Economics and Policy Issues in Climate Change

by Nordhaus, William D.

• ISBN13: 9780915707959
• ISBN10: 0915707950
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-08-01
• Publisher: Resources for the Future

Summary

Global climate change has emerged as one of today's most challenging and controversial policy issues. In this significant new contribution, a roster of premier scholars examines economic and social aspects of that far-reaching phenomenon. Although the 1997 "summit" in Kyoto focused world attention on climate, it was just one step in an ongoing process. Research by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been ongoing since 1988. An extensive IPCC Working Group report published in 1995 examined the economic and social aspects of climate change. In this new volume, eminent economists assess that IPCC report and address the questions that emerge. The result is a reasoned, cogent look at the realities of climate change and some methods (and difficulties) of dealing with them. William Nordhaus's introduction establishes the context for this book. It provides basic scientific background, reviews the IPCC's activities, and explains the genesis of the project. Subsequent contributions fall into two categories. Early chapters review analytical issues critical to social and economic understanding of climate change. For example, Granger Morgan looks at how typical decisionmaking frameworks relate to this topic. Other chapters in this section discuss discounting and intergenerational equity, the possible role of cost-benefit analysis, and the institutional architecture needed to address the problem effectively. A second set of chapters address specific economic questions surrounding climate-change policy. For example, John Weyant and Tom Kram look at the costs of slowing climate change. Weyant agrees with the IPCC that the economic cost is high, relative to other economic and environmental policies. There is tremendous uncertainty in these estimates, however, and different approaches to modeling -- economic, engineering, and social-psychological -- yield very different interpretations and prognoses. In another chapter, Robert Mendelsohn examines the costs of not slowing climate change. What impacts can we expect, how might they vary among different nations and regions, and how likely are we to encounter catastrophic results?

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii	(2)
Michael A. Toman
Preface	ix
William D. Nordhaus
1. Assessing the Economics of Climate Change: An Introduction	1	(24)
William D. Nordhaus
Part 1. Major Analytical Issues	25	(142)
2. Policy Analysis for Decisionmaking About Climate Change	25	(34)
M. Granger Morgan
Comments	51	(8)
Akihiro Amano	51	(4)
Alan S. Manne	55	(4)
3. Equity and Discounting in Climate-Change Decisions	59	(52)
Robert C. Lind
Richard E. Schuler
Comments	97	(14)
William R. Cline	97	(8)
Richard N. Cooper	105	(6)
4. Applicability of Cost-Benefit Analysis to Climate Change	111	(26)
Paul R. Portney
Comments Ferenc L. Toth	129	(8)
5. Greenhouse Policy Architectures and Institutions	137	(22)
Richard Schmalensee
Comments R.K. Pachauri	159	(8)
Part 2. Specific Climate-Change Policy Issues	167	(138)
6. The Costs of Greenhouse-Gas Abatement	167	(24)
Tom Kram
7. The Costs of Carbon Emissions Reductions	191	(28)
John P. Weyant
Comments Richard Richels	215	(4)
8. Climate-Change Damages	219	(44)
Robert Mendelsohn
Comments	237	(50)
Richard S.J. Tol	237	(6)
John Reilly	243	(14)
William R. Cline	257	(6)
9. Integrated Assessment Modeling of Climate Change	263	(42)
Charles D. Kolstad
Comments	287	(18)
John P. Weyant	287	(4)
Jae Edmonds	291	(14)
Index	305