The other day Marshall and Sol took on Bjorn Lomborg for ignoring the benefits of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed. But Bjorn, among others, is also notorious for exaggerating costs. That fact is that most serious estimates of reducing emissions are fairly low, and there is good reason to believe cost estimates are too high for the simple fact that analysts cannot measure or imagine all ways we might curb emissions. Anything analysts cannot model translates into cost exaggeration. Hawai`i is a good case in point. Since moving to Hawai`i I've started digging into energy, in large part because the situation in Hawai`i is so interesting. Here we make electricity mainly from oil, which is super expensive. We are also rich in sun and wind. Add these facts to Federal and state subsidies and it spells a remarkable energy revolution. Actually, renewables are now cost effective even without subsidies. In the video below Matthias Fripp, who I'm lucky to be working w
Nice power point. I wish I could've seen the presentation.
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about companies such as Monsanto who genetically engineer "suicide" or "self-destruct" genes into their seeds so that they only last one season? I know Monsanto is a huge provider of GM seeds, and in theory it could help avert a global food shortage, but it seems that greed here is winning out.
Do you think, based on what you know, that this makes a difference?
Thanks.
Michael, I'm posting from France, could I possibly download this presentation in any way ? I find it very useful...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help, my name is Yves Sciama and my email sciama.yves@wanadoo.fr
Best
Yves