According to the Wall Street Journal's Monthly Economic Forecasting Survey; February 2007, 85% of the surveyed economists believe the government should encourage development of alternatives to fossil fuels. When asked "what is the most economically sound way for the government to encourage development of alternatives to fossil fuels," 54% responded with "taxes that raise the cost of purchasing fossil fuels." The next largest category was "other" at 28%, followed by "subsidies for producers of alternative fuels" at 13%.

According to former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, as quoted in the International Herald Tribune, taxes either on emissions or on petroleum could be effective in
reducing global warming, that it would be wiser to impose a tax on oil
than wait for the market to force prices up, that measures to reduce
global warming would not be economically devastating and, putting the
issue in perspective:

"What may happen to the dollar, and what may happen to
growth in China or whatever," he said, raising his voice, "pale into
insignificance compared with the question of what happens to this
planet over the next 30 or 40 years if no action is taken."

(Economist Paul Volcker Says Steps to Curb Global Warming Would Not Devastate an Economy, Feb. 6)

“Feb. 2 will be remembered as the date when uncertainty was removed as to whether humans had anything to do with climate change on this planet,” declared Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program. Steiner was quoted in the New York Times' Feb. 3 front-page lead story on the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report of the drivers of climate change, observed changes in climate and projections for future climate change.

The Summary for Policymakers released with the IPCC report states:

"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level...

"At continental, regional, and ocean basin scales, numerous long-term changes in climate have been observed. These include changes in Arctic temperatures and ice, widespread changes in precipitation amounts, ocean salinity, wind patterns and aspects of extreme weather including droughts, heavy precipitation, heat waves and the intensity of tropical cyclones...

"For the next two decades a warming of about 0.2°C per decade is projected for a range of ... emission scenarios. Even if the concentrations of all greenhouse gases and aerosols had been kept constant at year 2000 levels, a further warming of about 0.1°C per decade would be expected...

"Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the 20th century...

"Anthropogenic warming and sea level rise would continue for centuries due to the timescales associated with climate processes."

Urgent action is required. As set forth elsewhere on this site, charging American businesses and individuals a price to emit carbon dioxide (CO₂) is essential to reduce U.S. emissions quickly and steeply enough to prevent atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ from reaching an irreversible tipping point.

 

Based on mounting evidence of slow but steady melting of continental ice sheets, scientists are now warning that the glaciers in the Alps will be mostly melted by 2050 according to a Jan. 21 AP story. California recently announced plans to reduce carbon emissions by 25% to 1990 levels by 2020, and by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The United States Climate Action Partnership (industry/environmental groups) proposal announced yesterday (Jan. 22) calls for a carbon dioxide emissions drop of only 10 percent to 30 percent from today's levels within 15 years. Fast enough?

U.S. per capita carbon dioxide emissions are at least twice those of most European countries such as Belgium, Germany and the U.K., and 2.3 times those of the Netherlands. Americans also emit 2.1 times as much CO₂ per person as Japanese ... and roughly five-and-a-half times as much as the average for all non-Americans on Earth combined. Click here for 2003 country data.