"He's a snake in the grass, I tell ya guys; he may look dumb but that's just a disguise; he's a mastermind in the ways of espionage." Charlie Daniels, "Uneasy Rider" Lomborg's brilliant climate plan: leave GHG externalities alone and let governments spend 0.05% of GDP on picking winning low-carb technologies! - TT's Lost in Tokyo

Lomborg's brilliant climate plan: leave GHG externalities alone and let governments spend 0.05% of GDP on picking winning low-carb technologies!

The folly practically speaks for itself. 

Why does Bjorn Lomborg think that governments can better determine worthy investments than private firms?  And that such investments should be borne by ordinary taxpayers rather than those who are generating the externalities that are the basis for his concern?  And why does he think governments around the world will each bear their fair share of such expenditures, instead of free riding?

Lomborg's policies will simply lead to more politically directed pork (wasted money) while doing nothing to discourage GHG emissions or to encourage private investments in GHG-lite technologies. 

h/t Don Boudreaux, who startlingly calls Lomborg's post "great good sense"!

(Jim Hansen' "carbon tax - 100% rebate" proposal (noted in my preceding post) - which is much along the lines of the revenue-neutral carbon tax/income tax rebate that kicks in July 1st in British Columbia - makes much more sense than having the government try to micromanage investments and other private decisionmaking.)

 

Published Sun, Jun 29 2008 4:53 PM by TokyoTom
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Comments

# re: Lomborg's brilliant climate plan: leave GHG externalities alone and let governments spend 0.05% of GDP on picking winning low-carb technologies!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 10:12 PM by jtucker

Good eye, TT!

# re: Lomborg's brilliant climate plan: leave GHG externalities alone and let governments spend 0.05% of GDP on picking winning low-carb technologies!

Thursday, July 3, 2008 7:08 AM by David Zetland

That idea sounds pretty stupid. I'm surprised it comes from Lomberg, who is apparently a skeptic on AGW AND believer in government efficiency.

# re: Lomborg's brilliant climate plan: leave GHG externalities alone and let governments spend 0.05% of GDP on picking winning low-carb technologies!

Sunday, July 6, 2008 8:41 PM by TokyoTom

Thanks for the comment, David.  As a liberal, Lomborg does not object in principle to the state spending money - he just wants it spent according to HIS priorities.  

It's funny that even with all of the obvious problems created by ethanol and biofuels subsidies Lomborg doesn't see any problems with the state choosing the best next-generation energy technologies.  I understand that Ted Nordhaus is another one who wants government to lead the way green energy investments.