Economic Theories On Climate Change

Improved Essays
When it comes to the study of Economics, it can be very hard to implement a policy without being subjective. Different economic models and economic theories bring different points of views on climate change. Different models give us a different insight on climate change and whether we should still place importance on climate change for the good of human kind or for the good of the governance of the country. Economics is the study of how people choose to use and allocate their resources. As stated by Mike Hulme, “Individuals and societies ascribe values to activities, assets, constructions, and resources in many different ways. One of the reasons we disagree about climate change is because we ascribe these values differently” (Hulme 112). When …show more content…
The first model we will look at is the cost benefit analysis economists use in order to weigh our options on climate change. Cost benefit analysis allows us to compare the cost of emitting greenhouse gas with the benefit of emitting greenhouse gases, which can be to create more power plants to be able to create energy. For example, “according to most conventional calculations, one would need to sacrifice around 2% of the global annual GDP to make a significant difference in the control of emission” (Padilla 526). Many economists have used these numbers to argue that emissions control can threaten economic development. However, this means that the cost of policies trying to reverse climate change amounts to only a couple of years delay in achieving very impressive growth in per capita income levels. Although this is a valid argument, economists tend to forget the effects that greenhouse gas emission has on the environment. In the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia we are explained that “If global warming increases by more than two degrees Celsius, a situation that the “Copenhagen Accord” could lead to, there is a fifty percent probability that the damages caused to our Mother Earth will be completely irreversible” (Worlds 1). What this entails is that twenty to thirty percent of species will become endangered on Earth and large portions of forests will be affected by droughts. This is only one of the many examples of a cost-benefit analysis that have to do with climate change. The cost is the destruction of the Earth, and the benefit is keeping two percent of our Gross Domestic Product. But many different economists can see this situation differently. Activists can flip the cost and

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    In several respects, global climate change (GCC) represents new conditions. It is not just extreme events and changing rainfall patterns that have started to affect individuals in various parts of the world. There are also discussions in the political community regarding activities of mitigation and adaptation because of climate change. Decisions by others predict effects (by politicians regarding road toll systems, extra taxes on fossil fuel, etc.) even for those who are not personally concerned.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although this will be difficult, according to Sharon Begley in “Too much hot air” because governments believe that capping greenhouse gases could cripple their economy, if enough people make a real stand towards the government, they may rethink their policy’s (Begley). Tidwell also explains that if these limits or laws are not reached, the consequences could have drastic natural effects on human life. With the lives of millions in the balance, humans need to stop taking the environment for granted and make a real change of the situation. Tidwell tells us that scientists have done…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Inspired by a forsaken orange that sat in a North Carolina parking lot, Jonathan Bloom wrote American Wasteland to examine the growing problem of food-waste in America. I think Bloom did a tremendous job by presenting this looming issue. His numerous anecdotes pertaining to food-waste creates an innate sense of relatability, which in turn direct readers’ attention to the statistical and logical presentations of the issue. This is an impressive feat because Bloom avoided coming off as preachy or judgmental in a book that attempts to raise awareness of something that general Americans have already decided it’s not important (xvi). As a result, Bloom’s systematic way of examining every aspect of America's habit of wasting food comes off as interesting…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dear Rex W. Tillerson CEO, As you must know, climate change is real and well in effect. The sea-level is rising, the ice caps are melting, the ocean is acidifying, and Earth’s temperature is rising at an unprecedented rate. Why, must you ask? We humans have become so powerful and influential that we have changed Earth’s climate and the way Earth works. As the population will continue to grow at a high rate, the need for resources will increase as well.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Collective Action

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The problem with finding a solution to policy creation to combat the issue of global warming has been proven to be complicated and complex. Many ideas have been brought up within political spheres with regards to how best to go about this. Currently, the model of collective action is regarded as one of the more suitable ways to combat global warming. Collective action may help policy focused on global warming to an extent, however other ideas such as taking a polycentric approach to the issue will greatly aid in this challenge.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “If the world continues to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, the Earth’s temperature will rise two degrees Celsius by 2036, crossing a threshold that will harm human civilization,” according to Michael Mann, a leading expert in climatology and geophysics. If this is true, then this means that we have only twenty years to try and reverse the effects of global warming. The only way to productively save the planet from global warming is to immediately stop burning fossil fuels and invest in clean renewable energy. “People get confused about this issue, but the facts are crystal clear – the ice is melting, the Earth is warming, the sea level is rising – those are facts. ”(Sellers)…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Thus being, it is not unreasonable that individuals live the life styles they do without thinking about the repercussions for the future generations. On how to tackle the issue Krznaric proposes a few solutions. One being is implementing long-term policies referring about how the Japanese did in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. “We need something more than moral or economic arguments to generate social action on climate change. We need to create an empathetic bond between the present and the future.…

