signals that show the true social costs of energy derived from fossil fuels will encourage innovation and conservation.
Small changes in practices, when replicated by hundreds of millions of people, can make an enormous difference. For example, simply changing the color of roofs in warm climates to reflect sunlight or planting trees around houses can lead to great savings on energy used for air conditioning. Joseph Stiglitz, Global Warming: Don't Ignore the Risks, Miami Herald, 11-15-06
Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"
There is a powerful magic in personal commitment.
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Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Weather, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, Extreme Weather, Crisis Management,Joseph Stiglitz, Kofi Annan,Richard Power, Words of Power
