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G8 nations agree to cut emissions 50 percent by 2050 (sort of)

At this year’s Group of Eight meeting in Japan, the world’s richest nations more or less agreed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 50 percent by 2050. While the agreement is notable since it means President Bush has budged ever-so-slightly on the climate issue, the group’s statement on the cuts is little more than a carefully worded […]

Economics, policy, and vision for fighting global warming

Z magazine has published an extended article by me on the politics and economics of global warming. It begins:

Nobody, except for a small lunatic fringe, still disputes that human-caused climate chaos endangers all of us. Further, most serious scientific and technical groups who have looked at the question have concluded that we have the technological capability today to replace greenhouse-gas emitting fossil fuels with efficiency improvements and clean energy -- usually at a maximum cost of around the current worldwide military budget, probably much less. The question therefore is: What's stopping us?

To answer that we need to look at the causes of global warming -- not the physical causes, but the economic and political flaws in our system that have prevented solutions from being implemented long after the problem was known.

One driver is inequality and the maintenance of power that keeps inequality in place produces perverse incentives in resource use.

Read the whole thing. (Note this will disappear behind a paywall eventually. I urge you to buy a copy of Zmag or subscribe to the electronic edition to support alternative media. But if you want to read it for free, grab your electronic copy now.)

U.S. driving declines

I’ve seen this graph cited and reprinted here and there on the interwebs, but it’s worth looking at again, if only to remind ourselves that something fundamentally different for the U.S. economy is underway: This is from a U.S. Department of Transportation report (PDF) on traffic trends.

Mattel worth more than GM on strong outlook for Matchbox, Hot Wheels cars

At the present moment Mattel, the maker of Hot Wheels and Matchbox toy cars, is worth $6.2 billion, putting it at a premium to GM, worth a mere $5.7 billion.

Created in 1952, Matchbox cars were instantly popular because they were hard for children to swallow and required no batteries.

With the price of a fill-up now topping $100, drivers are likewise finding GM's line up of trucks and SUVs very hard to swallow.

Snippets from the news

• The Big Apple will spend $2.3 billion on greenhouse-gas reduction. • Officials urge merger of federal earth-science agencies. • States slacking on clearing park air. • Toxic sludge lingers in Bhopal. • Federal officials propose euthanizing elk and horses. • Coral reefs are in trouble.

Orangutans heading toward extinction

Orangutans are on their way toward extinction, says a new study that points out worrying declines in fuzzy-orange-ape populations. Orangutans only live in the wild on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo; the Sumatra orangutan population has dropped nearly 14 percent since 2004, while the Borneo population has fallen 10 percent. “Unless extraordinary efforts are […]

Wall*E

I saw Wall•E the other day with my kids and I found it absolutely rapturous, particularly the first half-hour or so. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up nominated for Best Picture. Not only is it a creative triumph, but it manages to convey “lessons” (ugh) about “environmental stewardship” (ugh) in a way that […]

Minority leader proposes spending cuts to pay for renewables tax-credit extension

Yet another episode in the drama that is the renewable-energy tax-credit extensions. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sent a letter [PDF] to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking that the Democrats agree to spending cuts in order to fund the extension of tax credits for renewable energy. […]

No easy explanation for continued price increases in the oil markets

At the end of last year I predicted that the price of oil would go down; so far I have been terribly wrong. My prediction, shared by many other economists and energy experts, was premised on a reasonable assumption: Since the world was headed for an economic slowdown, brought about the housing bubble and the financial crisis, global demand for energy would likely moderate, putting downward pressure on prices. While it was a sensible prediction, I am happy that no one took me up on my bet.

So what happened?

State workers in Utah will enjoy mandatory three-day weekends

Starting in August, thousands of Utahns will begin enjoying mandatory three-day weekends. Some 17,000 government employees will switch to a compressed workweek — four days a week, 10 hours a day — as the state undergoes a yearlong experiment aimed at reducing energy and fuel costs as well as greenhouse-gas emissions. While employees of various […]