    • 1585 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although this can be viewed as a controversial topic, the scientific evidence to support it cannot be logically argued with; the Earth and its climate are changing and legislation should broaden as this predicament processes. This claim is supported by a number of scientific findings that reflect negatively on the Earth’s environment. In response to this there is information on current and past legislation; as well as various opportunities the United States could participate in in the future. When the U.S. society thinks of climate change it is typically associated with the phrase, The ice caps are melting, look at these poor polar bears. This argumentative statement uses the method of pathos to invoke the reader’s sympathy, but lacks the…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most debated subjects this century is the policy on climate change. Specifically about how to go about decreasing one of the leading components most impacted by society, carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide is emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels, which is the main source of power for many of society’s technology and methods of transportation. Due to the increase use of these technologies, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased to a dangerous level, changing Earth’s climate; in turn affecting Earth’s societies and cultures. The most effective method to reduce carbon emissions in the United States would be to increase the usage of alternative energies, such as hydroelectric, wind, and solar powers, as well as devoting…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Climate change is an extraordinarily important problem, and requires immediate and radical government intervention on the sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change’s effects are already being felt around the globe in the form of coral bleaching, erratic and extreme precipitation and weather patterns, rising sea levels, arctic ice melt, and unprecedented record temperatures. If mitigation efforts are not implemented, it will impose epoch-making impacts geographically, environmentally, socially, and economically. Climate change imposes future issues of rising temperatures, depletion of ice caps, sea level rise, lengthened grow seasons, increased frequency and magnitude of hazardous convective weather, decrease in freshwater and ocean water quality, droughts and…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Al Gore Climate Curse There are many titles oft bestowed upon Al Gore; Filmmaker, climate activist, Nobel Peace Laureate, Vice President, Presidential Nominee – all true and well deserved. Mr. Gore has dedicated much of his political career and beyond to solving climate change and its numerous geographical, political, economic and humanitarian consequences. As the first international figure to loudly, profoundly educate the public on the dangers of Global Warming in the widely acclaimed film, An Inconvenient Truth, he brought climate change into the homes of Americans and into the mailboxes of they’re politicians. An honorable and necessary message, yes, but not one that has proven to be beneficial to the environmental cause through…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the article ‘Fewer people would mean fewer worries’, (Geer 2008, p.1) biologist Allen Geer contended that 1. technological solutions to environmental problems are inadequate, and 2. that stabilizing the population at present or lower levels is a durable and easy solution to implement. Therefore, stabilizing the population should be implemented as a solution to environmental problems such as climate change, either in tandem with, or in place of technological solutions. 1.1…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Alejandro Vieyra Mr. Moody English 4 5 December 2016 Climate Change Must Stop Climate change is the changing of weather patterns in regions all around the world. The primary cause of climate change is the appreciable amount of fossil fuel emissions that humans are sending into the atmosphere. These emissions consist of carbon dioxide that ultimately retain more heat in our atmosphere than needed, thus elevating the temperature everywhere around the globe and damaging ecosystems greatly. Many people, including politicians and scientists, believe that climate change is simply a hoax. Although some prefer to believe that climate change is fake and we have nothing to worry about, there are concrete facts that prove these individuals wrong.…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On the other hand, economic growth is a top concern of individual nations as it appeals to consumers and producers, and voters and politicians alike. This conflicts with the necessary considerations needed for formulating and prioritizing GHG emission reduction policies. Climate change is an issue that requires the cooperation of all states in order to find a global solution. This is no easy task due to the “close relationship between natural resource use and economic growth”. Economic globalization has shifted states’ vested interests and priorities towards GDPs and economic…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Global warming has become an increasingly popular topic for discussion among economists because of the human activity that is contributing to the rising pollution in today’s society. Economists such as William Nordhaus in his article, “After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanism to Control Global Warming,” have argued that a carbon tax is the most efficient form of action to reduce carbon emissions. On the other hand, other economists such as Robert Stavins argues in his article, “Addressing Climate Change with a Comprehensive U.S Cap and Trade System,” that a cap and trade system should be implemented instead of a carbon tax. While both of these market instruments have their strengths and weaknesses, another popular approach is combining these two market instruments into a hybrid approach with a cap and trade system complemented with a price floor or ceiling or maybe even both. I will analyze all three approaches and talk about each market instrument’s strengths and weaknesses.…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays