Hartwell Paper: Game Changer? | Climate Etc.

New energy sources will be developed with or without a tax. The odds of environmentally viable and cost effective solutions being developed by private industry without government subsidy are IMO (and that of David Montgomery) greater than if these developments are subsidized by the government. (The US corn to ethanol disaster shows why this is so.)

History has shown us that tax revenues will go to plug whatever holes are there, no matter how many pledges are initially made to allocate them specifically to clean energy projects. (The US Social Security Tax demonstrates this.)

Judith Curry: Information from Answers.com

Judith A. Curry is an American climatologist and chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Although I sometimes agree with things that Curry writes, I've got to ask: Why are we supposed to think that climatologists like Curry (or James Hansen) are more qualified to comment on energy policy than politicians like James Inhofe or Al Gore?