How market forces are winning the climate change battle

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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How market forces are winning the climate change battle

Greenhouse gases have stopped rising, and it's not hurting the global economy after all

Despite the stereotype of a business lobby warning about the prohibitive costs of cutting back on greenhouse gases, there are increasing signs that capitalism and market forces are actually rescuing us from climate change.

Surprising new data from the International Energy Agency shows that while the global economy continued to grow in 2014, the amount of carbon dioxide produced didn't.

According to the IEA report, this is "the first time in 40 years in which there was a halt or reduction in emissions of the greenhouse gas that was not tied to an economic downturn."

Greenhouse emissions drop bring Europe close to 2020 target
Three reasons businesses aren't seeking solutions to chimate change
We've known for a while that Europe has been making steady progress toward getting greenhouse gases under control.

Led by a popular environmentalist sentiment, politically motivated governments have taken deliberate action to reduce the use of carbon based fuels.


Europeans have introduced regulations encouraging energy efficiency and spent billions of euros stimulating wind and solar businesses. (Heribert Proepper/Associated Press)
At the same time, the Europeans have introduced regulations encouraging energy efficiency and spent billions of euros stimulating wind and solar businesses.
Here in North America, where there is a long tradition of warning that anti-climate change policies will cripple the economy, many business commentators continue to resist new regulation.

Some critics, especially those who have convinced themselves that climate change is a myth or overstated, have said the economic costs of fighting climate change would be worse than the costs of global warming itself.

A related argument says no action we can take will be effective.

The IEA study shows both those arguments are wrong. The new data shows that not only is the battle against climate change working, the result is not economic devastation.

In fact, some of the fastest-growing economies are the ones doing the most to cut back on carbon.

And it's not just Europe making progress.

Economy grows, emissions shrink

The IEA found that while the rich countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development grew about seven per cent over a four-year period, emissions fell four per cent. And in 2014, when global carbon dioxide production stayed constant, the entire global economy grew a fairly healthy three per cent.

The IEA says that in China, a reduction in the growth of greenhouse gas production is not just because of a decline in the economy from double- to single-digit growth, but also as a result of deliberate policy decisions.

"In China, 2014 saw greater generation of electricity from renewable sources, such as hydro power, solar and wind, and less burning of coal," says the IEA.

In the Financial Times, environment correspondent Pilita Clark warns that there is a danger the latest data could be a blip. She says that as poor countries try to catch up by building coal-fired power plants, their carbon emissions will continue to grow.

"This is especially important in fast-growing economies that are home to the 1.2 billion people without access to electricity, including India," writes Clark.

Credit capitalism

But another recent report from the MIT Technology Review says that a group of companies including First Solar, SunEdison, Adani Enterprises and the National Thermal Power Corporation — India's biggest power generator — see a business opportunity in satisfying "India's unmet demand for electricity" using solar power.


When the electricity grid failed across northern India on July 30, 2012, transit systems were shut down and millions of people had no electricity in one of the worst power failures of the previous decade. (Associated Press)
"A quarter of India's population is not connected to the power grid, and electricity supply is chronically short for those who are," says Peter Fairley in The Review.
The great thing is that the capitalists aren't just doing it for the sake of the planet, though that may be part of the personal motivation for those who work at these companies. They are in it for the profit.

With startup encouragement by governments, (including the government of Ontario, much maligned by critics for its solar subsidies) the cost of producing electricity with solar has plummeted. In India, solar can actually match or beat other sources of power.

"In some Indian states, renewable energy can compete with fossil fuels even without the benefit of any subsidies," says MIT's Fairley.

"Firms normally pay 10 rupees or more per kilowatt-hour for grid power, but solar developers there are selling their power at a profit for eight rupees per kilowatt-hour."

Even the more expensive roof-top solar is competitive. There are a lot of roof tops in India. For a capitalist, that smells like opportunity.

Not just winners

Of course, capitalism is not monolithic, which is why some businesses will thrive fighting climate change while others will suffer.

Recently Bank of England governor Mark Carney was pilloried by British Conservatives for a bank analysis warning that insurers could suffer a "huge hit" if they invest in fossil fuels.

The Bank of England report found that if the world actually curbs fossil fuels to the extent that climate experts advise, the value of oil and gas assets will decline sharply.

