Re: “Scare tactics failing to spur action on climate change” (TNT, 4-6).
Economist Clive Crook misinterpreted the message of the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Crook leaves the erroneous perception that scientists have exaggerated the risks of climate change, and the IPCC calls for only gradual action on greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation.
The real message of the IPCC Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability report is threefold:
• Climate change is already affecting us, and most of the effects are negative.
• The burden of climate change harm is likely to fall most heavily on the poor.
• Action now to mitigate and adapt to climate change will reduce future risks.
When this report and the 2013 IPCC report on the physical basis for climate change are taken together, the message is that we are heading for disaster on our current emissions path, and delaying action will only make things worse. Scientists have not overstated the reality and risks of climate change, and it is time for us to wake up and pay attention.
Crook’s column isn’t totally off base, though, as he supports a carbon tax. A revenue-neutral carbon tax is a serious and effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and is supported by a growing number of thoughtful conservatives. Crook should leave the cheap shots at scientists aside, and lend his conservative credentials to the carbon tax movement.
