Lecture 26 (Climate Change: Move to Action (Winter 2008))

From AOSS Classes

Lecture Summary

This final lecture is a class synthesis that is anchored around a putative carbon market. Much of the formal presentation revolves around whether or not the elements that are needed to make a robust market exist. It is argued that incentives are needed to bridge the cost gap between conventional sources of energy and new ("alternative") sources of energy. Similarly a way to provide valuation to efficiency is needed. On the abatement side, both the terrestrial and oceanic sinks are not well quantified and ecological impacts are likely to be enormous. Then the work of Pacala and Socolow is revisited. Since their original paper in 2004, which concluded that seven "wedges" were needed to stabilize CO2 in the atmosphere. Now in 2008, there has been no reduction in CO2 emissions, and 10 - 15 wedges are needed for CO2 stabilization. Finally an analysis from McKinsey is shown which shows the cost of implementing the strategy of Pacala and Socolow. Many of the implementation tactics, in fact, save money. Some recent papers are mentioned as well as emerging initiatives.