Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog: Debate with Marc Morano

Looks like I'll be debating Marc Morano in Washington, DC in March. The event will be hosted by AEI and moderated by Andy Revkin.

Do we fix global warming's causes or effects?

It will cost about £1 trillion every year for the next 100 years to lower our CO2 emissions to pre-industrial levels. We will also have to abandon easy ways of doing things, ranging from incandescent lightbulbs to unplanned use of our automobiles to casual vacations using air travel. Without knowing for sure that global warming is coming, will have hugely negative effects, or is really our fault, neither the $1 trillion nor the extensive changes in human behaviour are likely to be forthcoming. Which, by the way, is why so many global warming alarmists are so anxious to convince you that the science is settled.

Greentech Media: Carbon Prices Dive in Latest RGGI Auction

At the quarterly auction earlier this week, 28.4 million allowances with a 2009 vintage sold for an average price of $2.19 per ton.

Meanwhile, 2.2 million allowances with a 2012 vintage were sold for an average price of $1.87 per ton.

That's down from the earlier auctions. In June, RGGI auctioned off 30.9 million 2009 allowances for an average price of $3.23 and 2.2 million 2012 allowances for $2.06. That's a 32 percent reduction in price on the 2009 allowances and an 8 percent decline in volume. In June, 85 percent of the allowances sold.

Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes: Equal Opportunity Boondoggles for Governments | BNET Energy Blog | BNET

The issue, it seems, is not that one plan or another is better, but that any scheme is bound to lose its force upon encountering an electorate and business community that is opposed to losing any amount of money as a result.

UPDATE 1-Carbon [swindle] permits fall 32 pct in U.S. East auction | Markets | Reuters

Optimism about the federal government passing a climate bill with a cap-and-trade market at its heart was much higher in June, the time of the last RGGI auction, a market source said.

"The delay in the climate bill is not a positive sign," Paul Tesoriero, the director of emissions markets for Evolution Markets in New York. "There is lower optimism now and I don't think people are buying as much."