Mark Carney defends climate change economic study
The battle against global warming is far from won. But the IEA report is a reassuring sign that with the help of capitalism, fighting an environmental catastrophe will not necessarily lead to an economic one.


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http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/business/how-market-forces-are-winning-the-climate-change-battle-1.2996818
 

EagleSmack

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 16, 2005
44,168
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USA
Apparently huh? That must be why 2/3 of the rate of warming mysteriously vanished.

EGGS-actly!

That is what did it.

But we must not let our guard down now that we've finally learned how to bend climate to the will of man. This is not the time celebrate. More research grants and bank transfers are needed.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
108,748
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Low Earth Orbit
Don't forget carbon taxes, trades and offsets. It can only be better with a carbon tax, carbon trades and offsets.
 

EagleSmack

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 16, 2005
44,168
95
48
USA
Did you notice all the coulds and mays in that article .
In other words they don't really know .


Further study needed .

I did. I love the comments as well. Opposition to this farce grows daily and the alarmists need to strike hard and fast.
 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
4,336
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Vancouver Island
And yet Germany continues to burn brown coal. The real reason for lower GHGs is technology that permits cleaner burning of fossil fuels not laws and carbon scams.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Saskatchewan must turn to renewables: Report

A recently released report about Saskatchewan's environmental practices makes for sobering reading.

Take our annual 74 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, which are more than three times the Canadian average, and almost 10 times higher than the world average.

Or perhaps the impact of Saskatchewan's economy on ocean acidification, biodiversity loss and nuclear weapons proliferation.

Yet co-author Peter Prebble said it's not entirely a picture of doom and gloom.

While "we really do face grave circumstances," he said, Saskatchewan is at a kind of environmental policy crossroads, so "it's exciting to look at the policy options available to us."

Prebble, environmental policy director for the Saskatchewan Environmental Society and a former NDP cabinet minster, teamed up with David Henry, Murray Hidlebaugh and William Wardell to author Building an Environmentally Sustainable Future for Saskatchewan.

In the report, released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the authors make six pages of policy recommendations - 30, in total - and Prebble considers them realistic goals.

One of the main arguments is that Saskatchewan should turn its focus from oil and gas to renewable energy.

Because the province is so large, sunny and sparsely populated, Prebble said we have "a great chance" to lead the country.

"We have lots of space for wind turbines and an incredible solar resource we're just not using," he said.

"We're so fortunate to have the resources, but there's ... no solar development at all."

Prebble acknowledged that Saskatchewan's economy has experienced tremendous growth thanks in large part to mining, oil and gas; the report's authors were "very conscious of that" as they researched and developed their report, yet they say the "cost to the global community has been huge."

Environmentally sound choices are one thing, but the political appetite to address the issue is quite another.

But Prebble said once people "understand the consequences of not" pursuing sustainable options, the tide will change.

"It's a question of policy choices, and it's more important that we have a sustainable economy than one that keeps on growing," Prebble said.

"Without an environmentally sustainable economy, eventually you don't have an economy at all - it's ruined." egraney@leaderpost.com Twitter/LP_EmmaGraney

10 suggested policies

Build a renewable energy future using a mix of wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal resources, and introduce feed-in tariffs. Phase out conventional coal-fired power plants over the next 10 years, replacing them with renewable energy sources.

Introduce strict regulations to reduce venting and flaring practices during oil and gas extraction.

Increase industrial electricity rates closer to the level farm and residential customers currently pay. Reduce speed limits in the province to 90 km/h, thereby saving gas, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions and traffic accidents.

Shift transportation of goods away from trucks and back to rail.

Provide targeted provincial funding to municipalities to improve urban transit and install an extensive system of bike paths in cities.

Provide incentives for the purchase and use of highly energy-efficient vehicles by Saskatchewan residents.

Introduce better provisions for energy efficiency in the provincial building code.

Mandate government departments to integrate environmental sustainability into purchasing policies, contracts and travel practices.

Saskatchewan must turn to renewables: Report
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
108,748
11,088
113
Low Earth Orbit
Prebble? Really? Waaaaaaay too funny.

BTW isn't this off topic?

Is this where I post the "Balanced Sakatchewan Budget" headline tomorrow?
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
33,676
1,665
113
Northern Ontario,
Seems to be a typical progressive way of thinking... if things get hot, blame somebody else....things cool off, take the credit...
Do they really think they are fooling anyone???