http://rustypritchard.com/2008/04/23/conservative-solutions-to-global-warming/ Creation, ecology and economics, families and communities Tue, 11 May 2010 05:30:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://rustypritchard.com/2008/04/23/conservative-solutions-to-global-warming/#comment-5 Eric Sat, 17 May 2008 05:46:01 +0000 http://rustypritchard.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/conservative-solutions-to-global-warming/#comment-5 Rusty, Much of this feels like the "more government is the solution" line that has been around as long as I can remember. Libertarian leaning conservatives like me have a set of beliefs that won't be fooled by saying you will present a conservative solution followed by a governmental-liberal solution. If Global Warming needs to be stopped, I would say you have only a few options. You could ignore the conservatives and try to get a majority to override them. You could try to get conservatives to become governmental-liberals on the specific issue of global warming. Or you could have a solution that would persuade conservatives to join. Here's my suggestion given the concerns I have as a libertarian-leaning conservative. 1. A carbon tax is best. Economists seem almost uniform in this. If global warming is an external cost, a tax would best internalize the externality without deciding in advance what the "right" level of emissions is. 2. The tax should address the concerns conservatives have that Global Warming isn't real, and that it is really a government power grab. It should be tied in some way to the evidence, either simply through global average temperatures or in a more complicated manner based on athropogenic signatures as Ross McKittrick has suggested. It should automatically expire if temperatures stay low for an extended time. 3. All other badgering about oil use should stop. Conservatives suspect that the Global Warming hysteria is just an excuse to hamper our economy by eliminating oil as a fuel, even if oil is the best choice given all costs including externalities. The carbon tax would internalize the externalities and create the right incentives for everyone. There is no need then for CAFE standards, effective bans on incandescent light bulbs, etc, and they should be repealed. The new after-tax prices should accomplish all that's needed. 4. The tax should be rebated in a way that doesn't affect incentives. An unrebated tax would have a disproportionate effect on the poor who spend a larger percentage of income on gas and would be the first to curtail driving, heating and AC in light of the tax. Rusty,
Much of this feels like the “more government is the solution” line that has been around as long as I can remember. Libertarian leaning conservatives like me have a set of beliefs that won’t be fooled by saying you will present a conservative solution followed by a governmental-liberal solution. If Global Warming needs to be stopped, I would say you have only a few options. You could ignore the conservatives and try to get a majority to override them. You could try to get conservatives to become governmental-liberals on the specific issue of global warming. Or you could have a solution that would persuade conservatives to join. Here’s my suggestion given the concerns I have as a libertarian-leaning conservative.
1. A carbon tax is best. Economists seem almost uniform in this. If global warming is an external cost, a tax would best internalize the externality without deciding in advance what the “right” level of emissions is.
2. The tax should address the concerns conservatives have that Global Warming isn’t real, and that it is really a government power grab. It should be tied in some way to the evidence, either simply through global average temperatures or in a more complicated manner based on athropogenic signatures as Ross McKittrick has suggested. It should automatically expire if temperatures stay low for an extended time.
3. All other badgering about oil use should stop. Conservatives suspect that the Global Warming hysteria is just an excuse to hamper our economy by eliminating oil as a fuel, even if oil is the best choice given all costs including externalities. The carbon tax would internalize the externalities and create the right incentives for everyone. There is no need then for CAFE standards, effective bans on incandescent light bulbs, etc, and they should be repealed. The new after-tax prices should accomplish all that’s needed.
4. The tax should be rebated in a way that doesn’t affect incentives. An unrebated tax would have a disproportionate effect on the poor who spend a larger percentage of income on gas and would be the first to curtail driving, heating and AC in light of the tax.

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