In today's Washington Post, two supporters of real action on climate change and a healthier environment take Post columnist Robert Samuelson to task. A little more than a week ago, Samuelson wrote that the cost of mitigating climate change is too great for the U.S. economy.
Writers Kristen Sheeran and Mindy Lubber take issue with Samuelson and we all should, too. If Sheeran and Lubber are correct that Samuelson and other opponents of aggressive action on climate change are not using the cost of carbon emissions on society when calculating the cost of mitigating them, then he indeed is missing the mark.
The cost to the U.S and the world from carbon emissions is real. Maybe we don't see it on the balance sheets of companies who collectively pump billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air each, but we certainly see the result in shrinking glaciers, wilder storms and sea level increases.
For Virginians who love the ocean and bays, global warming is a real threat. The Chesapeake is at risk and that means jobs.
I don't think that Samuelson is a flat-earth person, someone who doesn't believe that global warming is a problem or that carbon emissions from the way we live and manufacture is not a contributing cause. I do think that he is wrong on the economics. If he wants, I can dust off my old copy of his father's wonderful textbook and send it to him for a Econ 101 refresher.
No comments:
Post a Comment